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| Ilia Aliaev and Hubert Janos Kiss |
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| ''A one-sentence nudge against present focus'' |
| ( 2026, Vol. 46 No.2 ) |
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| We test whether a single neutral sentence can reduce present-focused intertemporal choices. In a pre-registered classroom experiment ($N=210$) at Corvinus University of Budapest, first-year students made eight incentivized choices between HUF~10{,}000 immediately and larger amounts paid in two weeks. The treatment added a one-line, non-directive prompt---``Think carefully about all the possibilities that money would provide you''---intended to shift attention from emph{when} money arrives to emph{what} it enables. Treated participants switch to the later--larger option at lower premia (about $0.1$--$0.2$ SD), but estimates are imprecise and not statistically significant. We interpret the pattern as consistent with a small effect, suggesting that this minimal prompt may be too weak at the stakes and two-week horizon studied. |
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| Keywords: Experiment, Framing, Nudge, Present bias, Present focus |
JEL: C9 - Design of Experiments: General
D9 - Intertemporal Choice and Growth: General |
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| Manuscript Received : Dec 13 2025 | | Manuscript Accepted : Jun 30 2026 |
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