How Robust is Commitment Demand? - Experimental Evidence

Last registered on August 08, 2025

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

How Robust is Commitment Demand? - Experimental Evidence

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0014798

Initial registration date

November 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

November 15, 2024, 1:46 PM EST

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

Last updated

August 08, 2025, 9:10 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Region

Oxfordshire

Primary Investigator

Name

Rafael Suchy

Affiliation

University of Oxford

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Séverine Toussaert

PI Affiliation

University of Oxford

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

Completed

Start date

2024-11-11

End date

2024-11-29

Keywords

Behavior, Other

Additional Keywords

Preference elicitation, measurement, robustness, commitment, field experiment

JEL code(s)

C80, D01, D90, D91

Secondary IDs

Prior work

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

Abstract

While commitment demand has been documented in various settings, recent evidence suggests that some of it might be due to mistakes. We propose to investigate the robustness of commitment demand in a field study involving meal choices on a food ordering platform. We elicit participants’ preferences over the range of meals presented on the platform. Preferences are elicited twice using three methods: ranking, monetary valuations, and binary choices. We propose to compare the consistency of expressed preferences across methods and the stability within a method, as well as to explore drivers of the variability observed. We will benchmark our results against expert forecasts and provide guidance on method selection.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Suchy, Rafael and Séverine Toussaert. 2025. "How Robust is Commitment Demand? - Experimental Evidence." AEA RCT Registry. August 08. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14798-2.0

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Respondents in the study complete a survey in which they submit preferences over seven meal platforms (which differ in the number of meals offered). After completing the survey, 50% of randomly determined respondents will be invited to a second stage. In the second stage, participants receive a link to one of the seven food ordering platforms. The specific food ordering platforms are partly determined by the survey responses (e.g., orderings that participants submitted) and partly determined by chance.

Intervention (Hidden)

Intervention Start Date

2024-11-11

Intervention End Date

2024-11-29

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

(1) Commitment (flexibility) index; (2) consistency index; (3) stability index

Constructed from collected data: Submitted (iterative) rankings, Willingness to Accept, and binary choices (2 rounds) actual meal choices on food ordering platform

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

The study consists of two main parts: (1) survey and (2) food ordering stage.

The survey consists of four sections: (i) Collection of socio-demographic variables and current meal habits of participants; (ii) Presentation of the food challenge and ordering platform with customizable menus; (iii) Elicitation of preferences over 7 possible menus via three methods (2 rounds): (a) iterative ranking, (b) monetary valuations, (c) binary choices (randomized order), and incentivized elicitation of preferred method and round; (iv) debriefing questions on preferred platform and perceptions of the decision tasks.

In the ordering stage, participants will receive personalized links to a food ordering platform (partially determined randomly and on the choices made in the survey). On the platform, they will order five meals to be consumed in the university's college halls.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization with statistical software by computer (Python and R)

Randomization Unit

Individual

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

Target: 200 participants

Sample size: planned number of observations

Target: 200 participants

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

Target: 200 participants

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

In one-sample (two-sided) t-tests comparing our preference indices (commitment, consistency and stability) against benchmark values, we estimate that we will have 80% (90%) power to detect at the 5% significance level a difference of 0.6 (0.7) commitment decisions against a null-hypothesized value of 4 commitment decisions (out of 12), assuming a standard deviation of 3 in our sample.

Supporting Documents and Materials

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