The taste of others.

Summary This paper investigates why some individuals tend to adopt conformist consumption behaviors. Specifically, we focus on the analysis of intrinsic preferences for conformity: individuals' preferences would tend to converge towards those of others, even in contexts where there is no uncertainty about the quality of goods and where individuals' choices cannot be observed. To this end, we designed an experiment in which subjects reported the satisfaction provided by two common goods tested in the laboratory and then gave a monetary evaluation. In a first treatment, subjects were "isolated", while in a second treatment, information on the choice made by other subjects was provided just before the monetary evaluations of the goods. Our results show that subjects are sensitive to the choices of others in an asymmetric way. When subjects report greater satisfaction with the good also chosen by others, this information does not affect the monetary valuation of the goods. On the other hand, subjects with different tastes from others tend to reduce the difference in valuation between the preferred good and the other.