evidence from the health club industry Della Vigna, Stefano Malmendier, Ulrike. National Bureau of Economic Research. text bibliography text mau 2004 monographic Cambridge, MA National Bureau of Economic Research c2004 eng

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"Experimental evidence suggests that people make time-inconsistent choices and display overconfidence about positive personal attributes. Do these features affect consumer behavior in themarket? To address this question we use a new panel data set from three US health clubs with information on the contract choices and the day-to-day attendance decisions of 7,978 health club members over three years. Members who choose a contract with a flat monthly fee of over $70 attend on average 4.8 times per month. They pay a price per expected visit of more than $17, even though a $10-per-visit fee is also available. On average, these users forgo savings of $700 during their membership. We review many aspects of the consumer behavior, including the interval between last attendance and contract termination, the survival probability, and the correlation between different consumption choices. The empirical results are difficult to reconcile with the standard assumption of time-consistent preferences and rational expectations. A model of time-inconsistent agents with overconfidence about future patience explains the findings. The agents overestimate the future attendance and delay contract cancellation whenever renewal is automatic. Salesman pressure and overstimation of future efficiency are the leading alternative explanations"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site. Stefano DellaVigna, Ulrike Malmendier. Title from PDF file as viewed on 1/7/2005. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print. Mode of access: World Wide Web. System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Physical fitness centers Economic aspects Self-control Economic aspects HB1 https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gdc/gdcebookspublic.2005615367 http://papers.nber.org/papers/W10819 working paper no. 10819 2005615367 aacr DLC 050107 20250606213746.4 13834196 Converted from MARCXML to MODS version 3.8 using MARC21slim2MODS3-8_XSLT1-0.xsl (Revision 1.172 20230208)