Are Economists Resistant to Advertising? Evidence from an Experiment on the Willingness to Pay

Abstract

Purpose | This study examines the interplay between economic education and susceptibility to persuasive advertising based on analysing the willingness to pay (WTP) for a selected product among economics and non-economics students. The study aims to falsify the hypothesis that economic education rooted in neoclassical economics and the so-called Standard Economic Model (SEM) reduces students’ susceptibility to advertising compared to their non-economics peers. Research method | The analysis is based on a 2 × 2 experimental design, in which respondents (N = 281), students of economics and non-economics curricula at a public university in Poland, estimated their willingness to pay for a selected product while being exposed to persuasive advertising (treatment group) or not (control group). Results | Contrary to our expectations, both groups displayed similar increases in WTP when exposed to advertising, proving that messages evoking emotional responses are highly relevant factors in economic life. However, interestingly, we also found that the first-year economics students exhibited lower susceptibility to advertising compared to more advanced students of economics. Originality / value / implications / recommendations | Our findings suggest that recent exposure to the SEM commonly used in microeconomics teaching may positively correlate with a temporary reduction in their susceptibility to persuasive advertising messages.