Replication data for: Does Cheap Talk Affect Market Outcomes? Evidence from eBay

Name: Replication data for: Does Cheap Talk Affect Market Outcomes? Evidence from eBay
Published: 2019-10-01
License: This work is licensed under an Other license created by the data depositor. Please refer to the LICENSE file, which should be located alongside the project data and documentation.

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Daniel W. Elfenbein; Raymond Fisman; Brian McManus

Version: View help for Version V1

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
data_prep_aej.do	text/plain	17.7 KB	12/07/2019 08:28:AM
lstgs_stats_regr_analysis_aej.do	text/plain	16.5 KB	12/07/2019 08:28:AM
ucc_graphs_aej.do	text/plain	6.5 KB	12/07/2019 08:28:AM
user_stats_regr_analysis_aej.do	text/x-c	10.6 KB	12/07/2019 08:28:AM

Project Description

Summary: We study cheap talk by firms and responses by their consumers, focusing on unverifiable promises of charitable donations on eBay during 2005–2006. Cheap talk listings have lower sales probabilities but sell at higher prices when successful. The negative relationship between cheap talk and sales is concentrated in the months following Hurricane Katrina, a time when verifiable and unverifiable charity listings increased dramatically. Finally, we show that cheap talk sellers have lower quality ratings than those making verifiable donations. Our results suggest that buyers (justifiably) avoid cheap talk listings when credible quality signals are available, thus limiting the extent of cheap talk.

Scope of Project

JEL Classification:
      D12 Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
      D82 Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
      D83 Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
      L15 Information and Product Quality; Standardization and Compatibility
      L31 Nonprofit Institutions; NGOs; Social Entrepreneurship
      M31 Marketing

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V1 [2019-12-07]

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This work is licensed under an Other license created by the data depositor. Please refer to the LICENSE file, which should be located alongside the project data and documentation.

This material is distributed exactly as it arrived from the data depositor. ICPSR has not checked or processed this material. Users should consult the investigator(s) if further information is desired.