Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/193925 
Year of Publication: 
2018
Series/Report no.: 
ESRI Working Paper No. 588
Publisher: 
The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), Dublin
Abstract: 
This paper investigates whether exposure to explanatory diagrams can affect a major financial decision. In a controlled experiment, participants were given pension benefit statements with or without one or two diagrams, before answering incentivised questions that measured recall, comprehension and choice of contribution rate. The diagrams had at best a marginal influence on recall or comprehension. Nevertheless, a diagram relating contributions to income projections prompted more participants to advocate higher contributions, while both diagrams influenced the rationale participants gave for decisions. The implication is that diagrams may alter pension planning decisions by reinforcing causal inferences, despite the absence of measurable improvements in understanding.
Subjects: 
information disclosure
retirement planning
decision-making
experiment
JEL: 
C91
D14
D91
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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