John W. Cheng (Tsuda University), Masaru Nishikawa (Tsuda University), Ikuma Ogura (Georgetown University), Nicholas A. R. Fraser (University of California, Berkeley), “Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is: Willingness to Pay for Online Conspiracy Theory Content – Evidence from Japan”

U.S. EDT: October 14 (Thu), 8 – 9 PM

JST: October 15 (Fri), 9 – 10 AM

NOTE: Registration required! Link.

Abstract:

This study examines whether conspiracy believers in Japan are willing to act on their beliefs using a concept from economics known as willingness to pay. Specifically, we conducted a conjoint experiment (n=1,098) to test whether people are willing to pay for a hypothetical online video channel that offers conspiracy theory content. The results show that around 5% of the participants were willing to pay for the channel, and those who relied more on social media than mainstream media for news were more likely to pay. That is, by using monetary value as a proxy, we find that although their number is relatively small, some individuals are willing to pay for (act on) their conspiracy beliefs.

Paper is available here.

Presenters: John W. Cheng (Tsuda University), Masaru Nishikawa (Tsuda University), Ikuma Ogura (Georgetown University), Nicholas A. R. Fraser (University of California, Berkeley).

Discussants: Masato Kajimoto (University of Hong Kong), Joseph Uscinski (University of Miami).

Chair: Amy Catalinac (New York University).