Experimental Design Details
We intend to disseminate the survey to U.S. citizens with a defined contribution pension plan or an individual retirement account. To construct this group, we rely on a professional polling firm. We briefly summarize the questions that subjects will receive.
In the first section of the survey, each subject will be randomly assigned one of the following treatments:
Treatment A: Sole owner of a soda company
In the first question, the hypothetical individual is the sole owner of a soda company, that could expand the sales of sugary sodas in Africa. This increase in sugar consumption will generate a number of premature deaths. Furthermore, if the marketing campaign is implemented, net profits will increase by a certain amount. The subject is asked to choose between approving or not approving the marketing campaign.
Treatment B: CEO of a soda company with a variable salary
The question is framed as Treatment A, except for the hypothetical individual being the CEO of the same company, who receives a fixed salary and a variable compensation equal to 10% of the company's net profits.
Treatment C: CEO of a soda company with a variable salary, presenting the campaign at the Board meeting
The question is framed as Treatment A, except for the hypothetical individual being the CEO of the same company, who receives a fixed salary and a variable compensation equal to 10% of the company's net profits. Moreover, in this case, the CEO is asked to choose between presenting or not presenting the campaign at the Board meeting.
Treatment D: CEO of a soda company with a fixed salary
The question is framed as Treatment A, except for the hypothetical individual being the CEO of the same company, whose salary is not linked to the company's performance.
Treatment E: Shareholder in a soda company
The subject is one of a certain number (30 vs 3,000, depending on the randomization) of shareholders in a soda company, who is asked to vote on the preferred strategy. If the decision is implemented, net profits will increase by a certain amount. The subject is asked to choose between voting to approve or not to approve the marketing campaign.
Treatment F: Person who can transform a not-for-profit foundation into a for-profit organization
The respondent is now asked to decide whether to transform a not-for-profit foundation dedicated to alerting the population in Africa to the adverse health consequences of sugar consumption into a for-profit organization or not.
Treatment B: CEO of a soda company with a variable salary
The question is framed as Treatment A, except for the hypothetical individual being the CEO of the same company, who receives a fixed salary and a variable compensation equal to 10% of the company's net profits.
In the second section of the survey, respondents are asked additional questions to assess their perceived responsibility for the negative consequences of the campaign, as well as any cost-benefit analysis they might have considered in reaching their decision.
In the third section of the survey, respondents will be asked a set of socio-demographic questions regarding their academic/professional background (e.g., the highest degree achieved); a set of questions from the moral foundations questionnaire from Atari et al. (2023); their age and gender; their economic and political leaning; who they voted in the last U.S. election; their degree of trust in large corporations, health professionals, and the government; their income; their attitude towards donating and volunteering; whether they own any stock outside of their defined contribution plan; whether they were brought up religiously; and some additional questions to assess the drivers of responsibility and risk-return attitudes.
This is the first survey conducted in December 2025 through a professional polling firm. We further intend to conduct an additional survey in June 2026, where all respondents were assigned to an additional treatment described below:
Treatment G: CEO of a soda company with a variable salary where a single major competitor faces the same trade-off
The question is framed as Treatment B, i.e., the respondent is asked to impersonate the CEO of the company, who receives a fixed salary and variable compensation equal to 10% of the company's net profits. However, in this case, we additionally specify that the company has only one major competitor that is facing the same choice.
Furthermore, we intend to distribute the survey to Chicago Booth students, currently enrolled in one of the following programs: Full-Time MBA, Evening MBA, Executive MBA, Weekend MBA, Master in Finance, or Master in Management. For this sample, we will restrict attention to Treatments B (CEO with variable compensation) and D (CEO with fixed compensation). Moreover, in addition to the treatment question, this shorter version of the survey will only include questions on: cost-benefit analysis; the moral foundations questionnaire; the program they are enrolled in; gender; and who they voted for in the last U.S. election. This survey of current Booth students was conducted in March/April 2026.
Finally, another population we intend to distribute the survey to is incoming Chicago Booth students. By doing so, we aim to study the extent to which incoming students differ from currently enrolled students. Similarly to what we described above, during the Summer 2026 and before the start of classes in the Fall, we intend to distribute the survey to students who will be enrolling in one of the following programs: Full-Time MBA, Evening MBA, Executive MBA, Weekend MBA, Master in Finance, or Master in Management. Again, for this sample, we will restrict attention to Treatments B (CEO with variable compensation) and D (CEO with fixed compensation). Moreover, in addition to the treatment question, this shorter version of the survey will only include questions on: cost-benefit analysis; the moral foundations questionnaire; whether they majored in Econ/Finance and the number of classes in Econ/Finance they took so far; the program they are enrolled in; gender; and who they voted for in the last U.S. election.