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. 2020 Sep:27:100379.
doi: 10.1016/j.jbef.2020.100379. Epub 2020 Aug 3.

Sex and "the City": Financial stress and online pornography consumption

Michael Donadelli  1 , Marie Lalanne  2
Affiliations

Sex and "the City": Financial stress and online pornography consumption

Michael Donadelli et al. J Behav Exp Finance. 2020 Sep.

Abstract

We examine the effects of financial stress on online pornography consumption. We use novel data on daily accesses to one of the most popular porn website (xHamster) for 43 different cities belonging to 10 countries for the year 2016. In financial cities, in which people are more likely to be affected by financial stress, we observe that on average online porn viewing decreases as financial stress increases. We present some evidence suggesting the causing channel to be altered mood.

Keywords: Financial stress; Online pornography; Uncertainty.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Porn and Porn-Related Google Search Intensity. Notes: Panel A depicts the evolution of the daily frequency of Google searches for “porn” in Italy and Spain during the COVID-19 lockdown period (27.03.2020–03.04.2020). Note that peaks of searches for “porn” in Italy and Spain are on average observed overnight hours (1am–5pm). Panel B depicts the evolution of the most closely-related query to porn (i.e., “pornography and depression”) over the period 27.03.2020–03.04.2020.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Distribution of financial stress coefficient estimates by city type (main estimates).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Distribution of financial stress coefficient estimates by city type (robust estimates).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Distribution of financial stress coefficient estimates by city type (country-level).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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