Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/129641 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
IFN Working Paper No. 1084
Publisher: 
Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), Stockholm
Abstract: 
We experimentally prime subjects subliminally prior to charity donation decisions by showing words that have connotations to prosocial values for a very short duration of time (17ms). Our main finding is that, compared to a baseline condition, the prosocial prime increases donations with about 10-17 percent among subjects with strong prosocial preferences. A similar effect is also found in our data when interacting the prime with the personality characteristic of BigFive agreeableness. We also contribute with providing an arguably better method for testing for "sublimity". The method reveals that some subjects are capable of recognizing some of the prime words, and the results are overall weaker when we control for this capacity.
Subjects: 
Charity
subliminal
priming
universalism
values
personality
JEL: 
C91
D01
D03
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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