Social Nudges in Food Delivery

Last registered on April 16, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Social Nudges in Food Delivery
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013312
Initial registration date
April 06, 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 16, 2024, 1:02 PM EDT

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Joon Sang Yoon
Affiliation
Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Tianyu Zhang
PI Affiliation
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen
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PI Name
Kanyuan Huang
PI Affiliation
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen
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PI Name
Fangzhou Yu
PI Affiliation
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-04-07
End date
2024-09-30
Keywords
Behavior, Environment & Energy
Additional Keywords
Green nudges, plastic waste, food delivery
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Plastic waste is a global threat. Prior studies find that “green nudges” are effective in reducing the use of single-use cutleries (SUC) in food deliveries. To our surprise, we find, in a pilot study, that restaurants still give out SUCs in food deliveries despite customers choosing the “no cutlery” option. The objective of the study is to explore why restaurants still give out SUCs and potential mechanisms to reduce this behavior. We further explore short-term and long-term effects of the treatments. Our study intends to provide actionable insights that could lead to more successful environmental policies and thereby contributing to the global effort to mitigate plastic waste.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Huang, Kanyuan et al. 2024. "Social Nudges in Food Delivery." AEA RCT Registry. April 16. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13312-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Randomly place 250 students into the following buckets, each bucket will be composed of 50 students:
a. Control
b. Treat1: Reminder message
c. Treat2: Reminder message with attention for environment
d. Treat3: Reminder message with attention to government policy
e. Treat4: Reminder message with attention to threat of low rating
Intervention Start Date
2024-04-15
Intervention End Date
2024-05-10

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Whether restaurants still give out single-use cutlery under different treatment conditions. Short-term and long-term effects of different treatments.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Randomly place 250 students into the following buckets, each bucket will be composed of 50 students:
a. Control
b. Treat1: Reminder message
c. Treat2: Reminder message with attention for environment
d. Treat3: Reminder message with attention to government policy
e. Treat4: Reminder message with attention to threat of low rating
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Computer randomizes selection of users, ensuring balance.
Randomization Unit
Randomization is at the individual level
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
250 students. Each student will order a maximum of 10 deliveries per week, for approximately 6 weeks.
Sample size: planned number of observations
Maximum of 15000 orders.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
50 control, 50 in each of the four 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
Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen)
IRB Approval Date
2024-04-01
IRB Approval Number
2024051
Analysis Plan