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Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter August 23, 2021

Framed by the Law: Experimental Evidence for the Effects of the Salience of the Law on Preferences

  • Tamar Kricheli-Katz

Abstract

This Article takes an experimental approach to test whether the salience of the law as a system that governs an interaction affects people’s preferences. I find that when the law is made salient in an interaction people’s preferences are altered: they express more future-oriented preferences and donate less money to charity, as compared to when the law is not salient in an otherwise identical interaction. When the law is salient in an interaction people also prefer ‘products’ over experiences, but this gap is only marginally significant. The findings suggest that the framing of an interaction as legal tends to evoke cultural scripts and implicit rules of behavior (“common knowledge”) that incorporate the shared assumptions in society about the law. In response, participants interpret the interaction as more rational and instrumental and express preferences accordingly.


* Associate Professor at Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law.


Appendix

Experimental Materials

‘Legal framing’:

You are invited to participate in a research study about preferences. You must be at least 18 years of age to participate. Your participation will take less than 10 minutes.

There are no risks associated with this study and your identity will be kept confidential.

Participation: If you decide to participate in this project, please understand your participation is voluntary and you may withdraw your consent or discontinue participation at any time without penalty. The alternative is not to participate. You have the right to refuse to answer particular questions. Your individual privacy will be maintained in all published and written data resulting from the study.

Contact Information: If you have any questions, concerns or complaints about this research, its procedures, risks and benefits, contact the Protocol Director, Tamar Kricheli Katz at tamarkk@post.tau.ac.il.

If you agree to participate in this research, please click to the next screen and complete the questionnaire.

Please note:

An informed consent is a legal agreement (contract) to participate in the research. This means that you are legally free to choose whether you wish to answer the questions.

I understand that I am legally free to choose which questions I wish to answer

I understand

I do not understand

Thank you for legally agreeing to participate in the study!

In addition to the payment for taking this HIT, you may receive a bonus. Your actual bonus (if you receive the bonus) will be determined by a random selection from your choices (below) and will be made through Amazon Mechanical Turk.

At the end of the experiment you will receive a lottery ticket. The lottery will take place today after all the participants who legally agreed to participate in the study complete all the questions. The holder of one lottery ticket, selected at random, will receive the bonus.

Please choose one pay schedule from each of the pay schedule tradeoff pairs presented below.

An additional two lotteries will be held for the participants who legally agreed to participate in the study and completed all questions. In one lottery, the holder of one lottery ticket, selected at random, will receive a $30 e-gift card that can be used as payment toward future orders of products from a major online store. In the second lottery, the holder of one lottery ticket, selected at random, will receive a $30 e-gift card that can be used as payment toward future orders of experiences from a major online venue. In which lottery do you wish to participate?

If you receive one of the two bonuses, will you be interested in donating some of the money to a charity of your choice (we will contact you to inquire about the charity and transfer them the money on your behalf). What part of the money (%) would you like to donate?

***

Control:

You are invited to participate in a research study about preferences. You must be at least 18 years of age to participate. Your participation will take less than 10 minutes.

There are no risks associated with this study and your identity will be kept confidential.

Participation: If you decide to participate in this project, please understand your participation is voluntary and you may withdraw your consent or discontinue participation at any time without penalty. The alternative is not to participate. You have the right to refuse to answer particular questions. Your individual privacy will be maintained in all published and written data resulting from the study.

Contact Information: If you have any questions, concerns or complaints about this research, its procedures, risks and benefits, contact the Protocol Director, Tamar Kricheli Katz at tamarkk@post.tau.ac.il.

If you agree to participate in this research, please click to the next screen andcomplete the questionnaire.

Please note:

An informed consent is a voluntary agreement to participate in the research. This means that you are free to choose whether you wish to answer the questions.

I understand that I am free to choose which questions I wish to answer.

I understand

I do not understand

Thank you for kindly agreeing to participate in the study!

In addition to the payment for taking this HIT, you may receive a bonus. Your actual bonus (if you receive the bonus) will be determined by a random selection from your choices (below) and will be made through Amazon Mechanical Turk.

At the end of the experiment you will receive a lottery ticket. The lottery will take place today after all the participants who legally agreed to participate in the study complete all the questions. The holder of one lottery ticket, selected at random, will receive the bonus.

Please choose one pay schedule from each of the pay schedule tradeoff pairs presented below.

An additional two lotteries will be held for the participants who agreed to participate in the study and completed all the questions. In one lottery, the holder of one lottery ticket, selected at random, will receive a $30 e-gift card that can be used as payment toward future orders of products from a major online store. In the second lottery, the holder of one lottery ticket, selected at random, will receive a $30 e-gift card that can be used as payment toward future orders of experiences from a major online venue. In which lottery do you wish to participate?

If you receive one of the two bonuses, will you be interested in donating some of the money to a charity of your choice (we will contact you to inquire about the charity and transfer them the money on your behalf). What part of the money (%) would you like to donate?

Published Online: 2021-08-23
Published in Print: 2021-07-27

© 2021 by Theoretical Inquiries in Law

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