Sunita Sah

Mind the (information) gap: Strategic non-disclosure by marketers and interventions to increase consumer deliberation.

Marketers have a choice of what to tell consumers and consumers must consider what they are told or not told. Across 6 experiments, we show that consumers fail to differentiate between deliberate and nondeliberate missing information (strategic naiveté) and make generous inferences when they do notice missing information is deliberately withheld (charitability). We also show […]

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Understanding the (Perverse) Effects of Disclosing Conflicts of Interest: A Direct Replication Study.

Abstract Advisors are often subject to conflicts of interest—a potential clash between their professional responsibilities and personal interests. Such conflicts can increase bias in advice. Although disclosure is frequently proposed to manage conflicts of interest, it can have unintended consequences on both advisees and advisors. In seminal work, Cain et al., 2005, Cain et al.,

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Conflict of interest disclosure as a reminder of professional norms. Clients First!

Abstract Conflicts of interest create an incentive for advisors to give biased advice, and disclosure is a popular remedy. Across a series of studies, with monetary stakes creating conflicts of interest, I show that disclosure of the conflict of interest can increase as well as decrease bias in advice. The effect of disclosure depends on

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Clinical practice guidelines and the overuse of health care services: need for reform

Key Points Specialty bias and fee-for-service conflicts of interest threaten the validity of clinical practice guidelines and may lead to overdiagnosis, overtreatment and increasing health care costs. Clinical practice guidelines issued by medical specialty societies in North America frequently call for greater use of health care services linked to their specialties and are often at

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Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services – Sunday Extra

The Australian Government’s Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry asked me to author a Report on Conflicts of Interest and Disclosure as they investigated the poor ethics of their financial institutions. Following the submission of my report, Sunday Extra on Radio National (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) interviewed me to discuss

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Insinuation Anxiety: Concern That Advice Rejection Will Signal Distrust After Conflict of Interest Disclosures

Abstract When expert advisors have conflicts of interest, disclosure is a common regulatory response. In four experiments (three scenario experiments involving medical contexts, and one field experiment involving financial consequences for both parties), we show that disclosure of a financial or nonfinancial conflict of interest can have a perverse effect on the advisor–advisee relationship. Disclosure,

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