Randomized Field Experiment Research Articles

Neighbourhood social capital, account usage and savings behaviour in low‐income countries: Field experimental evidence from Senegal

AbstractFinancial inclusion is an important driver of economic growth, but gender gaps persist in financial activity, especially in low‐income countries. This study analyses the impact of text messages that make salient neighbours' savings behaviour on account usage and savings behaviour of low‐income men and women in Senegal. We performed a randomized field experiment in which 2056 clients of a local financial institution were assigned to one of three experimental conditions. We found gender differences in how these text messages impact savings and account usage. Account usage, account activity and average savings balances of female clients who received weekly savings reminders making their neighbours' savings behaviour salient increased compared to those who received generic savings reminders and those who received no savings reminders. The treatment had no impact on male clients. These results suggest that content‐specific text message reminders can create benefits for both the supply and demand side of financial services for women in low‐income countries, thereby increasing financial inclusion.

The Effects of Pressure and Self-Assurance Nudges on Product Purchases and Returns in Online Retailing: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment

Through a randomized field experiment, this study compares the economic effects of two categories of nudges—self-assurance- and pressure-based interventions—on consumers’ purchase and return behaviors. In contrast to pressure-oriented nudges, such as quantity scarcity, time scarcity, and social persuasion, self-assurance nudges are intended to facilitate the validation of product choice and style/size characteristics as well as the self-assurance-grounded justification of the purchase. The findings reveal that self-assurance nudges designed to help consumers make better choices have both short-term (high sales) and long-term (few product returns) benefits. Although pressure-driven nudges offer slightly higher short-term benefits (high sales), they eventually engender unfavorable long-term outcomes (high product returns) for consumers and online retailers. Finally, using return-adjusted net sales as performance measures, the authors find that self-assurance-based nudges are as effective in stimulating purchase as those that capitalize on scarcity and social pressure.

Direct mail to prospects and email to current customers? Modeling and field-testing multichannel marketing

Multichannel retailers need to understand how to allocate marketing budgets to customer segments and online and offline sales channels. We propose an integrated methodological approach to assess how email and direct mail effectiveness vary by channel and customer value segment. We apply this approach to an international beauty retailer in six countries and to an apparel retailer in the United States. We estimate multi-equation hierarchical linear models and find that sales responsiveness to email and direct mail varies by customer value segment. Specifically, direct mail drives customer acquisition in the offline channel, while email drives sales for both online and offline channels for current customer segments. A randomized field experiment with the beauty retailer provides causal support for the findings. The proposed reallocation of marketing resources would yield a revenue lift of 13.5% for the beauty retailer and 9.3% for the apparel retailer, compared with the 6.5% actual increase in the field experiment.

Does Sustainability Attract Crowdinvestors? Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment

Does Sustainability Attract Crowdinvestors? Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment

Improving Community College Students’ Success in Math: Findings From Two Utility-Value Studies

Although designed to prepare students for future coursework or to fulfill basic degree requirements, introductory math courses often serve as barriers to student success. In two double-blind randomized field experiments, we tested the efficacy of a utility-value intervention on improving community college students’ perceived math relevance and achievement in introductory math courses. Building upon prior research, we examined whether the intervention particularly benefited first-generation and racially marginalized students. Study 1 (N = 696) was conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic and within in-person classrooms, whereas Study 2 (N = 1,318) was conducted during the pandemic and within virtual learning environments. Across Studies 1 and 2, students in the utility-value condition benefited more in terms of their perceived relevance compared to their peers in the control condition. Additionally, in both studies, math relevance mediated the effects of the intervention on math grades. In Study 2, with a larger sample, the positive effect of the intervention on math relevance was more pronounced for first-generation students. Our findings imply that community colleges could significantly improve students’ academic experiences by investing in motivation-enhancing activities such as utility-value interventions in introductory math courses. This strategy could especially help first-generation students’ academic achievement and retention rates.

