Charity as a Substitute for Reputation: Evidence from an Online Marketplace
研究发现消费者对与慈善挂钩的产品反应积极，尤其对信誉不足的新卖家，慈善能作为质量信号减少客户投诉。
Consumers respond positively to products tied to charity, particularly from sellers that are relatively new and hence have limited alternative means of assuring quality. We establish this result using data from a diverse group of eBay sellers who “experiment” with charity by varying the presence of a donation in a set of otherwise matched product listings. Most of charity's benefits accrue to sellers without extensive eBay histories. Consistent with charity serving as a quality signal, we find fewer customer complaints among charity-intensive sellers.