Effects of Aspirations and Scarcity on Cookstove Purchasing

Last registered on June 16, 2015

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Effects of Aspirations and Scarcity on Cookstove Purchasing
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0000737
Initial registration date
June 16, 2015

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
June 16, 2015, 7:29 AM EDT

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

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Busara Center for Behavioral Economics

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
Effects of Aspirations and Scarcity on Cookstove Purchasing

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2014-11-01
End date
2016-02-29
Secondary IDs
Abstract
The study aims to test the impact of two interventions designed to affect the decision to purchase improved cookstoves. In order to test the impact of the interventions, a sample of participants from Kibera, a large slum in Nairobi, were randomly selected into two treatment groups and one control group. All groups were subjected to personality tests and information was also collated on various demographic attributes prior to the treatments to allow determination of the causal effect of each treatment. At the end of the session respondents were all offered the option to purchase a cook stove in a lottery setting designed to establish the willingness to pay for a cook stove for each respondent. The two treatment groups were designed to test the impact of scarcity and as- pirations on the cook stove purchase decision. The control group received market- ing information about the benefits of improved cookstoves. The second and third treatment groups received the same marketing information in addition to another treatment. The second treatment group followed the format of the control except that participants were told that the number of cookstoves available for purchase was limited in order to generate a feeling of scarcity. The third treatment group received ‘aspirational’ thinking priming. Respondents were induced into an ‘aspirational mind-set’ through the use of spoken narratives. Further to testing the impact of the abovementioned interventions, the study also aims to test the impact of scarcity on participation rates in a health related information session.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Horn, Samantha and Fiona Lambe. 2015. "Effects of Aspirations and Scarcity on Cookstove Purchasing." AEA RCT Registry. June 16. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.737-1.0
Former Citation
Horn, Samantha and Fiona Lambe. 2015. "Effects of Aspirations and Scarcity on Cookstove Purchasing." AEA RCT Registry. June 16. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/737/history/4473
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2015-04-07
Intervention End Date
2015-05-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
What is the impact of marketing information on cook stove purchasing?
What is the impact of scarcity on cook stove purchasing?
What is the impact of aspirational priming on cook stove purchasing?
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Respondents were selected to take part in the study attended sessions at the computer based testing centre at the Busara Center for Behavioural Economics in Nairobi between April and May 2015. All information was administered via com- puter screens whilst an enumerator assisted respondents through the various stages of the treatment. All respondents took part in an initial data collection phase of the study. This initial phase involved a time-preference test, which gauged the appetite of the respondent to choose smaller amounts of money at a certain date, compared to a larger amount of money at a later date. Respondents were also subject to a Raven’s Test to measure cognitive ability, a number of demographic questions, and a personality test based off the Big Five personality traits.
Data from this phase of the study was designed for two main purposes. First, it will allow detection of correlations between personal traits and energy-saving household items. By carefully measuring personality and economic preference, it will be possible to determine if people with certain traits are highly correlated with both ownership and interest in energy-saving appliances. Second, the data will assist with the analysing of heterogeneous effects of priming on purchasing decisions. This will make it possible to identify how the treatments affect people of different types. After completion of the initial phase of the study respondents allocated to treatment groups then received the treatments specific to their groups.
After the treatments were administered, respondents revealed their willingness to purchase a cook stove via a lottery opportunity. Participants in all treatment groups were read marketing information on the cook stove available in the lottery. The cookstove was also held up so that respondents could view the item. Respondents were then asked to input a price that they were willing to pay for the item and told that a random lottery would dictate whether or not they would have the opportunity to buy the item. The respondent was told that in the case that their stated willingness to pay was higher than the price they would have to purchase the item.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Respondents selected from subject group and assigned to treatments at random by computer.
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
210 individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
210 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
70 individuals for three different treatment arms
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Maseno University
IRB Approval Date
2014-06-23
IRB Approval Number
None
Analysis Plan

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Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials