Lost in Translation? The Impact of Fed Statements on Consumers

Last registered on April 03, 2025
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Lost in Translation? The Impact of Fed Statements on Consumers
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015609
Initial registration date
March 27, 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
April 03, 2025, 11:06 AM 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
Tiziana Assenza
Affiliation
Toulouse School of Economics
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Fabrice Collard
PI Affiliation
Toulouse School of Economics
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Dogukan Guney
PI Affiliation
Toulouse School of Economics
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-04-06
End date
2026-04-15
Keywords
Behavior, Other
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We will investigate how individuals’ economic decisions, such as spending and saving habits and expectations about inflation and unemployment, react to the complexity of a central bank's communication.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Assenza, Tiziana, Fabrice Collard and Dogukan Guney. 2025. "Lost in Translation? The Impact of Fed Statements on Consumers." AEA RCT Registry. April 03. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15609-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We will conduct an online (experimental) survey with a representative sample of the U.S. population. The intervention is designed to measure the impact of central bank communication complexity on individuals’ decisions and behaviour.
Intervention Start Date
2025-04-15
Intervention End Date
2025-05-05

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Individuals' expectations on key economic variables and economic outlook, consumption/saving decisions
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Monetary policy communication is categorised according to some measures of complexity. Participants will be randomly assigned to either the control group or a treatment group. Treatment groups will receive monetary policy communication characterised by different degree of complexity.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
The study will be conducted online, with Qualtrics responsible for administering the survey and collecting the data.
Randomization will be implemented through Qualtrics platform.
Randomization Unit
The unit of randomisation is the individual. Each participant is randomly assigned to either the control group or one of the treatment groups. We will implement a between design.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Not applicable.
Sample size: planned number of observations
About 4,200 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Each treatment arm will include about 850 individuals.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
TSE-IAST Review Board for Ethical Standards in Research
IRB Approval Date
2025-03-27
IRB Approval Number
N/A
Analysis Plan