A Commitment Device to Reduce Spending: Evidence from a Choice Experiment on Banking Products

Last registered on November 19, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
A Commitment Device to Reduce Spending: Evidence from a Choice Experiment on Banking Products
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0016959
Initial registration date
November 16, 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
November 19, 2025, 2:14 PM EST

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Max van Lent
Affiliation
Leiden University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Marion Collewet
PI Affiliation
Leiden University
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PI Name
Marike Knoef
PI Affiliation
Tilburg University
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PI Name
Roselinde Kessels
PI Affiliation
Maastricht University

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-10-06
End date
2026-12-01
Keywords
Behavior, Finance & Microfinance
Additional Keywords
commitment device, banking products, expenditures, choice experiment, behavioral finance, household finance
JEL code(s)
D14, G41, G51
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Short run debt, financial problems, and problematic debt are ubiquitous. There is an increasing body of literature that studies savings commitments through defaults, automatic savings programs etc. as a possible solution for debts. The effectiveness of such interventions are mixed. In this project we study the demand for commitment devices that limit expenditures instead. We develop a choice experiment in which respondents make choices between different banking products that differ in price, the possibility to set an expenditure limit, the type of notification when reaching the expenditure limit, and the consequence of reaching this limit. In addition to this choice experiment we elicit risk and time preferences, and derive financial health and -literacy for our respondents. The results inform us about the demand for banking products that contain a self imposed expenditure limit, which is currently not widely available. In addition this informs us about whether demand is driven by those people who are likely to benefit from commitment the most.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Collewet, Marion et al. 2025. "A Commitment Device to Reduce Spending: Evidence from a Choice Experiment on Banking Products." AEA RCT Registry. November 19. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.16959-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We randomly assign respondents to decide 10 times between two different banking products that contain options to self-impose an expenditure limit, and compare them to the current default where such an option is not available.
Intervention Start Date
2025-10-06
Intervention End Date
2025-12-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The WTP for the different notifications, consequences of reaching the self-imposed expenditure limit, and the types of help offered to avoid reaching the limit.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We develop and implement a vignette experiment on a representative sample of around 1450 Dutch people of at least 16 years old.
We ask the respondent several times to state which of two banking products they prefer. The banking products vary by whether it is possible to impose a self-chosen expenditure limit, the notification one receives when hitting the limit, the consequence of hitting the limit, as well as what the bank does in order to support you to not hit the limit.
Our experiment wants to study the demand for banking products that contain the option to self-choose an expenditure limit, as well heterogeneity analysis.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
We randomize the vignettes that people get using a D-efficient design.
Randomization Unit
We randomize at the individual level, not stratified.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1450 respondents
Sample size: planned number of observations
1450 respondents
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
There is no control group: everyone receives vignettes in which they make a choice between different banking products.
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

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