Reluctant Consent: “Balancing Discomfort and Social Expectations in Organ Donation Decision"

Last registered on July 23, 2024

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Reluctant Consent: “Balancing Discomfort and Social Expectations in Organ Donation Decision"
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0014008
Initial registration date
July 11, 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
July 23, 2024, 12:28 PM EDT

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

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2024-07-15
End date
2024-07-22
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This research aims to explore the concept of "Decency" (Ellingsen and Mohlin, 2019) in the context of organ donation. The study employs a novel experimental design to probe the underlying motivations influencing individuals to register as organ donors, particularly examining whether these motivations are rooted in decency or altruism. Using an incentivized experiment, the research analyses the willingness to pay (WTP) to avoid the registration decision and the subsequent choices made when participants are unavoidably confronted with it. The primary hypothesis of this study posits that individuals demonstrating a higher level of decency are more likely to register as organ donors when directly faced with the decision, even if they initially attempted to avoid it. This contrasts with those exhibiting a lower level of decency, who may also try to avoid the decision or not attempt to avoid it at all. Such behavior suggests that decency, rather than mere altruism, primarily drives the decision to register, especially in light of their initial reluctance. Our subjects are recruited with ORSEE (Greiner, 2015).

Registration Citation

Citation
Kleyer, Carolin. 2024. "Reluctant Consent: “Balancing Discomfort and Social Expectations in Organ Donation Decision"." AEA RCT Registry. July 23. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14008-1.0
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
In this experiment, participants are presented with a choice between two distinct envelopes: one containing only general information about organ donation and the other including the same information along with an organ donor card. The primary intervention, known as the "Choice Task," measures participants' willingness to pay (WTP) to influence which envelope they receive. This measure serves as a quantitative indicator of their reluctance to receive the organ donor card, shedding light on their comfort levels with the decision to donate organs. Once confronted (depending on the assignment) with the donor card, participants must decide whether to fill it out or leave it blank.

The experiment also includes three secondary interventions:
Norm Elicitation Task: Participants are presented with hypothetical scenarios concerning organ donation. They are asked to rate the social and moral appropriateness of various actions, allowing an assessment and quantification of the social norms they bring to the experimental context.
Sellback Opportunity: Participants who have completed an organ donor card are offered the option to sell it back to the researchers using an adjusted Becker-DeGroot-Marschak (BDM) method. This task examines their attachment to the decision made during the experiment.
Charity Opportunity: Participants who either opted not to fill out the organ donor card or were not presented with the card are given the chance to donate a portion of their earnings to charity. This opportunity explores if the model of decency holds and participants "pay the blame" for not behaving decently.
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2024-07-15
Intervention End Date
2024-07-22

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The primary outcome for each participant is twofold: first, their willingness to pay to avoid receiving the envelope containing the organ donor card; and second, their final decision when confronted with the choice to become a donor or not.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
The secondary outcomes for each participant include their ratings of scenario appropriateness in organ donation situations, the minimum value they assign for selling back the donor card, and the proportion of their payout donated to charity.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The experiment will be conducted at the Mainz Behavioral and Experimental Laboratory (MABELLA). Participants will be recruited through the OSREE software (Ben Greiner, 2015), which does not disclose the nature of the experiment

Upon arrival, participants will be categorized based on whether they have previously made a decision regarding organ donation. Those who have already recorded such a decision will participate solely in the "Norm Elicitation" Task. Participants who have not made a prior decision regarding organ donation will engage in the full spectrum of the study's activities. This begins with the "Choice Task," where they are randomly assigned to envelopes (with the option to adjust the probabilities at costs), and depending on the assignment of the envelopes and their choices, they may proceed to either the "Sellback Opportunity" or the "Charity Opportunity."

The study aims to examine two key causal effects. First, it investigates whether the willingness to pay (WTP) affects the likelihood of registering as a donor when confronted with the decision. Second, it explores whether participants who refuse to fill in the donor card donate more to charity compared to those with the same WTP who were never confronted (i.e., those assigned to the green envelope).

Participants receive a fixed participation fee along with additional compensation that varies based on their engagement during the experiment. This variable payment is determined by whether they adjusted the probabilities in the "Choice Task" and if their responses in the "Norm Elicitation Task" matched the modal values—the responses most commonly selected by other participants.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization will be conducted in the office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
People who do not yet have an organ donor card are assigned to one of two envelopes/groups: the green envelope, which contains information on organ donation, or the blue envelope, which contains both information on organ donation and an organ donor card.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
There are no clusters.
Sample size: planned number of observations
250
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Out of 250 total participants, we anticipate that 50% will already have an organ donor card. Among those who do not, we expect 65% to be assigned to the group receiving the green envelope, and 35% to be assigned to the group receiving the blue envelope.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
The sample size is based on statistical calculation. To test the hypothesis at a significance level of 0.05, with an anticipated effect size of approximately 0.20 SD, our experiment is designed to achieve full statistical power (1.0) with a sample size of approximately 250 participants.
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Gemeinsame Ethikkommission Wirtschaftswissenschaften der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt und der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
IRB Approval Date
2024-06-27
IRB Approval Number
N/A

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