Setting the stage: Fairness behavior in virtual reality dictator games

Abstract

By utilizing an experimental approach, we investigate how interactional effects and different virtual environment settings (e.g. office, surreal and control group) change human behavior. For this purpose, we conduct a series of 101 double-blind dictator games in both a physical and two differing virtual settings. Our results provide evidence that virtual environments are playing an important role in shaping the economic behavior of our participants. We show that virtually mediated interactions between two participants within a formal virtual office setting lead to less equal sharing compared to our control group. Equal sharing is more common in surreal virtual environments. Thereby, we find evidence for the workings of either anchoring or framing effects. Our results are particularly relevant as negotiations and meetings can be expected increasingly to take place via VR.