Observational Learning: Evidence from a Randomized Natural Field Experiment
Hongbin Cai, Yuyu Chen and Hanming Fang
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| Article Citation |
Cai, Hongbin, Yuyu Chen, and Hanming Fang. 2009. "Observational Learning: Evidence from a Randomized Natural Field Experiment." American Economic Review, 99(3): 864–82.
DOI:10.1257/aer.99.3.864
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| Abstract |
We report results from a randomized natural field experiment conducted in a
restaurant dining setting to distinguish the observational learning effect from
the saliency effect. We find that, when customers are given ranking information
of the five most popular dishes, the demand for those dishes increases by 13 to
20 percent. We do not find a significant saliency effect. We also find modest
evidence that the observational learning effects are stronger among infrequent
customers, and that dining satisfaction is increased when customers are presented
with the information of the top five dishes, but not when presented with
only names of some sample dishes. (JEL C93, D83)
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| Article Full-Text Access |
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| Additional Materials |
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| Online Appendix
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| Authors |
Cai, Hongbin (Peking U)
Chen, Yuyu (Peking U)
Fang, Hanming (Duke U)
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| JEL Classifications |
C93: Field Experiments
D83: Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief
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