Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/328006 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
WZB Discussion Paper No. SP II 2025-201
Publisher: 
Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB), Berlin
Abstract: 
Using surveys and experiments, we provide evidence on how people think about and justify sugar-sweetened-beverage (SSB) taxes, a widely discussed behavioral policy intervention. We show that motives to correct internalities and behavioral biases impact policy preferences almost as much as standard externality reasoning. However, antipaternalistic attitudes explain why many people oppose SSB taxes although they acknowledge the relevance of behavioral biases. We demonstrate that instructional explanations about how behavioral SSB taxes work significantly increase support for such taxes. By contrast, simple information feedback regarding the statistical prevalence of internalities and externalities has no effect. Our findings suggest that the nature of information provision-particularly explaining a policy's goals and mechanisms-is crucial for enhancing its acceptability.
Subjects: 
Paternalism
sin tax
internality
externality
soda tax
self-control
JEL: 
H23
I18
D12
D78
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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