Improving Digital Marketing Uptake Among Kenya Farmers Using Social Media

Last registered on September 01, 2025
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Improving Digital Marketing Uptake Among Kenya Farmers Using Social Media
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015521
Initial registration date
August 23, 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
September 01, 2025, 2:54 PM EDT

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

Locations

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

Request Information

Primary Investigator

Name
Peter Opeyemi James
Affiliation
University of Exeter
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-08-04
End date
2026-02-28
Keywords
Agriculture, Behavior, Firms & Productivity
Additional Keywords
Technology, Development
JEL code(s)
0130
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Low farmer revenues and high consumer food prices characterize African agricultural markets, with high search costs hampering market integration in low- and middle-income countries (Berquist & McIntosh, 2021; Bergquist & Michael, 2020). Digital marketplaces could have major benefits for farmers (Berquist & McIntosh, 2021; Romero-Lopez & Ramos, 2017), but take-up remains too low for them to currently have a large effect. In this project, I will experiment with variations of targeted social media adverts to identify the key factors that drive farmers away from what should be a highly profitable novel ICT platform.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
James, Peter Opeyemi. 2025. "Improving Digital Marketing Uptake Among Kenya Farmers Using Social Media." AEA RCT Registry. September 01. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15521-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

Partner

Name
Digital Shamba Limited (Mkulima Digital)
Type
private_company
URL
https://mkulimadigital.com
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Interventins are in the form information on the expected benefits of a an existing digital marketing platform. Each particiapnt will get only one information from a selected pool of information.
Intervention Start Date
2025-08-04
Intervention End Date
2025-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1. Rate of Marketplace adoption
2. Market prices
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
1. Farmer revenues
2. Farmer heterogenous effects on digital marketplace adoption
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
1. Farmer revenues
Access how farmer revenue has been affected by their use digital marketplace
2. Farmer heterogenous effects on digital marketplace adoption
Establish the heterogenous nature of farmers and its impacts on their levels of technology adoption.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Online field experiment. Providing information on aspects of the digital marketplace to farmers who might use the platform.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization is done by a simple algorithm built with LimeSurvey. There are five different types of information - four of them are targetted and individuals who recieve any of these four are considered to be treated. The fifth information is not targetted and those who recieve this information are considered to be in the control group.
Randomization Unit
Randomization is at individual level.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
No clusters
Sample size: planned number of observations
210,000 farmers for first stage ad sample and 4800 for second stage of the experiment.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
42,000 for first stage and 960 for the second stage
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of Exeter
IRB Approval Date
2025-08-12
IRB Approval Number
8713590
Analysis Plan