Increasing support for economic freedom: responses in a representative sample of US adults

Abstract The relationship between economic freedom and improvements in social and economic outcomes is well-documented. Yet, increasing support for government control of voluntary exchange has arisen in the US and many other countries. The present study analyzed whether videos describing human flourishing would influence support for economic freedom. In Study 1, a ‘‘brain as predictor’’ approach measured the neurologic responses of participants (N = 64) to a library of videos in order identify the videos most likely to influence people's attitudes. Study 2 then sent two videos to a representative sample of US adults (N = 1212) and assessed support for economic freedom compared to a no-video control group. The analysis first identified demographic categories that had statistically low support for economic freedom (Californians, those with low incomes, Democrats, young adults, individuals without a college education, people receiving substantial government support, and women) as targets for influence. Two different videos increased support for economic freedom between 5 and 10% among Californians and among those receiving government aid. A feature importance analysis was used to rank the demographic factors affecting support for economic freedom, identifying those receiving government aid as the group for whom future messaging would have the largest impact.