Intervention (Hidden)
The following information is extracted from the NUS-IRB Social, Behavioural and Educational Research (SBER) Exemption, approved on July 25, 2022:
"The financial institution (FI) regularly advertises consumption goods to its client base and these experiments will be no different. Over a 14-week period, email communications will provide accurate and up-to-date information that is potentially relevant to the client and to society. The FI also provides loans for the purchase of durable goods such as cars, but its clients are free to obtain loans from any provider in the market (e.g., any other FI or auto loan provider). At the end of the experimental campaign, the FI will survey its clients’ choices irrespective of whether they obtained loans through the FI.
The relationship between the Principal Investigator (PI) and the FI is not commercial and there are no payments between the parties. The partnership seeks publication of the experimental findings in scientific journals. The FI seeks visibility as a contributor to helping Singapore reach its Green Plan 2030 goals, specifically the Energy Reset pillar.
Through the PI and with the support of NUS’s Industry Engagements and Partnerships at the Provost’s Office, NUS and the FI signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement on 28 June 2022. The signee for NUS was FASS’s Vice-Dean for Research, Professor Elaine Ho.
The FI will not transfer any identifiable information about the participating clients. A list of postcodes will be used by NUS in order to extract the number of EV charging points in the vicinity of client residences, but without linking to specific client demographics. For NUS, each participant will have an anonymous ID that cannot be linked to the participant’s identity, and name and email address will not be shared by the FI. Only demographic information (age, gender, income, education, petrol and public transit spending) and the participant’s choices after the experimental campaign (and by treatment group) will be shared.
The PI is collaborating with an NUS Research Institute, Global Asia Institute (GAI), on this research project. In addition to human resources, some of whom are collaborators on the project (Professor Noah Lim, Dr Bing Yang Tan), GAI will host information websites prepared from publicly available information only, including prices (e.g., cars, fuel and electricity, taxes and rebates, social cost of carbon).
The PI is also collaborating with Professor Shanjun Li at Cornell University."