Simultaneous Effect of Monetary and Non-Monetary Interventions on Crowd-Funding

Last registered on September 10, 2018
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Simultaneous Effect of Monetary and Non-Monetary Interventions on Crowd-Funding
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0003297
Initial registration date
September 08, 2018

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
September 10, 2018, 1:57 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
Japan
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Tetsuya Kawamura
Affiliation
Japan University of Economics
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2015-04-10
End date
2015-04-15
Keywords
Environment & Energy
Additional Keywords
Donation
JEL code(s)
C72, C93, D64
Secondary IDs
Abstract
An understanding of crowd funding—an increasingly attractive alternative means of financing research and development—could assist effective campaign design. A randomized control trial online field experiment determined which participants donated toward the research and development of next-generation space power plants, and which of three intervention types facilitate donation: “matching”, “social pressure” and “matching & pressure”. Results indicate that: (1) all intervention types increased the donation rates significantly; (2) the total effects of “matching” and “pressure” surpassed the effect of “matching & pressure” for participants with low intrinsic motives, but not for participants with high intrinsic motives.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Kawamura, Tetsuya. 2018. "Simultaneous Effect of Monetary and Non-Monetary Interventions on Crowd-Funding ." AEA RCT Registry. September 10. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.3297-1.0
Former Citation
Kawamura, Tetsuya. 2018. "Simultaneous Effect of Monetary and Non-Monetary Interventions on Crowd-Funding ." AEA RCT Registry. September 10. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/3297/history/33993
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Matching to the donation, social pressure to the donors and both interventions
Intervention Start Date
2015-04-10
Intervention End Date
2015-04-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1. Donation rates of all the participants
2. The results of questionnaire for the attitudes to the donation target
3. Donation rates with high intrinsic motives
4. Donation rates with low intrinsic motives
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
The donation rates in all the treatment groups ("matching", "pressure" and "matching & pressure") are significantly higher than in the control group.
If participants have low intrinsic motives, all interventions increase the donation rate. Therefore, the crowding out of “matching” on intrinsic motives is not observed.
If participants have high intrinsic motives, “matching” does not significantly increase donation. “Matching” crowded out the intrinsic motives of the participants, and the intervention effect of “matching” disappeared. In contrast, “pressure” and “matching & pressure” statistically significantly increased the donation rate.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
1. The results of questionnaire for the attitudes to the donation target
2. Donation rates with high intrinsic motives
3. Donation rates with low intrinsic motives
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
The sub-additive synergy, wherein the simultaneous intervention effects are smaller than the sum of the separate intervention effects, is confirmed for the participants with low intrinsic motives. However, there is no significant difference between the simultaneous intervention effect and the sum of the separate intervention effects for the participants with high intrinsic motives..

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups ( 1) the “matching” group; 2) the “pressure” group; 3) the “matching &pressure” group; and 4) the control group) and asked to donate as much money as they preferred. In each group, 525 persons (in total, 2,100 persons) participated in the experiment.
At the beginning of the experiment, participants received an explanation on the R&D of the next-generation space power plant. The explanatory text was based on the home page of the research agency and the explanatory materials of the Council on the Budget Request of the Country. Following the explanation, participants chose their own attitude toward the R&D of the next-generation space power plant from four options (strongly oppose, oppose, approve, or strongly approve).
Next, participants were asked to solve ten calculation problems within ten minutes. The problem involved selecting rows or columns such that the total of the numerical values was 10 from a 3 × 4 table in which figures were displayed to the second decimal point. They received 20 JPY for each correct answer.
After their endowment was confirmed, they were randomly assigned one of four conditions, and decided on the donation rate. The percentage allocated for donation is given in increments of 10 percent, from 0–100 percent. The rest of the endowment is the participant’s reward.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Experimental sessions
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
4 groups
Sample size: planned number of observations
2100 participants
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
525 for control group, 525 for matching group, 525 for pressure group and 525 for matching & pressure group
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
April 15, 2015, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
April 15, 2015, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
4 groups
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
2100 participants
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
525 for control group, 525 for matching group, 525 for pressure group and 525 for matching & pressure group
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

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Program Files

Program Files
No
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials