Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/305540 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 11298
Publisher: 
CESifo GmbH, Munich
Abstract: 
We study how experts influence consumer behavior and welfare by focusing on the Booker Prize. Leveraging the discontinuity created by the attribution of the prize, we show that readers receive the signal sent by the jury of the Booker and are persuaded to buy the awarded book but experience lower satisfaction due to a misalignment between their tastes and those of the jury. Calibrating a structural model of demand, we find that the prize reduces consumer surplus by $70,039 annually, meaning that a consumer buying an awarded book experiences a loss in surplus of 8% of the book’s average price.
Subjects: 
awards
prizes
welfare
sales
experts
books
consumer surplus
JEL: 
D12
D83
L15
L82
Z11
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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