Budgeting, Feedback, and Spending Decisions - Study Extension and Replication

Last registered on December 17, 2016

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Budgeting, Feedback, and Spending Decisions - Study Extension and Replication

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0000932

Initial registration date

October 30, 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

October 30, 2015, 12:44 AM EDT

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

Last updated

December 17, 2016, 10:19 PM EST

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country

Brazil

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

John Beshears

Affiliation

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Talia Gillis

PI Affiliation

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

Withdrawn

Start date

2015-11-01

End date

2016-01-01

Keywords

Finance & Microfinance

Additional Keywords

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Abstract

This trial extends the trial period for "Budgeting, Feedback, and Spending Decisions" (AEARCTR-0000889) and launches a replication of the original trial.

As of the date of this registration (October 30, 2015), the investigators have not received data regarding the spending decisions of individuals in the original study (AEARCTR-0000889). The partner company that is implementing the trial, however, has been tracking user engagement as a result of the trial (the frequency with which individuals in the study use the mobile app). The partner company has been pleased with the user engagement resulting from the trial and is expanding the research in two ways. First, individuals who are in the original trial will continue to receive the treatment to which they were originally randomly assigned beyond October. Second, additional individuals who are not part of the original trial will be randomized into a replication of the original trial.

The abstract from the original trial is pasted here: Working with the developers of a mobile phone app that helps individuals track their spending, we study whether giving users regular feedback (via push notifications) on their progress relative to their budgets influences spending on bank cards and credit cards. Users are randomly assigned to receive progress updates relative to narrow budget goals or relative to broad budget goals. A third group is randomly assigned not to receive progress updates.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Beshears, John and Talia Gillis. 2016. "Budgeting, Feedback, and Spending Decisions - Study Extension and Replication." AEA RCT Registry. December 17. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.932-6.0

Former Citation

Beshears, John and Talia Gillis. 2016. "Budgeting, Feedback, and Spending Decisions - Study Extension and Replication." AEA RCT Registry. December 17. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/932/history/12546

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Intervention Start Date

2015-11-01

Intervention End Date

2015-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

The end points for the original trial (AEARCTR-0000889) are unchanged.

For the replication study, the text here is pasted from the original trial (AEARCTR-0000889) but updates the dates for the replication study:
Our key outcome variable will be bank card and credit card spending during November 2015 in the key category (shopping, bars/restaurants, or supermarket) with the largest budget. Because the distribution of this variable will be highly skewed, we will focus on the logarithm of the variable and also plan to winsorize it (at the 99th percentile of its distribution, unless the distribution is so extreme that the 95th percentile is more appropriate). In order to increase statistical precision, we also plan to look at changes in the variable relative to October 2015 (it may not be possible, however, to obtain October 2015 data). As secondary analyses, we plan to conduct quantile regressions to study differences in the full distribution of the key outcome variable across treatment groups. We also plan to examine secondary outcome variables such as an indicator for whether or not the goal was achieved and actual spending as a proportion of budgeted spending. Finally, tertiary analyses will examine overall spending (as opposed to spending only within the key category with the largest budget).

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

The experimental design for the original trial (AEARCTR-0000889) is unchanged.

The experimental design for the replication study is the same as the experimental design for the original trial and includes three groups:
1) Broad budget goal - users receive push notifications providing feedback about spending relative to a broad budget goal
2) Narrow budget goal - users receive push notifications providing feedback about spending relative to a narrow budget goal
3) Control - users do not receive push notifications providing feedback on spending relative to budget goals

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization for the original trial (AEARCTR-0000889) has already taken place.

Randomization for the replication study is done in an office by a computer.

Randomization Unit

Randomization for the original trial (AEARCTR-0000889) has already taken place.

The unit of randomization for the replication study is the individual user.

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

Randomization for the original trial (AEARCTR-0000889) has already taken place.

The sample for the replication study will include approximately 27000 users (randomization is at the user level).

Sample size: planned number of observations

Randomization for the original trial (AEARCTR-0000889) has already taken place. The sample for the replication study will include approximately 27000 users (randomization is at the user level).

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

Randomization for the original trial (AEARCTR-0000889) has already taken place.

In the replication study, the sample sizes by treatment arm are approximately: ~12000 in each of two treatment groups and ~3000 in control group

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

Randomization for the original trial (AEARCTR-0000889) has already taken place. For the replication study, the text here is pasted from the original trial (AEARCTR-0000889) but updates the sample sizes for the replication study: We do not have detailed data with which to perform precise power calculations, but we anticipate that the standard deviation of log winsorized spending in category in the month (in Brazilian reais) will be about about 1. In a comparison of the two treatment groups (~12000 users each), we have ~87% power with alpha=0.05 to detect a change of 0.04 in the variable (a 4% spending change). In a comparison of one of the treatment groups (~12000 users) to the control group (~3000 users), we have ~84% power with alpha=0.05 to detect a change of 0.06 in the variable (a 6% spending change).

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB