The Role of Peers and Experience in Shaping the Demand for Cultural Leisure Activities.

Last registered on June 28, 2023

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The Role of Peers and Experience in Shaping the Demand for Cultural Leisure Activities.
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0011602
Initial registration date
June 21, 2023

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 28, 2023, 2:51 PM EDT

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

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
University of Turin

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
University of Turin and Collegio Carlo Alberto
PI Affiliation
University of Turin and Collegio Carlo Alberto

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2023-06-26
End date
2024-07-26
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
In this study, we plan to better understand the role of peers and experience in shaping the demand for cultural activities, in our case museum visits and museum membership purchases. Museum membership cards ("Abbonamento Musei Piemonte") in the Italian region of Piedmont allow members to visit partnering museums’ for one year without limits.

We plan to have three distinct treatments. In the first, we induce an additional peer through a referral program, where a referring museum member (M) receives a discount for a new membership card that he/she can share with a friend (F). In the second, we induce an extra visit rewarding M with a small gadget that he/she can pick up after visiting a specific museum. The third group of treated Ms receives a discount and the gadget, identifying complementarities in cultural consumption between experience and peers.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Campaniello, Nadia , Giovanni Mastrobuoni and Vincenzo Mollisi. 2023. "The Role of Peers and Experience in Shaping the Demand for Cultural Leisure Activities.." AEA RCT Registry. June 28. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.11602-1.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2023-06-26
Intervention End Date
2024-07-26

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
There are four sets out outcomes we plan to analyze:
1. The take-up rate of treated members (visits at the Automobile Museum, MAUTO, where they can receive a gadget, and referrals of friends)
2. Museum visits of M and F, and M with F as well as visits with other peers (multiple visits to the same museum at the same time are a good proxy of joint visits).
3. Membership renewals of M and F (we are going to observe renewals of F only if we can extend the analysis beyond one year).
4. a) Self-reported visitor’s sentiment about museums (R. scale)
b) Self-reported visitor’s addiction to museums (R. scale)
c) Self-reported visitor’s WTP for museums membership (R. scale)
and compare their answers with the ex-ante survey (the ex-ante full survey is attached to this pre-registration.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The Museums Membership Association (Associazione Abbonamento Musei) is going to email four randomly assigned messages. Each group will represent 25 percent of the pool of card members. The first group is going to receive a neutral message and acts as a control group. The first treated group is going to receive a similar message with, in addition, a voucher for the discounted purchase of a new membership. The voucher expires within a month and can be used at the Automobile Museum of Turin, Italy (MAUTO). The second treatment group is going to be incentivized to visit a museum. He/she receives a similar message to the control group and in addition a message that informs him/her that he/she can pick up a little gadget at the MAUTO after a visit. The third treatment group receives both the possibility to pick up a gadget and the voucher for a discount on a new membership.

Dear member,
(To control and treatment groups:) We wanted to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude for your continued support and membership in AMMP. In addition, we would like to thank you for filling out our July survey.
(In addition, to Treatment group 1 and 3:)
Over the next 4 weeks, a friend of yours can use the voucher below to purchase an AMMP annual subscription at a discounted price by presenting this email at the Turin Automobile Museum (MAUTO) ticket office.
CodeVoucher XXX393
(In addition to the treatment groups 2 and 3:) To further thank you, we would like to present you with a nice gadget that you can request at the MAUTO bookshop. You will be able to request the gift at the end of your visit to the museum by presenting this e-mail along with your admission ticket. The ticket will be issued at the ticket office once the subscription is presented.
*****************************
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
The target population for the experiment are 5083 survey respondents with an active membership in June 2023. The survey has been sent in July 2022 to all people who purchased an “Abbonamento Musei” membership. We randomize the visitors' assignment to the different arms of the experiment using a completely randomized experimental approach.

An individual is assigned either to a control (only an informational email) or to a treatment group. There are three possible treatments:
1) treatment 1 (voucher for F)
2) treatment 2 (gift for M);
3) treatment 3 (voucher for F + gift for M);
Randomization Unit
The randomization unit is the visitor.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Potentially we have 5083 units
Sample size: planned number of observations
The planned number of observations is 5083.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
If C denotes the control, T, T', and T'' are the treatments, the planned sample size is Num(.) to be Num(C) = Num(T) = Num(T') = Num(T'') =1270 of either control or treated M.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number

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