Digital Addiction

Hunt Allcott, Matthew Gentzkow, Lena Song

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Many have argued that digital technologies such as smartphones and social media are addictive. We develop an economic model of digital addiction and estimate it using a randomized experiment. Temporary incentives to reduce social media use have persistent effects, suggesting social media are habit forming. Allowing people to set limits on their future screen time substantially reduces use, suggesting self-control problems. Additional evidence suggests people are inattentive to habit formation and partially unaware of self-control problems. Looking at these facts through the lens of our model suggests that self-control problems cause 31 percent of social media use.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2424-2463
Number of pages40
JournalAmerican Economic Review
Volume112
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2022
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Economics and Econometrics

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