Making organization’s cost salient: A natural field experiment

Fuhai HONG; Yohanes E. RIYANTO; Jubo YAN; Yuanyuan HUO

doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2026.107634

Making organization’s cost salient: A natural field experiment

Fuhai HONG
, Yohanes E. RIYANTO
, Jubo YAN^*
, Yuanyuan HUO

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Economics

Research output: Journal Publications › Journal Article (refereed) › peer-review

Abstract

We report findings from a natural field experiment conducted at a university in which staff members order stationery for work-related purposes online, and the university bears the entire cost. We randomize staff members into a treatment and a control group. Only the former observes the cost information in the online ordering interface. We find that displaying the organization’s cost did not change the ordering frequency, nor the quantity of requested items, conditional on the items being ordered (the intensive margin), but did reduce the variety of items ordered (the extensive margin). Overall, the intervention led to a significant reduction in stationery consumption, resulting in a 27% decrease in quantities and substantial cost savings for the university. Thus, individuals at least partially internalize the external effects of their actions when the organization’s cost is made salient.

Original language	English
Article number	107634
Journal	Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
Volume	248
Early online date	30 May 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2026.107634
Publication status	Published - Aug 2026

Bibliographical note

We thank conference and seminar participants in the 2025 Annual Conference of China Association of Game Theory and Experimental Economics (Jinan), the 23rd Experimental Social Science Conference (Tokyo), the Asian Meeting of the Econometric Society (Xiamen), Beijing Normal University, De Lasalle University, the ESA Global Virtual Meetings, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Area Research Forum on Business (Shenzhen), Hunan University, the SUFE Workshop of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (Shanghai) and the Xiamen University International Workshop on Experimental Economics for helpful comments.

Hong, Riyanto, and Yan contributed equally and are listed in alphabetical order.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2026 Elsevier B.V. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.

Keywords

C93
Common resources
D91
Natural field experiments
Q5
Salience
Social cost

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10.1016/j.jebo.2026.107634

https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0167268126002209

Cite this

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title = "Making organization{\textquoteright}s cost salient: A natural field experiment",

abstract = "We report findings from a natural field experiment conducted at a university in which staff members order stationery for work-related purposes online, and the university bears the entire cost. We randomize staff members into a treatment and a control group. Only the former observes the cost information in the online ordering interface. We find that displaying the organization{\textquoteright}s cost did not change the ordering frequency, nor the quantity of requested items, conditional on the items being ordered (the intensive margin), but did reduce the variety of items ordered (the extensive margin). Overall, the intervention led to a significant reduction in stationery consumption, resulting in a 27\% decrease in quantities and substantial cost savings for the university. Thus, individuals at least partially internalize the external effects of their actions when the organization{\textquoteright}s cost is made salient.",

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author = "Fuhai HONG and RIYANTO, \{Yohanes E.\} and Jubo YAN and Yuanyuan HUO",

note = "We thank conference and seminar participants in the 2025 Annual Conference of China Association of Game Theory and Experimental Economics (Jinan), the 23rd Experimental Social Science Conference (Tokyo), the Asian Meeting of the Econometric Society (Xiamen), Beijing Normal University, De Lasalle University, the ESA Global Virtual Meetings, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Area Research Forum on Business (Shenzhen), Hunan University, the SUFE Workshop of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (Shanghai) and the Xiamen University International Workshop on Experimental Economics for helpful comments. Hong, Riyanto, and Yan contributed equally and are listed in alphabetical order. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2026 Elsevier B.V. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.",

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doi = "10.1016/j.jebo.2026.107634",

language = "English",

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AU - RIYANTO, Yohanes E.

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N1 - We thank conference and seminar participants in the 2025 Annual Conference of China Association of Game Theory and Experimental Economics (Jinan), the 23rd Experimental Social Science Conference (Tokyo), the Asian Meeting of the Econometric Society (Xiamen), Beijing Normal University, De Lasalle University, the ESA Global Virtual Meetings, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Area Research Forum on Business (Shenzhen), Hunan University, the SUFE Workshop of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (Shanghai) and the Xiamen University International Workshop on Experimental Economics for helpful comments. Hong, Riyanto, and Yan contributed equally and are listed in alphabetical order. Publisher Copyright: © 2026 Elsevier B.V. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.

PY - 2026/8

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N2 - We report findings from a natural field experiment conducted at a university in which staff members order stationery for work-related purposes online, and the university bears the entire cost. We randomize staff members into a treatment and a control group. Only the former observes the cost information in the online ordering interface. We find that displaying the organization’s cost did not change the ordering frequency, nor the quantity of requested items, conditional on the items being ordered (the intensive margin), but did reduce the variety of items ordered (the extensive margin). Overall, the intervention led to a significant reduction in stationery consumption, resulting in a 27% decrease in quantities and substantial cost savings for the university. Thus, individuals at least partially internalize the external effects of their actions when the organization’s cost is made salient.

AB - We report findings from a natural field experiment conducted at a university in which staff members order stationery for work-related purposes online, and the university bears the entire cost. We randomize staff members into a treatment and a control group. Only the former observes the cost information in the online ordering interface. We find that displaying the organization’s cost did not change the ordering frequency, nor the quantity of requested items, conditional on the items being ordered (the intensive margin), but did reduce the variety of items ordered (the extensive margin). Overall, the intervention led to a significant reduction in stationery consumption, resulting in a 27% decrease in quantities and substantial cost savings for the university. Thus, individuals at least partially internalize the external effects of their actions when the organization’s cost is made salient.

KW - C93

KW - Common resources

KW - D91

KW - Natural field experiments

KW - Q5

KW - Salience

KW - Social cost

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DO - 10.1016/j.jebo.2026.107634

M3 - Journal Article (refereed)

SN - 0167-2681

VL - 248

JO - Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization

JF - Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization

M1 - 107634

ER -

Making organization’s cost salient: A natural field experiment

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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