Academic dishonesty and monitoring in online exams: a randomized field experiment

Cheating in online exams without face-to-face proctoring has been a general concern for academic instructors during the crisis caused by COVID-19. The main goal of this work is to evaluate the cost of these dishonest practices by comparing the academic performance of webcam-proctored students and their unproctored peers in an online gradable test. With this aim in mind, we carried out a randomized field experiment using a simple video surveillance system through Google Meet during an online closed-book final exam of an Introduction to Microeconomics course. Given that all conditions except for webcam monitoring were identical, differences in between-subjects scores are attributed to academic dishonesty. After controlling for potential confounding factors, including gender, academic degree, instructor, previous score and whether students were repeaters or not, we found that those students who were proctored via webcam obtained statistically significant lower scores in the final exam than those who were not using this surveillance system with a low level of invasiveness. Inspection of the potential factors behind these differences in scores suggests that the poorer performance of proctored students is more related to academic dishonesty than to reasons involving anxiety or heterogeneity factors.

Leadership shaping social comparison to improve performance: A field experiment

We analyze a fundamental, but so far unaddressed, aspect of leadership and social comparison: how leadership can influence the employee social comparison processes inherent to performance contexts such that they are more conducive to subsequent performance. Based on the observation that people tend to compare in counterproductive ways, which detracts from future performance, we advance and test theory on how leaders can improve employee performance by influencing the social comparison processes between them. Results from a randomized field experiment in a contact center with objective performance data from 290 employees show that leadership focused on influencing assimilative social comparison improved performance in the five months after the intervention. As hypothesized, this effect was mediated by employee assimilative social comparison and was only obtained when leaders created a collaborative context in which to influence the assimilative social comparison. Our theory and findings have important implications for both leadership and social comparison research.

Gamified monetary reward designs: Offering certain versus chance‐based rewards

AbstractTo motivate visitors to engage with websites, e‐tailers widely employ monetary rewards (e.g., vouchers, discounts) in their website designs. With advances in user interface technologies, many e‐tailers have started to offer gamified monetary reward designs (MRDs), which require visitors to earn the monetary reward by playing a game, rather than simply claiming the reward. However, little is known about whether and why gamified MRDs engage visitors compared to their non‐gamified counterpart. Even less is known about the effectiveness of gamified MRDs when providing certain or chance‐based rewards, in that visitors do or do not know what reward they will gain for successfully performing in the game. Drawing on cognitive evaluation theory, we investigate gamified MRDs with certain or chance‐based rewards and contrast them to non‐gamified MRDs with certain rewards in user registration systems. Our results from a multi‐method approach encompassing the complementary features of a randomised field experiment (N = 651) and a randomised online experiment (N = 330) demonstrate differential effects of the three investigated MRDs on user registration. Visitors encountering either type of gamified MRD are more likely to register than those encountering a non‐gamified MRD. Moreover, gamified MRDs with chance‐based rewards have the highest likelihood of user registrations. We also show that MRDs have distinct indirect effects on user registration via anticipated experiences of competence and sensation. Overall, the paper offers theoretical insights and practical guidance on how and why gamified MRDs are effective for e‐tailers.

Examining the effects of physician burnout on pain management for patients with advanced lung cancer.

Physician burnout is generally associated with worse clinical outcomes. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of physician burnout on the quality of physicians' pain assessment and opioid prescribing for patients with advanced lung cancer. Moreover, we test whether these relationships are moderated by patient-level factors, such as patient race and activation level, that have a demonstrated impact on clinical encounters. We conducted a secondary analysis of data from a multisite randomized field experiment. From 2012 to 2016, 96 primary care physicians and oncologists who treated solid tumors were recruited from hospitals and medical sites in three small metropolitan and rural areas in the USA. Physicians saw two unannounced standardized patients who presented with advanced lung cancer. Standardized patients varied across race (Black or White) and activation level (activated, typical). Visits were audio recorded and transcribed. Pain management was evaluated by the quality of pain assessment and opioid prescribing during these visits. Mixed-effects linear regression and generalized mixed-effects modeling showed that higher levels of burnout were associated with a greater likelihood of prescribing an opioid and prescribing stronger opioid doses for patients. These effects were not moderated by patient race or activation level. Findings from this work inform our understanding of physician-level factors that impact clinical decision-making in the context of cancer pain management. Specifically, this study identifies the role of physician burnout on the quality of prescribing for patients with advanced lung cancer.

