Self-Esteem and Demand for Social Image: Evidence from MTurk

Last registered on September 22, 2017

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Self-Esteem and Demand for Social Image: Evidence from MTurk
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0001588
Initial registration date
September 17, 2016

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 17, 2016, 6:11 PM EDT

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

Last updated
September 22, 2017, 10:18 AM EDT

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

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Bocconi University

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2016-09-01
End date
2016-10-31
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Consumers might choose to purchase certain products to show to others their own economic achievements and thus gain social status. We investigate how self-esteem influences the demand for social status: are self-esteem and social image complements or substitute? We consider high-end brand clothing (Armani), which can be demanded not only for its quality, but also for social image motives. We design an online marketing experiment which has two purposes: first, to temporarily give a boost to the self-esteem of some customers; and second, to elicit preferences between gift cards for high-end brand clothing (Armani) versus a low-end brand clothing (Old Navy) using an incentivized Multiple Price List procedure.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Fiorin, Stefano. 2017. "Self-Esteem and Demand for Social Image: Evidence from MTurk." AEA RCT Registry. September 22. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.1588-2.0
Former Citation
Fiorin, Stefano. 2017. "Self-Esteem and Demand for Social Image: Evidence from MTurk." AEA RCT Registry. September 22. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/1588/history/21688
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We design an online marketing experiment in which we randomize one of the question asked in the survey. First, we ask to all subjects some basic demographic questions. Then, subjects in the control group are asked to name and summarize the story of the most recent movie they have seen, while subjects the self-affirmation treatment group are asked to describe an event in their life that made them feel successful or proud of themselves. According to the literature in psychology, this treatment can (at least temporarily) increase the self-esteem of the customers. We then verify the effect of the treatment on self-esteem by asking next to all subjects to complete the Rosenberg self-esteem questionnaire. Next, we ask all subjects to express their preferences for Armani vs Old Navy gift card using an incentivized multiple price list procedure: the idea is Armani clothing can be considered a status good, while Old Navy clothing can not. Eliting the willingness to pay for the Armani gift card will allow us to understand whether the demand for social status is higher (lower) among customers with higher self-esteem, and thus understand whether self-image and social-image are complements (substitutes). Finally, we ask all subjects to rank values that they consider as being more important to them.
Intervention Start Date
2016-09-19
Intervention End Date
2016-09-23

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Rosenberg self-esteem score
Willingness to pay for the Armani gift card
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Subjects will be randomly assigned into one of the following groups: (1) control group, (2) self-affirmation treatment group.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
The randomization will be conducted on Qualtrics.
Randomization Unit
We randomized at the level of the individual subject.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
No clustering.
Sample size: planned number of observations
1000 subjects
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
500 control group, 500 self-affirmation treatment group
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
UCLA Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2015-06-30
IRB Approval Number
15-000953

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials