Priming Prosocial Behavior and Expectations in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic - Evidence from An Online Experiment

Abstract

This paper studies whether and how differently projected information about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic affects individuals’ prosocial behavior and expectations on future outcomes. We conducted an online experiment with British participants (N=961) when the UK introduced its first lockdown and the outbreak was on its growing stage. Participants were primed with either the environmental or economic consequences (i.e., negative primes), or the environmental or economic benefits (i.e., positive primes) of the pandemic, or with neutral information. We measured priming effects on an incentivized take-and-give dictator game and on participants’ expectations about future environmental quality and economic growth. Our results show that primes affect participants’ expectations, but not their prosociality. In particular, participants primed with environmental consequences hold a more pessimistic view on future environmental quality, while those primed with economic benefits are more optimistic about future economic growth. Instead, the positive environmental prime and the negative economic prime do not influence expectations. Our results offer insights into how information affects behavior and expectations during the COVID-19 pandemic.