Credit Card Usage Survey

Last registered on March 18, 2026
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Credit Card Usage Survey
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0018035
Initial registration date
March 03, 2026

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
March 18, 2026, 11:07 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region
Online

Primary Investigator

Name
Tianyu Han
Affiliation
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2026-03-04
End date
2026-03-07
Keywords
Behavior, Finance & Microfinance
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This survey explores credit card interest cost misperceptions among U.S. credit card holders.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Han, Tianyu. 2026. "Credit Card Usage Survey." AEA RCT Registry. March 18. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.18035-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
I asked a series of questions to elicit consumers' understanding of their credit card interest costs, and their reactions to APR adjustments.
Intervention (Hidden)
I'll ask consumers to think of the APR to be 2-5 percentage points higher and lower, and ask consumers to report their intended debt adjustments.
Intervention Start Date
2026-03-05
Intervention End Date
2026-03-06

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Perceived interest rates, debt sensitivity to interest rate changes.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
I asked a series of questions to elicit consumers' understanding of their credit card interest costs, and their reactions to APR adjustments.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Prolific Randomization

Participants are randomly shown a prompt indicating that their credit card APR is either +5, +2, -5, or -2 percentage points different from what they initially expected. They are then asked to report how they would adjust their anticipated credit card debt in response. This randomized variation is designed to estimate the interest rate elasticity of credit card debt.
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1; not clustering
Sample size: planned number of observations
Around 400 subjects on prolific.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
100 consumers per treatment
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
IRB Approval Date
2025-02-12
IRB Approval Number
HREP-2024-0430
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