Objective vs. Perceived Corporate Greenness: Do Individuals Understand Corporate Sustainability Information?

Last registered on October 23, 2025
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Objective vs. Perceived Corporate Greenness: Do Individuals Understand Corporate Sustainability Information?
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0017056
Initial registration date
October 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
October 23, 2025, 7:03 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Switzerland
Region
Country
Germany
Region
Country
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Region
Country
Slovakia
Region
Country
United States of America
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Kornelia Fabisik
Affiliation
University of Bern
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Sebastian Rink
PI Affiliation
Frankfurt School of Finance & Management
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-10-23
End date
2025-10-25
Keywords
Environment & Energy, Finance & Microfinance, Firms & Productivity
Additional Keywords
Carbon Emissions, Sustainability Reporting, Subjective Greenness, Greenness Error, Information Processing
JEL code(s)
Q50, Q53, Q54
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We report results of a pre-registered survey experiment aimed at assessing whether individuals understand corporate sustainability information. We study students, finance and sustainability professionals, and a representative sample of the general public.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Fabisik, Kornelia and Sebastian Rink. 2025. "Objective vs. Perceived Corporate Greenness: Do Individuals Understand Corporate Sustainability Information?." AEA RCT Registry. October 23. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.17056-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

Sponsors

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2025-10-23
Intervention End Date
2025-10-25

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Perceived vs objective sustainability of companies
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We present participants with real corporate sustainability (carbon emissions) and financial information across multiple firms, varying the presentation format (e.g., absolute emissions, relative emissions, household-equivalent emissions). Participants then rate the greenness of the firm on a 1–5 scale.
Experimental Design Details
In our study “Objective versus Perceived Corporate Treatments to Individuals’ Understanding of Corporate Sustainability Information,” we recruit a broad sample of individuals from different backgrounds and randomly assign them to one of a large set of presentation-formats of actual corporate emissions data. Specifically:

- The core task asks participants to rate a firm’s “greenness” on a 1 to 5 scale; the ratings correspond to quintiles of real firms’ emissions distributions.
- We vary the emissions metric: (i) absolute emissions; (ii) emissions relative to revenue; (iii) emissions per household‐equivalent (translating corporate emissions into the number of average households).
- We also vary contextual information: participants see past and future emission trajectories and firm emissions compared to the industry median (also presented as "average") or to the min/max of the distribution.
- In a parallel specification, we provide financial information rather than sustainability information, allowing a comparison of comprehension and response between sustainability vs. financial information.
- Further, we embed an incentivization treatment: some participants receive a monetary bonus if they correctly identify the quintile in which the firm’s emissions fall, thereby testing how incentivization affects performance.
- The experiment covers three industries (apparel, automotive, utilities) and each participant navigates a “journey” of three successive tasks: past emissions, future projections, and a comparison case under one of the specification variations described above.
- We use ficitional company names for most settings but test for robustness by using one automotive case with real company names.
Randomization Method
Computer randomization
Randomization Unit
Individuals
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
3000 participants
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
100+ participants per variation arm
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

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

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