We examine a “mere newness bias,” a preference for novelty
purely due to recentness of release. In a series of studies, we
show that, for newer and older products of identical quality,
people prefer newly released goods over older goods across a
range of domains. This bias translates to a higher willing to
pay, greater anticipated excitement, and higher likelihood of
purchase for products perceived to be newer. The mere
newness bias persists even for die rolls, where there cannot be
any difference in quality and where there is no social benefit to
newness.
