Encouraging Consumer Acceptance of Cost-Reflective Electricity Tariffs: Evidence from a Randomized Survey Experiment

Last registered on March 19, 2024
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Encouraging Consumer Acceptance of Cost-Reflective Electricity Tariffs: Evidence from a Randomized Survey Experiment
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013211
Initial registration date
March 18, 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 19, 2024, 5:27 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Korea (Republic of)
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Booyuel Kim
Affiliation
Seoul National University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Syngjoo Choi
PI Affiliation
Seoul National University
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Hyunwoo Hong
PI Affiliation
Chungnam National University
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2024-01-01
End date
2024-04-30
Keywords
Behavior, Environment & Energy
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Disconnect between the escalating costs of energy sources and the corresponding adjustments in electricity tariffs has become increasingly apparent in South Korea. When electricity prices are not cost-reflecting, this may distort electricity consumers’ behaviors and increase operational risks of electricity companies. Thus, it is important to make electricity tariffs flexible enough to absorb cost fluctuation and to examine consumer preferences on cost-reflective electricity pricing. To this end, we conduct a randomized survey experiment to explore potential information interventions to enhance consumers’ willingness to accept cost-reflective electricity tariffs. Furthermore, a conjoint experiment is supplemented to identify consumer preferences on the various attributes of cost-reflective electricity pricing.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Choi, Syngjoo, Hyunwoo Hong and Booyuel Kim. 2024. "Encouraging Consumer Acceptance of Cost-Reflective Electricity Tariffs: Evidence from a Randomized Survey Experiment." AEA RCT Registry. March 19. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13211-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
See the attached pre-analysis plan.
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2024-02-28
Intervention End Date
2024-03-14

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The answers to the following two questions after the information treatment are our key outcome variables of interest in this survey experiment. 1) What proportion of the change in cost for electricity production do they think is willing to accept?, 2) What percentage of this change do they believe should be fair for consumers to bear?
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
See the attached pre-analysis plan.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in the survey company office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
individual survey participants
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1
Sample size: planned number of observations
3,500 electricity consumers
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
875 survey participants in control group and 875 individuals in each of three treatment groups.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Seoul National University IRB
IRB Approval Date
2024-02-19
IRB Approval Number
IRB No. 2402/003-007
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

Pre-analysis Plan for "Encouraging Consumer Acceptance of Cost-Reflective Electricity Tariffs: Evidence from a Randomized Survey Experiment"

MD5: e899858edf74cc78c9e741376daa7d25

SHA1: 9e6ec1eeba9d4bcaea5035275529d3895d8b6642

Uploaded At: March 18, 2024

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

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