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Imperfect Information and Product Recommendations

Last registered on July 28, 2023

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Imperfect Information and Product Recommendations
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0011827
Initial registration date
July 23, 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
July 28, 2023, 1:34 PM EDT

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

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
U.C. Santa Cruz

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
Harvard Kennedy School
PI Affiliation
KDI School of Public Policy and Management

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2023-07-10
End date
2023-10-28
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study tests the impact on small shops in Lusaka, Zambia of recommending and subsidizing the adoption of new products.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Bai, Jie, David Sungho Park and Ajay Shenoy. 2023. "Imperfect Information and Product Recommendations." AEA RCT Registry. July 28. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.11827-1.0
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We recommend and subsidize the adoption of specific products to a randomly selected sample of shops.
Intervention Start Date
2023-07-20
Intervention End Date
2023-08-05

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Continuing to stock the product 2 months after the period of reimbursement ends
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
There will be two measures: self-report stocking, and stocking as measured independently by "mystery shoppers"

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Total profits, product-level profitability
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
There will be 3 treatment groups. One is control, one gets a fixed reimbursement for a single week's worth of purchases, and the other gets a fixed reimbursement for 2 weeks' worth of purchases.
Experimental Design Details
Shops are clustered into groups using a statistical learning algorithm. Recommended products are selected for each group, and randomization is done within product group.
Randomization Method
Randomization done by PIs using statistical software
Randomization Unit
Shops
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
334 shops
Sample size: planned number of observations
334 shops
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
110 shops control, 113 shops receive 1-week subsidy, 111 receive 2-week subsidy
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of California, Santa Cruz Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2023-07-05
IRB Approval Number
HS-FY2022-265

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