Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2016
Abstract
I hypothesize that different experiences with online contracting have led some consumers to see contracts—both online and offline—in distinctive ways. Experimenting on a large, nationally representative sample, this paper provides evidence of age-based and experience-based differences in views of consumer contract formation and breach. I show that younger subjects who have entered into more online contracts are likelier than older ones to think that contracts can be formed online, that digital contracts are legitimate while oral contracts are not, and that contract law is unforgiving of breach.
I argue that such individual differences in views of contract formation and enforceability might lead firms to discriminate among consumers. There is some evidence that businesses are already using variance in views of contract to induce consumers to purchase goods they would not otherwise have. I conclude by suggesting how the law might respond to such behavior.
Keywords
Consumer standard form contracts, adhesion, performance, breach, obligation, law & psychology, empirical legal studies, behavioral economics, e-commerce, millennials, identity in contract behavior, click to agree
Publication Title
New York University Law Review
Repository Citation
Hoffman, David A., "From Promise to Form: How Contracting Online Changes Consumers" (2016). All Faculty Scholarship. 1730.
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_scholarship/1730
Included in
Behavioral Economics Commons, Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics Commons, Consumer Protection Law Commons, Contracts Commons, E-Commerce Commons, Law and Economics Commons, Law and Psychology Commons, Law and Society Commons, Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation Commons, Social Psychology and Interaction Commons
Publication Citation
91 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1595 (2016)