Demand Effects of Product Availability Information

Last registered on August 28, 2024

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Demand Effects of Product Availability Information
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0014219
Initial registration date
August 20, 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
August 28, 2024, 2:58 PM EDT

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

Locations

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
University of Cambridge

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
University of Cambridge
PI Affiliation
University of Cambridge

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-08-20
End date
2025-08-20
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Information on product availability is generally expected to increase demand but such effects have yet to be empirically tested. We conduct a randomised experiment in a UK Higher Education Institution to test whether information on the availability of canteen food increases or reduces demand both in terms of number of visits to the canteen as well as quantity/value purchased.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Genakos, Christos, Kamiar Mohaddes and Rhys Williams. 2024. "Demand Effects of Product Availability Information." AEA RCT Registry. August 28. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14219-1.0
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The intervention is conducted in collaboration with a UK Higher Education Institution which has agreed to participate. We will filter the level of information provided to a subset of students, providing the treatment group with information on product availability and test whether their demand response differs from the control group of students who do not receive this baseline information.
Intervention Start Date
2024-10-04
Intervention End Date
2025-06-20

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Total Quantity Purchased (daily basis); Total Value Purchased (daily basis); Total Number of Visits
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Data provided from HEI records.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Randomised Controlled Trial – the randomisation unit is individuals; treatment arms are informed and uninformed (control); randomisation conducted by computer.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomisation completed in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Individuals are randomised at the unit of their year of entry and whether they are an undergraduate or postgraduate.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
6
Sample size: planned number of observations
1000 students
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
~500 students in treatment, 500 in control. This will be split by cluster.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Cambridge Judge Business School
IRB Approval Date
2024-05-08
IRB Approval Number
24-14