The Effects of Pre-Play Communication in a Coordination Game with Incomplete Information

The effects of pre-play communication in a coordination game with incomplete information about players' intensity of preferences are compared to no communication controls. Pre-play communication significantly increases subjects' payoffs and the probability of coordination, while reducing miscoordination. This results from communication being largely informative, in conjunction with the key prediction of the theory that when two players send different messages, they coordinate on the preferred action of the agent sending the higher message. As predicted, communication becomes more informative as the cost of miscoordination increases