The effect of information and subsidy on adoption of solar lanterns: An application of the BDM bidding mechanism in rural Ethiopia

The transition to solar energy to provide clean lighting for rural households in developing countries has been slow. Using a Becker-DeGroot-Marschak (BDM) bidding mechanism in a randomized field experiment, this study investigated the effect of information and subsidy policy instruments on the uptake of solar lanterns. The BDM approach used provides a more comprehensive and more transparent approach for eliciting willingness to pay (WTP), as our random draw is from a wide range of uniformly distributed prices, drawn in front of the subjects. We found that an increase in subsidy level increases the adoption rate. Provision of information about private and public benefits of the solar lantern did not have a significant effect on adoption rate and willingness to pay. Households with access to grid electricity have a lower WTP for the solar lantern and are thus less likely to adopt. Consistent with previous studies, the results suggest that universal electricity and clean energy access may not be achieved without subsidizing household-level solar lighting.

The heterogeneous effects of social support on the adoption of Facebook’s vaccine profile frames feature

Achieving widespread COVID-19 vaccine acceptance is a key step to global recovery from the pandemic, but hesitancy towards vaccination remains a major challenge. Social proof, where a person’s attitude towards vaccination is influenced by their belief in the attitudes of their social network, has been shown to be effective for making in-roads upon hesitancy. However, it is not easy to know the attitudes of one’s network, nor reliably signal one’s own feelings towards COVID-19 vaccines, minimizing the impact of the social influence channel. To address this issue, Facebook launched a feature that enables users to overlay a message indicating that they support vaccination upon their profile picture. To raise awareness of these vaccine profile frames (VPFs), users received a variety of promotional messages from Facebook, a subset of which contained the social context of friends who had already adopted the frame. Leveraging this variation in promotional messaging, we analyzed the adoption pattern of VPFs in the US to determine the most effective strategies to drive VPF usage. We found that adoption is driven by a pattern of complex diffusion, where multiple exposures to the adoption decisions of others increased VPF uptake, and that there is substantial heterogeneity in the adoption response associated with prior vaccine beliefs, whether the promotion had a social component and closeness of the tie included in social promotions. Specifically, we observed resistance to adoption correlated with an aversion to follow authoritative health pages and stronger adoption effects from social promotions containing close friends. We also confirmed this finding of the value of strong ties through a randomized field experiment and heterogeneous treatment effects modeling. In contrast to studies that have shown the importance of less close relationships in vaccine decision-making, we found little effect from awareness of VPF adoption by weak ties. Finally, we detected no significant backfire effect for expressing support for COVID-19 vaccines via VPFs. Together, these results suggest that social proof provided by close friends may be a key driver for messaging campaigns intended to drive prosocial behavior such as publicly promoting vaccination and that these campaigns do not necessarily come with adverse experiences for adopters, even for a polarizing issue such as vaccines.

Effects of supplemental instruction on grades, mental well-being, and belonging: A field experiment

Supplemental Instruction (SI) is a form of structured peer guidance attached to a specific course, provided by an experienced and trained student to a group of students. Previous studies show a positive effect of SI on learning outcomes, some found effects on well-being, and sense of belonging. However, literature on SI lacks randomized controlled trials and does not fully address the risk of self-selection bias. The current study tested whether SI has an effect on grades, mental well-being, and sense of belonging with a pre-registered randomized field experiment and a sample of 493 Dutch first-year students. Students who were offered SI obtained significantly higher grades (d = 0.26) but did not score significantly different on mental well-being or belonging.

