Narratives, Trust, and Market Exchange

Last registered on April 02, 2024
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Narratives, Trust, and Market Exchange
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013261
Initial registration date
March 28, 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
April 02, 2024, 11:12 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Argentina
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Juan Pedro Ronconi
Affiliation
Universidad de los Andes, Chile
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Pablo Balán
PI Affiliation
Tel Aviv University
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-03-28
End date
2024-04-05
Keywords
Behavior, Firms & Productivity
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Entrepreneurs face a range of obstacles in developing countries, including a low-skilled workforce and weak institutions. Moreover, for historical reasons, business legitimacy is low. In these contexts, new entrepreneurs seek to survive in hostile environments but often lack reputations. In this project, we explore the role of narratives as a dimension of business strategy in developing countries. Specifically, we ask whether narratives facilitate exchange. We test this hypothesis using a survey experiment that presents consumers with real and AI-generated online stores.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Balán, Pablo and Juan Pedro Ronconi. 2024. "Narratives, Trust, and Market Exchange." AEA RCT Registry. April 02. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13261-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Participants will be exposed to two different experiments. In each experiment they will receive different sets of information related to online stores - in particular, their reputation and their narrative, as presented in the About Us section of each store. Experiment 1 involves real stores while Experiment 2 involves an AI-generated store. The objective is to estimate the causal impact of the different sets of information on demand.
Intervention Start Date
2024-03-28
Intervention End Date
2024-04-05

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The primary outcomes of interest are questions measuring demand or willingness to buy from each store.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
After answering some questions on baseline characteristics, participants will be sequentially exposed to information about two online stores, one real and one AI-generated.
Experimental Design Details
In the real store section, participants will be randomized into one of four possible arms: a control group or one of three possible treatments: (1) receiving information on reputation, (2) receiving the store's narrative, or (3) receiving both. In the AI-geneated store section, participants will be randomized into one of five possible arms: a control group or one of four possible store narratives, focused on (1) storytelling, (2), values, (3) product information, and (4) customer service. In this section, participants will also be randomly exposed to a prime about the narrative’s credibility.
Randomization Method
Randomization through Qualtrics.
Randomization Unit
The unit of randomization is the individual-experiment level. That is, each individual is randomized into treatment arms twice: once for each experiment.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
n/a
Sample size: planned number of observations
2,000
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
The sample will be divided equally across treatment arms in both experiments.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Tel-Aviv University Ethics Committee
IRB Approval Date
2024-02-06
IRB Approval Number
007688-1
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