Beyond the Classroom: Peer Effects on Parental Educational Choices – Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment

Last registered on November 15, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Beyond the Classroom: Peer Effects on Parental Educational Choices – Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0014619
Initial registration date
November 04, 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
November 15, 2024, 1:27 PM EST

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

Locations

Country
Australia
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Lu Xing
Affiliation
Macquarie University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Le Zhang
PI Affiliation
Macquarie University
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PI Name
Zhiming Cheng
PI Affiliation
Macquarie University
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-11-06
End date
2024-12-25
Keywords
Behavior, Education
Additional Keywords
field experiment; peer effects; educational choices
JEL code(s)
D01; D10; D71
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We will conduct a natural field experiment in a private tutoring company using a sample of approximately 1,100 to 1,300 parents, organized into around 550 to 650 peer pairs, to examine how peer effects influence Chinese parents’ decisions to invest in extracurricular courses. Our findings will show that while positive social learning significantly increases the willingness to purchase, negative social learning has a much weaker effect. This suggests that parents tend to be more motivated by positive signals from peers than discouraged by negative ones, reflecting an asymmetry in how they form purchase preferences during the social learning process. In contrast, social utility strengthens both the decision to invest and the actual amount spent, highlighting the role of social comparison in shaping parental behavior.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Cheng, Zhiming, Lu Xing and Le Zhang. 2024. "Beyond the Classroom: Peer Effects on Parental Educational Choices – Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment." AEA RCT Registry. November 15. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14619-1.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
This study involves observing the influence of peer effects on Chinese parents’ decisions regarding extracurricular educational spending. We will use a natural field experiment to evaluate how different types of peer information—such as successful or unsuccessful course purchases by socially connected parents—affect educational investment decisions.
Intervention (Hidden)
The intervention design includes randomly informing parents in social pairs about their peer’s educational spending decisions (e.g., intention to purchase, successful purchase, or no interest in purchasing). This randomized information sharing allows us to differentiate between the impacts of social learning, social utility, and negative social learning on parental educational choices, maintaining a controlled experimental setup without direct interaction with participants prior to data collection.
Intervention Start Date
2024-12-01
Intervention End Date
2024-12-14

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The primary outcome is the decision of parents to invest in extracurricular education, measured through binary purchase choices and spending amounts.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
The primary outcomes are constructed based on observed parental responses to randomized peer information, which includes purchase decisions influenced by peer signals. These decisions are analyzed in terms of whether they lead to increased or decreased educational spending.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
This natural field experiment studies peer effects by sharing controlled peer information with parents to observe their decision-making processes in a real-world educational spending context.
Experimental Design Details
The experiment is designed to measure the effect of peer information on parental decisions. Parents are assigned to groups based on randomized peer purchase scenarios, which control the flow of information about a peer’s decision to invest or abstain from purchasing. This design isolates social learning and social utility effects to determine their influence on parents’ educational spending choices.
Randomization Method
A lottery system administered by the educational institution will be used to randomly assign treatment groups and determine the success of course purchases among parents.
Randomization Unit
Individual parent pairs socially connected through the educational institution’s customer base serve as the randomization unit.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Approximately 550–650 socially connected parent pairs.
Sample size: planned number of observations
Approximately 550–650 pairs (1,100–1,300 parents in total).
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Approximately 275–325 pairs in the control group and 275–325 pairs in the intervention groups, distributed evenly across different treatment arms.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
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