P17-069-23 Warning Labels are Effective in Reducing Intent to Purchase Unhealthy Packaged Foods in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A Randomized Field Experiment

P17-069-23 Warning Labels are Effective in Reducing Intent to Purchase Unhealthy Packaged Foods in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A Randomized Field Experiment

Startups’ demand for accounting expertise: evidence from a randomized field experiment

AbstractWe conduct a randomized field experiment (RFE) to assess whether startup firms perceive accounting expertise as an important investor credential. We send 13,358 unsolicited and unique emails to active startup firms across the US, showing an interest in them with a proposition to meet a bogus investor. The experiment has high response rates, with 4,535 (33.94%) opened emails and 828 (6.19%) website visits, reflecting investors’ proliferating practice of outbound origination to contact new startups. Our RFE compares startup reactions to fictitious investors with certified public accountant (CPA) designations versus two control groups: investors without credentials and those with other professional licenses. Startup firms are 48% likelier to read unsolicited emails from CPA-bearing investors and 47% likelier to visit their websites, relative to investors with a medical license. We document an analogous preference for CPA-bearing investors even when we separately analyze startups in medical-related industries. This gap persists when investors pose as angels, venture capitalists (VCs), or without professional licenses. The relatively low percentage (2.5%) of email bounces and spam reports makes it unlikely that spam algorithms drive the findings. Further tests reveal that the response rates differ by firm age, which is inconsistent with spam filter explanations but congruent with startup firms’ demand for accounting expertise. Finally, we undertake a follow-up experiment with 3,443 new startups to distinguish between accounting and general business expertise using a master’s in business administration (MBA). Startups are 13.8% likelier to read emails from a CPA-bearing investor than from an MBA-credentialed investor and 22.6% more likely to visit the CPA-bearing investor’s website.

Children's oral health behaviour and new preventative health products in rural China

AbstractHow to help children develop good health habits and improve people's health to eventually promote the quality of labour productivity are important issues for developing countries. Understanding how consumers adopt and demand new health products can also help governments or non‐governmental organizations design more effective interventions. This study utilizes surveys and randomized field experiments conducted in a rural village in China to study the impact of oral health promotion education on children's demand for dental floss picks and their health behaviour. Our results show that children are highly sensitive to price. Children who were exposed to the oral health promotion intervention—learning to sing the oral health song—were willing to pay more for dental floss picks, but the actual quantity bought in the experiment was not significantly higher than that in the control group. In a follow‐up survey, we find that subjects increased their frequency of toothbrushing on average, but the spillover effects were not as strong as those in the literature. More risk‐loving subjects reported a higher willingness to pay during the experiment, but they were less likely to tell their family about the product during the camp or try to buy floss picks after the camp. This finding helps reconcile disparate results about risk preference in earlier literature. Lastly, we find no evidence that time preference affects demand or health behaviour.

INDUSTRIAL HEMP VARIETIES PRODUCTIVITY POTENTIAL IN THE LATVIAN CLIMATIC CONDITIONS

Varieties grown for fibre-only will be established, managed and harvested differently than varieties grown for seeds or dual-purpose. The aim was analysed yield productivity and length of vegetation period dependency of the two types of hemp variety and identified perspective hemp variety for highest yield under different meteorological conditions in Latvia. Varieties/line from diverse European and Latvian origin (seed hemp varieties/ line 'Adzelvieši', 'Pūriņi', KA-2-2011, 'Finola', 'Henola' and fibre hemp varieties 'USO 31', 'Futura 75', 'Austa') were sown in randomized field experiments in Latvia. Biomass, stem, seed yield, fibre contents and vegetation period length were assessed across tree growing seasons from 2020 to 2022. Results show that hemp, seeds and fibre varieties/line, performed well giving high yield productivity between variety. Agrometeorological conditions for hemp growth and yield were favourable in 2022. In Latvian local climatic conditions, the seed hemp line KA-2-2011 and fibre hemp variety ‘Futura 75’ identified significant higher of biomass and stem yield as well as the seed hemp variety ‘Henola’ and fibre hemp variety ‘Austa’ significant higher of seed yield and fibre contents. The yield potential dependent from length of vegetation period length. The trial analyses identified positive and significant correlations between length of vegetation period and biomass (r = 0.97), stem yield (r = 0.98), and negative between length of vegetation period and seed yield (r = -0.89).

