Virtual Quant Marketing Seminar - Bowen Luo
False Information in Advertising and Consumer Behavior: Evidence from Cash Advance Apps
Dear All,
Our next Virtual Quant Marketing Seminar for the semester is on Monday, September 23 at Noon ET. The speaker will be Bowen Lou (Houston).
The zoom link for all the talks is below, note that this is a new link: https://upenn.zoom.us/j/93394346729?pwd=SoVXVesbltpYbQxo9tbbPF6YgopDl3.1
Title: False Information in Advertising and Consumer Behavior: Evidence from Cash Advance Apps
Abstract: This paper studies how advertised false fee information influences consumer behavior in borrowing high-interest short-term loans. We construct a unique and comprehensive dataset in the online cash advance app market that encompasses mobile app usage, detailed advertising content, and apps' actual fee structures. We first show that a sizeable fraction of advertising makes "no interest" claims, that these claims are all false, and that apps with higher actual fees tend to make more such claims. Next, we demonstrate that "no interest" claims significantly increase the effectiveness of advertising in driving app downloads and usage. Finally, these claims are effective even when the actual fees are high and especially when the fees are less salient and harder for consumers to detect.
The schedule for the rest of the semester is:
Monday, September 30, Noon ET - Sarah Moshary (UC Berkeley)
Monday, October 14, Noon ET - Walter Zhang (UPenn)
Monday, October 28, Noon ET - George Gui (Columbia)
Monday, November 4, Noon ET - Justin Grimmer (Stanford)
Monday, November 11, Noon ET - Soheil Ghili (Yale)
Monday, December 2, Noon ET - Davide Proserpio (USC)
We encourage you to use our google calendar to keep track of the talks.