A model of consumption‐dependent temptation

A model of consumption‐dependent temptation

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Article ID: iaor20111420
Volume: 70
Issue: 1
Start Page Number: 83
End Page Number: 93
Publication Date: Jan 2011
Journal: Theory and Decision
Authors:
Abstract:

The paper characterizes axiomatically a class of temptation‐driven preferences. The key (but not the only) novelty of the paper is the idea that the alternative which tempts when an item x is consumed may not be the same as the alternative which tempts when another item y is consumed. For any single item to be ultimately consumed, the other items can be ranked by how much they tempt. An individual contemplates, as an alternative consumption, only the item that tempts most. The utility of a menu is then equal to the utility of the item that is consumed less a (psychological) cost of resisting temptation; this cost depends on both: the item to be consumed and the item that tempts. Unlike most of the existing literature, the axioms are imposed on deterministic menus, not on menus of lotteries.

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