Non-monetary incentives to increase enrollment in payments for environmental services

Abstract Payments for Environmental Services (PESs) are increasingly used to foster farmers’ adoption of greener practices, but their effectiveness is often undermined by low enrollment. In a large randomized field experiment (N = 20,000), we test several non-monetary incentives to increase enrollment into the French implementation of the Agri-Environmental Schemes program of the European Union. We find that sending 10,000 information letters triggers the enrollment of 75 ± 52 farmers at a cost of 102 $\pm\ $71 Euros/new enrollee. Pre-stamped reply forms increase contacts with caseworkers but fail to raise enrollment. Testimonies by other farmers seem to decrease the effectiveness of the letters. Diffusion effects could increase the impact of our non-monetary incentives by 40% to 50% and decrease the cost of an additional enrollee by around 30%.

The impact of growth mindset training on entrepreneurial action among necessity entrepreneurs: Evidence from a randomized control trial

AbstractResearch SummaryAlthough entrepreneurship training programs are designed to help necessity entrepreneurs acquire skills and capabilities to take entrepreneurial action, participants in these programs often fail to do so. In partnership with a local government agency, we conducted a randomized field experiment involving 165 entrepreneurs in rural Tanzania where in addition to providing technical‐skills training, approximately half of the participants also received “growth mindset” psychological training. Those who received the growth mindset training displayed more entrepreneurial action in their business than those in the control group. Importantly, higher levels of entrepreneurial self‐efficacy mediated the positive impact on entrepreneurial action displayed by participants who received the growth mindset training. We discuss how complementing traditional technical‐based training with growth mindset training can improve the efficacy of entrepreneurship training programs.Managerial SummaryEntrepreneurship training programs often fall short in translating knowledge into action. To address this issue, we conducted an experiment with 165 entrepreneurs in rural Tanzania. All participants received technical‐skills training, but half were also exposed to “growth mindset” training. Those who received the growth mindset training displayed greater initiative in business growth. The newfound confidence and grit they gained empowered them to apply learned principles effectively, ultimately enhancing the effectiveness of entrepreneurship training programs.

Equity Crowdfunding and Access to Capital for User Entrepreneurs: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment

We examine whether equity crowdfunding democratizes access to funding for nontraditional user entrepreneurs. User entrepreneurs start by creating a product to serve their own unmet needs with no expectations of monetary profit, then later decide to commercialize the product through entrepreneurship. In contrast, traditional (producer) entrepreneurs take a more profit-driven path to entrepreneurship and start by identifying an opportunity that has commercial potential. Through a randomized field experiment, we randomly reveal to some investors that a firm producing a product used by musicians is founded by a musician and conceal this founder-related information from other investors. Revealing the information suggests that the firm is a user innovator firm and concealing it suggests that the firm is a traditional producer firm. We find that investors are significantly more interested in the traditional producer firm. Through an additional field experiment, we identify that the bias against user entrepreneurs is statistical (based on a response to limited information) rather than taste based (based on an idiosyncratic dislike). Our findings suggest that user entrepreneurs can mitigate investor bias by displaying signals of quality such as those regarding firm growth and broad product appeal.

Creating Effective Marketing Messages Through Moderately Surprising Syntax

Language is critical to the effectiveness of marketing messages. Achieving a desired outcome requires arranging words to formulate a message (i.e., syntax), but this task is not trivial. The authors study the role of syntax in marketing communications by focusing on syntactic surprise (i.e., how unexpected the syntax of a message is). They introduce a measure that captures syntactic surprise, establishes its internal and external validity, and tests its effectiveness for marketing messages. In a series of studies that include field data and randomized field experiments from contexts such as donations, advertising, and product reviews, the authors show that a message's syntactic surprise is related to its effectiveness. This relationship follows an inverted U-shape, such that medium-syntactic-surprise messages are the most effective. The authors then conduct experiments on Facebook and Instagram to demonstrate how these findings can be used to write effective marketing messages. In collaboration with two independent companies, they show that ads for products, services, or jobs that are written with medium syntactic surprise result in higher click-through rates than ads written with low or high syntactic surprise.