TY  - BOOK
AU  - Acemoglu,Daron
AU  - Makhdoumi,Ali
AU  - Malekian,Azarakhsh
AU  - Ozdaglar,Asuman
ED  - National Bureau of Economic Research.
TI  - A Model of Behavioral Manipulation
T2  - NBER working paper series
PY  - 2023///
CY  - Cambridge, Mass.
PB  - National Bureau of Economic Research
KW  - Search • Learning • Information and Knowledge • Communication • Belief • Unawareness
KW  - jelc
KW  - General
KW  - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
KW  - Information and Internet Services • Computer Software
N1  - November 2023; Hardcopy version available to institutional subscribers
N2  - We build a model of online behavioral manipulation driven by AI advances. A platform dynamically offers one of n products to a user who slowly learns product quality. User learning depends on a product's "glossiness,' which captures attributes that make products appear more attractive than they are. AI tools enable platforms to learn glossiness and engage in behavioral manipulation. We establish that AI benefits consumers when glossiness is short-lived. In contrast, when glossiness is long-lived, users suffer because of behavioral manipulation. Finally, as the number of products increases, the platform can intensify behavioral manipulation by presenting more low-quality, glossy products
UR  - https://www.nber.org/papers/w31872
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.3386/w31872
ER  -