EV or not EV: Elon Musk and the Role of Identity in Eco-friendliness

Last registered on January 27, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
EV or not EV: Elon Musk and the Role of Identity in Eco-friendliness
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015273
Initial registration date
January 24, 2025

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
January 27, 2025, 10:10 AM EST

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Ashton Pallottini
Affiliation
University of Chicago
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Sofia Shchukina
PI Affiliation
University of Chicago

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-06-02
End date
2025-08-31
Keywords
Behavior, Environment & Energy
Additional Keywords
Electric Vehicles, Identity
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.
Abstract
Voluntary "eco-friendly" consumer actions are increasingly critical for mitigating environmental damages. Focusing on electric vehicle (EV) adoption, we examine how the identity associated with taking an eco-friendly action influences its uptake. Analyzing New York registration data, we find that Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter decreased the prevalence of Teslas among EVs registered in liberal ZIP codes by 7.8 percentage points (19%). Instead, consumers in these ZIP codes substituted to relatively inefficient EVs that had lower environmental benefits. In a complementary online experiment pilot, we demonstrate that consumers actively avoid information about the relative cleanliness of Teslas when it conflicts with their anti-Musk identity. Taken together, these findings suggest that (i) consumers may prioritize identity alignment over environmental impact when making eco-friendly choices and (ii) consumers may engage in motivated reasoning to justify this trade-off.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Pallottini, Ashton and Sofia Shchukina. 2025. "EV or not EV: Elon Musk and the Role of Identity in Eco-friendliness." AEA RCT Registry. January 27. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15273-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Participants are randomly divided into three groups. Group 1 is assigned information relaying the emissions of a 2024 Tesla Model 3 and the average EV. Group 2 is assigned information relaying the emissions of a similarly efficient 2024 Lucid Air Pure and the average EV. Group 3 is assigned information on price for the 2024 Lucid Air Pure and the average EV. Before each group sees the information, willingness-to-pay (WTP) to see their assigned piece of information is measured using a multiple price list. From here, the participants are shown the information they were assigned and then posterior beliefs are elicited.
Intervention Start Date
2025-06-02
Intervention End Date
2025-08-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
WTP to see assigned information and total belief updating upon seeing it (distance between measured prior and posterior).
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We propose to collect data via a survey administered on Prolific. The survey first determines political leanings and car ownership of all participants. From here, the survey elicits participants' prior beliefs on the emissions from several EV brands, including Teslas. This allows for a baseline measurement of how informed consumers of different political beliefs are on the relative cleanliness of different EVs.

Next, participants are randomly divided into three groups. Group 1 is assigned information relaying the emissions of a 2024 Tesla Model 3 and the average EV. Group 2 is assigned information relaying the emissions of a similarly efficient 2024 Lucid Air Pure and the average EV. Group 3 is assigned information on price for the 2024 Lucid Air Pure and the average EV. Before each group sees the information, willingness-to-pay (WTP) to see their assigned piece of information is measured using a multiple price list. From here, the participants are shown the information they were assigned and then posterior beliefs are elicited.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization will be done using Qualtrics' internal algorithms.
Randomization Unit
Individual level randomization.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
3,300 individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
3,300 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
1,100 individuals per treatment arm, with roughly equal proportions of liberal, conservative, and moderate participants in each.
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