Testing the perception of consumers regarding the treatment variation in our study "Consumer Demand for Responsibly Produced Products: Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment in E-Commerce"

In the survey we will show each participants one version of the seller's two webpages - one in which we include and emphasize information about the backpacks’ socially and ecologically responsible production in the CSR treatment and one in which we leave any such information out.

2025-12-15

2025-12-19

Perception of the two Web-pages with respect to the sustainability of the brand.

Since our subjectpool comprises participants who are unlikely who have children in kindergarden age, we expect that few of them are familiar with the brand. This was also the case when we ran the original A/B testing experiment becaus at this time it was a new brand.

We further expect that participants' perceptions of the backpacks offered on the CR webpage will be significantly higher with respect to the backpacks’ socially and ecologically responsible production compared to the neutral treatment.

We do not expect differences between treatments in the perceptions of the attractiveness and the quality of the backpacks, and whether they are appealing for kids.

We also do not expect differences between treatments in their willingness to purchase the shown backpack if they were searching for such a backpack for a child.

We will ask participants to carefully look at them and subsequently answer some questions about whether they know the backpacks of the brand, and to rate perception questions as the following each on a five-items Likert-scale:
- the quality of the shown backpack is very good,
- the likelihood that the backpack would be very highly functional,
- the likelihood that the backpack is highly reliable,
- the brand appears an environmentally safe brand,
- the brand is an environmentally responsible brand,
- the brand is a sustainable brand,
- the brand’s backpack visually is appealing for kids,
- the backpack's design is attractive,
- I like the look and feel of the brand's backpacks,
- the brand’s backpacks are aesthetically pleasing for kids,
- the brand appears to produce under fair working conditions,
- I think that the workers are treated fairly who produce the brand’s backpacks,
- the brand provides a safe and secure working environment,
- I feel that the brand’s sustainability commitments are generally reliable,
- I feel that the brand’s sustainability performance is generally dependable,
- I feel that the brand’s sustainability argument is generally trustworthy.

We also ask them whether they would purchase the shown backpack if they were searching for such a backpack for a child.

In order to be able to control for personal characteristics of the participants we will also ask several question about how similar they would rate (on a 7 item Lickert scale) themselves in relation to a person for whom it is important
- to avoid environmental harm,
- to protect the environment,
- to respect nature,
- that people have equal opportunities,
- to care about people who are worse off,
- to help others,
- to enjoy life,
- to be influential,
- to have money and possessions,
- to work hard and be ambitious.

Randomization to the two treatments done by a computer when subjects login to the experiment.

Individual

No

200 Individuals (100 per treatment)

200 Observations (100 per treatment)

100 per treatment