Avoid Peer Information: Evidence from a Field Experiment of Charity Crowdfunding

We study the behavior of an individual avoiding peer information on charity giving. Manipulating how the peer donation information was revealed to potential donors in a field experiment, we find 89% of individuals were “information avoiders.” We further use an instrumental variable estimation strategy to show that, given the option to avoid the information, these individuals were less likely to give and to help promote charity campaigns, which reduced the total distribution of campaigns on the platform by 8.5% and the total donation amount by 7.7%. Finally, we use a theoretical model to illustrate how the pressure from peer comparison may drive the findings.