[chiefofgxbxl]

Is there an official name for this sort of effect? I've been looking for something to call this. For example, we've had this effect at work when trying to organize social outings; people say they're interested in some activity X (e.g. hiking, board games, etc.), but then the day of that event comes and nobody shows up. The bar is very low to say you're interested in something, but doing actually takes effort.

[johnsmith4739]

Social Conformity - it would be costly for the participants to say no, from a social standpoint, but when the wallets have to open, there is always an excuse.

[benjohnson]

We fight this by giving everybody a token bit of public labor - tell someone they need to bring cookies, another needs to bring party-hats and someone else to bring punch and you'll find that they don't want to let others down.

[porb121]

expressed vs revealed preference