The Role of Financial Consequence Information in Promoting Interest in Private Pension Accounts: An Online Experimental Survey

Last registered on August 22, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The Role of Financial Consequence Information in Promoting Interest in Private Pension Accounts: An Online Experimental Survey
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0016558
Initial registration date
August 20, 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
August 22, 2025, 6:03 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Australia
Region
Country
China
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Mofei Jia
Affiliation
Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Hanlin Lou
PI Affiliation
UNSW Sydney
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-08-25
End date
2025-10-31
Keywords
Behavior, Finance & Microfinance
Additional Keywords
Private Pension Account, Survey, Tax saving, Mortgage
JEL code(s)
G51, G52, G53, C91, D14
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This project aims to evaluate public awareness of the newly introduced retirement financial product, the Private Pension Account in China. In addition, we use an online experimental survey to examine the effects of providing financial consequence information, including tax incentives, investment benefits, and a mortgage repayment vignette, on promoting individuals’ interest in using the Private Pension Account. We employ a between-subjects design, randomly assign participants to five groups, and compare interest levels between those who received the information and those who did not. We also collect data on participants’ demographics, preferences, financial literacy, and other characteristics, and examine their effects on interest in using the Private Pension Account.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Jia, Mofei and Hanlin Lou. 2025. "The Role of Financial Consequence Information in Promoting Interest in Private Pension Accounts: An Online Experimental Survey." AEA RCT Registry. August 22. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.16558-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Treatment 1: Tax incentives
We estimate participants’ income tax payable for the current year based on their responses, and show them how much tax they can reduce this year and the total tax savings they could accumulate until retirement if they use a Private Pension Account.

Treatment 2: Investment motivation
Participants are shown how their account balance would grow until retirement if they saved the same amount in a Private Pension Account, a fixed-term deposit, and a current deposit account.

Treatment 3: Tax incentives + investment motivation
Participants are shown how much tax they could save by using a Private Pension Account, a comparison of investment returns among a Private Pension Account, a fixed-term deposit, and a current deposit, and the total wealth improvement from using the Private Pension Account.

Treatment 4: Mortgage vignette
Participants are shown a vignette describing how a mortgage holder can benefit from using a Private Pension Account rather than increasing the amount of their early mortgage repayment.
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2025-08-25
Intervention End Date
2025-10-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Interest in private pension account, which is measured by 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 conduct an online experimental survey in China via the platform Wenjuanxing. To be eligible for this study, participants must be enrolled in the Basic Endowment Insurance for the Urban Working Group, be between 25 and 45 years old, and have an annual pre-tax income above 120,000 RMB.

We first collect information on participants’ pre-tax annual income, income tax deduction ratio, current age, and anticipated retirement age. Based on this information, we calculate their current year income tax payable, the potential tax savings if they use a Private Pension Account in the current year, and the accumulated tax savings until retirement.

We then assess participants’ awareness of the Private Pension Account and provide a detailed introduction to the product.

Participants are randomly assigned to one of five groups:

• Control Group: Receives no additional information beyond the product introduction and is then asked about their interest in using the product.

• Treatment Group 1: Receives tax saving information (Treatment 1) and is then asked about their interest.

• Treatment Group 2: Receives information comparing account balance growth across a Private Pension Account, a fixed-term deposit, and a current deposit account (Treatment 2) and is then asked about their interest.

• Treatment Group 3: Receives both tax saving information and investment return comparison information (Treatment 3) and is then asked about their interest.

• Treatment Group 4: Receives a mortgage repayment vignette (Treatment 4) and is then asked about their interest.

Additionally, we also collect information about propensity to save, financial literacy, time preference, and other demographic characteristics at the end of the survey.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Participants are randomly assigned to different groups by the survey platform, Qualtrics.
Randomization Unit
Individual level randomization
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Number of participants per treatment: 320
4 treatments + control group
Participants in total: 320*5 = 1600
Sample size: planned number of observations
Number of participants per treatment: 320 4 treatments + control group Participants in total: 320*5 = 1600
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Number of participants per treatment: 320
4 treatments + control group
Participants in total: 320*5 = 1600
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University Research Ethics Review Panel
IRB Approval Date
2025-04-12
IRB Approval Number
ER-LRR-15882492620250409132338
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