Suspense as a persuader

Last registered on October 17, 2023
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Suspense as a persuader
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0012307
Initial registration date
October 16, 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
October 17, 2023, 1:53 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
China
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Lidingrong Huang
Affiliation
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Ye Jin
PI Affiliation
NYU Shanghai
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2023-10-24
End date
2024-01-31
Keywords
Behavior
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
On the e-commerce platform, there are many products listed for sale online. We can search for the products we want to buy and we click on the product thumbnails and be taken to a detailed online product page where the purchase decisions can be made. For a given product, we can create 3 parallel online product pages. People are randomised into one of them upon clicking on the product and randomisation is at individual-customer level using their unique customer IDs. In this field experiment we use the elements of suspense and surprise to persuade online customers to make favourable purchase decisions. We randomise customers into one control and two treatment groups. We explore how suspense influences customer behaviour.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Huang, Lidingrong and Ye Jin. 2023. "Suspense as a persuader." AEA RCT Registry. October 17. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12307-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
For a given product listed for sale on the e-commerce platform, we can create 3 parallel online product pages. People are randomised into one of them upon clicking on the product and randomisation is at individual-customer level using their unique customer IDs.

Control group: on the product page, we do not manipulate anything.
Treatment group 1: we offer no suspense
Treatment group 2: we add suspense
Intervention Start Date
2023-10-24
Intervention End Date
2024-01-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The binary decision of whether customers decide to purchase the product
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Control group: on the product page, we do not manipulate anything.
Treatment group 1: we offer no suspense
Treatment group 2: we add suspense
Experimental Design Details
Control group: on the product page, we do not manipulate anything.
Treatment group 1: on the page we show that customers can get a free gift if they buy and we tell them what it is exactly.
Treatment group 2: on the page we tell them they will get a free gift that comes with the product but we do not tell them what the gift is, thus creating 'suspense and surprise'.

Subjects are online customers and control variables are their online shopping data e.g. the total amount of money they have spent on the platform etc. Key outcome variable of interest is their immediate decision on whether they decide to click the `buy button'.

The element of suspense that comes with the purchase may nudge people towards buying, changing their economic decision-making.
Randomization Method
For a given product, we can create 3 parallel online product pages. People are randomised into one of them upon clicking on the product and randomisation is at individual-customer level using their unique customer IDs.
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Around 20,000 customers
Sample size: planned number of observations
Around 20,000 customers
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
7,000
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
The Economics & Business Ethics Committee (EBEC) at the University of Amsterdam
IRB Approval Date
2023-07-15
IRB Approval Number
EB-3793
Analysis Plan

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