Establishing Corporate Culture Through Communication: A Field Experiment Testing Norms versus Values Frames

Last registered on June 13, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Establishing Corporate Culture Through Communication: A Field Experiment Testing Norms versus Values Frames
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0016112
Initial registration date
June 11, 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
June 13, 2025, 8:15 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Sam Karasik
Affiliation
Harvard Business School
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Ethan Rouen
PI Affiliation
Harvard Business School
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PI Name
Ashley Whillans
PI Affiliation
Harvard Business School
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Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2024-01-01
End date
2024-12-31
Keywords
Firms & Productivity, Governance, Labor
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We conduct a field experiment to test the role that norms and values play in establishing corporate culture among frontline employees in firms with broad-based employee ownership. Working with a private equity firm, we randomly assigned 461 employees at two construction-supply portfolio companies to one of three conditions: receiving shareholder letters emphasizing workplace norms (concrete behavioral expectations), receiving letters emphasizing corporate values (abstract aspirational ideals), or receiving no letter (control). Using employee surveys - one pre-intervention and two post-intervention - to measure cultural identification, as well as employee personnel data to measure turnover rates, we provide empirical evidence of the efficacy of different communication strategies to frontline employee-owners.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Karasik, Sam, Ethan Rouen and Ashley Whillans. 2025. "Establishing Corporate Culture Through Communication: A Field Experiment Testing Norms versus Values Frames." AEA RCT Registry. June 13. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.16112-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2024-06-01
Intervention End Date
2024-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Our key objective outcome is employee turnover, measured as the number of employees leaving the firm in a given time period. We also look at the outcome of employee surveys on company culture to identify changes in cultural identification with the firm's stated norms and values.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
The survey consisted of 10 statements about particular aspects of the firm’s corporate culture. Five of the statements related to the firm’s norms and five related to the firm’s values. Employees were asked to rate, on a five-point Likert scale, how much they believed each statement.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Working with a private equity firm, we randomly assigned 461 employees at two construction-supply portfolio companies to one of three conditions: receiving shareholder letters emphasizing workplace norms (concrete behavioral expectations), receiving letters emphasizing corporate values (abstract aspirational ideals), or receiving no letter (control). Our experiment was designed to examine how employees react to communications that emphasize different aspects of a new corporate culture their firms were trying to establish. Our main analyses examine two aspects of their reactions to the treatment, revealed reactions, as measured by turnover, and stated reactions, as measured by responses to surveys that asked employees to rate their perception of aspects of the firm’s new culture.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Conditions were randomized at the Company location level by the private equity firm.
Randomization Unit
Randomization at Company A was done at the location level into two groups (Norms condition, Values condition) to avoid spillover effects between employees at the same location. Company B received no letters, so all locations of Company B had the same condition.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
17 locations
Sample size: planned number of observations
461 employees
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
5 locations control, 4 locations Norms treatment, 8 locations Values treatment.
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

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