#InviteMe: Can social media information reduce discrimination? Evidence from a field experiment

Publication Year
2023

Type

Journal Article
Abstract

We study whether and to what extent social media information can reduce (ethnic) discrimination in a two-sided market characterized by asymmetric information. We analyze whether information that breaks with prevailing ethnic stereotypes might induce the uninformed side of the market to update its probabilistic beliefs on a desired, but hidden quality of an ethnic minority applicant. We create eight social media profiles (male and female) and apply for 3,676 vacant room ads for shared housing on a two-sided platform. The profiles are each identical within one gender, except for the different names assigned to them: two profiles of each gender are assigned a Turkish-sounding name, two a German-sounding name. To each application, we randomly assign one of the eight names and whether it contains a link to the corresponding social media profile. When an application includes such a link, the otherwise substantial discrimination against applicants with Turkish-sounding names is not only significantly reduced, but almost eliminated –- hinting at the potential of social media information that breaks with prevailing stereotypes to reduce (statistical) discrimination. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Journal
J. Econ. Behav. Organ.
Volume
213
Pages
373–393
Date Published
09/2023
Full text

A description of data collection and analysis can be found in the pre-registration for this study: https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/7627/history/179993

Type of Prejudice/Bias
Country
Method
Setting