Beyond Value: on the Role of Superficial Characteristics in Demand for Information

We study non-instrumental value for information when choosing between symmetric and asymmetric information sources. Although symmetry is a seemingly superficial characteristic, we find a systematic preference for a symmetric source over an asymmetric one. We elicit beliefs and find that participants consistently overestimate the instrumental value of the symmetric source yet fail to explain the choice pattern. The analysis of the belief data reveals two types of systematic deviations from Bayesian belief updating: about half of the subjects exhibit base-rate neglect while the others systematically neglect new information more than the base rate. We leverage this understanding of belief formation processes to provide further evidence of intrinsic preferences for symmetry.