Can improving longevity literacy motivate interest in life annuities?

Last registered on May 14, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Can improving longevity literacy motivate interest in life annuities?
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015936
Initial registration date
May 07, 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
May 14, 2025, 10:30 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Australia
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Hanlin Lou
Affiliation
University of New South Wales
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Hazel Bateman
PI Affiliation
University of New South Wales
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Katja Hanewald
PI Affiliation
University of New South Wales
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Jiamin Yan
PI Affiliation
University of New South Wales
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-05-08
End date
2025-06-05
Keywords
Other
Additional Keywords
Life Annuities, Longevity, Mental Accounting, Retirement
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study aims to investigate the role of longevity literacy in the interest in lifetime annuities through an online experimental survey. We introduce a lifetime income product to Australians who are near retirement and currently have, or previously have had, an account with a superannuation fund, and elicit their interest in using the product. We apply a between-subjects design to examine how different types of longevity literacy interventions affect participants’ interest in the product. We design seven treatment interventions, including eliciting longevity beliefs (life expectancy and survival probabilities), and providing either objective or personalized information about life expectancy, survival probabilities, and potential financial consequences. Participants are randomly assigned to one control group or one of sixteen treatment groups. Those in the treatment groups receive one or more of the interventions. By comparing levels of interest across experimental groups, we can assess the individual and interaction effects of these interventions on participants’ interest in lifetime annuities.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Bateman, Hazel et al. 2025. "Can improving longevity literacy motivate interest in life annuities?." AEA RCT Registry. May 14. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15936-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Treatment 1: Longevity Elicitation (life expectancy)
Participants are asked about their expected life expectancy.

Treatment 2: Longevity Elicitation (survival probabilities)
Participants are asked about the probability that they will live to ages 85, 90, and 95.

Treatment 3: Financial Consequence Information
Participants are informed about potential financial challenges during retirement. An example is presented showing how a retiree could run out of their superannuation.

Treatment 4: Objective Life Expectancy Information
Participants are informed of the average life expectancy of people of the same age and gender as themselves.

Treatment 5: Objective Survival Probabilities Information
Participants are shown the probabilities of people of the same age and gender will live to ages 85, 90, and 95.

Treatment 6: Personalized Life Expectancy Information
Participants are given an estimate of their own life expectancy, calculated based on their demographics, health conditions, and lifestyle.

Treatment 7: Personalized Survival Probabilities Information
Participants are presented with the probabilities that they will live to ages 85, 90, and 95, based on their personal demographics, health conditions, and lifestyle.
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2025-05-08
Intervention End Date
2025-06-05

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Interest in Life Annuities: We introduce participants to a lifetime income product and ask about their interest in it using a multiple-response question, with options ranging from "Not interested" to "Extremely interested."

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We will conduct an online experiment in Australia using the survey platform Pureprofile. To be eligible for participation, individuals must be aged 50–75, reside in Australia, and currently have or previously have had an account with a superannuation fund. Participants will receive approximately 8 Australian dollars for completing the survey.

Participants will first be screened to form a sample representative of the Australian population aged 50-75 in terms of gender and wealth distribution. We will then collect basic health and lifestyle information that may influence life expectancy. After that, participants will be randomly assigned to one of 17 experimental groups.

In the Control Group, participants are introduced to a lifetime income product and asked about their interest in using it. In contrast to the Control Group, participants assigned to the treatment groups will receive one or more treatments before the lifetime income product is introduced.

The treatments are assigned as follows:
Treatment Group 1: Participants are asked about their life expectancy (Treatment 1).

Treatment Group 2: Participants are asked about the probability they will live to ages 85, 90, and 95 (subjective survival probabilities) (Treatment 2).

Treatment Group 3: Participants are asked both their life expectancy (Treatment 1) and their subjective survival probabilities (Treatment 2).

Treatment Group 4: Participants are presented with financial consequence information (Treatment 3).

Treatment Group 5: Participants are asked about their life expectancy (Treatment 1) and then receive objective life expectancy information based on people of the same age and gender (Treatment 4).

Treatment Group 6: Same as Treatment Group 5, with the addition of financial consequence information (Treatments 1, 3, and 4).

Treatment Group 7: Participants are asked about their life expectancy (Treatment 1) and then receive personalized life expectancy information based on their demographics, health status, and lifestyle (Treatment 6).

Treatment Group 8: Same as Treatment Group 7, with the addition of financial consequence information (Treatments 1, 3, and 6).

Treatment Group 9: Participants are asked about survival probabilities (Treatment 2) and then receive objective survival probabilities based on people of the same age and gender (Treatment 5).

Treatment Group 10: Same as Treatment Group 9, with the addition of financial consequence information (Treatments 2, 3, and 5).

Treatment Group 11: Participants are asked about survival probabilities (Treatment 2) and then receive personalized survival probabilities based on their demographics and health status and lifestyle (Treatment 7).

Treatment Group 12: Same as Treatment Group 11, with the addition of financial consequence information (Treatments 2, 3, and 7).

Treatment Group 13: Participants are asked both life expectancy and survival probabilities (Treatments 1 and 2) and then receive objective life expectancy and survival probability information (Treatments 4 and 5).

Treatment Group 14: Same as Treatment Group 13, with the addition of financial consequence information (Treatments 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5).

Treatment Group 15: Participants are asked both life expectancy and survival probabilities (Treatments 1 and 2) and then receive personalized life expectancy and survival probability information (Treatments 6 and 7).

Treatment Group 16: Same as Treatment Group 15, with the addition of financial consequence information (Treatments 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7).

We will also collect participants’ demographic characteristics, preferences, and other relevant information at the end of the survey.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Participants are randomly assigned to different groups by the survey platform.
Randomization Unit
Individual level randomization.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1700 participants
Sample size: planned number of observations
1700 participants
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
100 participants per group.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
UNSW human ethics committee
IRB Approval Date
2025-03-12
IRB Approval Number
iRECS7842
Analysis Plan

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