Targeting, Personalization, and Engagement in an Agricultural Advisory Service

Last registered on March 15, 2024
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Targeting, Personalization, and Engagement in an Agricultural Advisory Service
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013161
Initial registration date
March 10, 2024

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
March 15, 2024, 6:48 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
India
Region
An eastern state in India

Primary Investigator

Name
Jessica Zhu
Affiliation
Precision Development
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2021-05-01
End date
2023-12-31
Keywords
Agriculture, Other
Additional Keywords
Recommendation Systems, Agricultural Extension Services, Causal Inference
JEL code(s)
O13, C90, Q16
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Information and Communication Technology is increasingly used to deliver customized information in developing countries. We examine whether individually targeting timing of automated voice calls increases engagement in an agricultural advisory service. We design, estimate, and evaluate a novel recommendation system that customizes contact times to individual characteristics.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Zhu, Jessica . 2024. "Targeting, Personalization, and Engagement in an Agricultural Advisory Service." AEA RCT Registry. March 15. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13161-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2021-10-05
Intervention End Date
2021-11-23

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Service engagement, such as pick up rate and listening rate.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The experiment was conducted over six weeks in October and November 2021. Every week, we sent an agricultural advisory push call to nearly 1 million farmers, prioritizing advisories on rice, one of the most important staple crops in this Indian state. In week 1 and 3, all push calls were scheduled using uniform randomization. In week 2, 4, 5, and 6, approximately ⅓ randomly selected farmers received push calls at time defined by target policy, and the rest ⅔ farmers received push calls at time defined by uniform randomization.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
We conduct randomization using the R program.
Randomization Unit
Individual farmer level.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
Approximate 881,891 farmers.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Uniform policy: approximately 587,608 farmers.
Targeted policy: approximately 227,386 farmers.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
November 23, 2021, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
November 23, 2021, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
N/A
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
881,891 farmers.
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
In the last week of experiment: Uniform policy: 587,608 farmers. Targeted policy: 227,386 farmers.
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
No
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials