The impact of environmental and social sustainability recalling picture and text combination stimuli on consumer willingness to pay, disgust and neophobia for edible animal by-products

Last registered on November 15, 2024

Pre-Trial

General Information

Title

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0014673

Initial registration date

November 01, 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, 1:15 PM EST

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

Locations

Country

Italy

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Davide Gallo

Affiliation

Università degli Studi di Trento

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Austeja Kazemekaityte

PI Affiliation

Università degli Studi di Trento

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2024-11-04

End date

2024-12-19

Keywords

Behavior, Environment & Energy, Lab, Other

Additional Keywords

Environmental sustainability; Social sustainability; Consumer willingness to pay; Disgust response; Food neophobia; Edible animal by-products; Consumer perception; Experimental study; Sustainability communication; Sustainable food consumption; Attitude toward by-products; Behavioral response to sustainability;

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

This study explores how sustainability messaging affects young consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP), feelings of discomfort, and openness toward edible animal by-products. Using combinations of text and picture stimuli, the experiment aims to understand several key questions: how much young consumers are willing to pay for these by-products, how attitudes like food neophobia (fear of new foods) influence their WTP and levels of discomfort, and how visual cues impact their responses (willingness to pay as well as emotional and physiological responses). Additionally, the study investigates whether openness to new experiences influences the effectiveness of these stimuli on WTP. Findings from this research can provide insights into how sustainability-focused communication may shape consumer perceptions and acceptance of animal by-products, promoting more sustainable food choices among young consumers.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Gallo, Davide and Austeja Kazemekaityte. 2024. "The impact of environmental and social sustainability recalling picture and text combination stimuli on consumer willingness to pay, disgust and neophobia for edible animal by-products." AEA RCT Registry. November 15. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14673-1.0

Sponsors & Partners

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

The intervention consists of exposing participants to two different types of pro-environmental messaging. Participants assigned to environmental sustainability treatment will see an infographic on sustainability of animal by-product use before each willingness to pay task. Participants assigned to social sustainability treatment will see a picture underlining how use of animal by-products contributes to saving culinary traditions in Italy.

Intervention (Hidden)

Intervention Start Date

2024-11-04

Intervention End Date

2024-12-19

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Willingness to pay for animal by-products (8 types)

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

x2: Declared emotional response to animal by-products (based on Geneva Emotion Wheel)
x3: age
x4: gender
x5: education
x6: nationality
x7: income
x8: income
x9: hunger
x10: diet style
x11: meat diet
x12: animal by-products diet
x13: animal by-products diet in the family
x14: animal by-products perception on society
x15: animal by-products health properties
x16: animal by-products dishes familiarity
x17: general food disgust
x18: picture sensitivity food disgust
x19: NEP scale
x20: animal welfare
x21: food neophobia
x22: electrodermal activity (measure as a response to seeing images of animal by-products)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

In this study participants will be exposed to visual stimuli representing different animal by-products used for meals. Control group will be shown 8 pictures (in a randomized order) and asked their willingness to pay for 1kg of product. Environmental sustainability treatment will beforehand see an infographic on sustainability of animal by-product use before each willingness to pay task. Social sustainability treatment will see a picture underlining how use of animal by-products contributes to saving culinary traditions in Italy.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization done by computer (using python "random" module) at the time when participant enters the experimental software.

Randomization Unit

Randomization at an individual level.

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

Sample size: planned number of observations

Each participant will make 8 observations. Therefore the total of 201 participants * 8 observations is 1608 (536 per treatment arm).

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

67 students in control condition
67 students in environmental sustainability treatment
67 students in social sustainability treatment

Sample size determined by subject pool and budget constraints.

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB