中文摘要
市场中的消费者是否意识到自身的认知局限？我在一种普遍存在的价格歧视形式——即需要主动兑换的即时返利——的背景下回答这一问题。在与一家大型在线零售商开展的大规模实地实验中，我发现当企业提供兑换提醒时，消费者会正确地增加需求，但当企业提高兑换所需的麻烦程度时，他们却未能相应减少需求。结构估计显示，尽管消费者对忘记兑换返利的概率具有成熟认知，但他们大幅低估了兑换的麻烦程度，平均每位消费者低估达20欧元。 (JEL C93, D12, D83, D91, L81, M31)
Abstract
Are consumers in the marketplace aware of their cognitive limitations? I answer this question in the context of a ubiquitous form of price discrimination: instant rebates that require active redemption. In a large-scale field experiment with a major online retailer, I find that consumers correctly increase demand when the firm offers a redemption reminder, but they fail to reduce demand when the firm increases the hassle required to redeem. Structural estimates reveal that, while consumers are sophisticated about the probability of forgetting to redeem the rebate, they vastly underestimate the hassle of redeeming it by €20 per consumer. (JEL C93, D12, D83, D91, L81, M31)