Pilot - Valuing Voice

Last registered on July 06, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Pilot - Valuing Voice
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0019074
Initial registration date
June 30, 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
July 06, 2026, 7:30 AM EDT

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
Alexander Staub
Affiliation
Universitat Ramon Llull, ESADE
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Gordon Burtch
PI Affiliation
Boston University, Questrom School of Business
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PI Name
Christian Peukert
PI Affiliation
University of Lausanne
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2026-07-02
End date
2026-07-10
Keywords
Behavior
Additional Keywords
willingness to accept; voice data; generative AI; reverse BDM; online experiment
JEL code(s)
D81, C90, O33
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Feasibility pilot for an online experiment eliciting individuals' willingness to accept (WTA) compensation for providing a voice recording. Using an incentivised Becker–DeGroot–Marschak (BDM) mechanism on Prolific, we elicit the minimum bonus participants will accept to record their voice, and vary (i) whether the recording is anonymised and de-identified versus linked to the participant's personal data, and (ii) whether the recording may be used to train a generative AI voice-synthesis model. The pilot assesses the feasibility of the BDM elicitation, participant comprehension, attrition, and timing, and compares between- and within-subject implementations, in order to calibrate parameters for a future confirmatory study
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Burtch, Gordon, Christian Peukert and Alexander Staub. 2026. "Pilot - Valuing Voice." AEA RCT Registry. July 06. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.19074-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2026-07-02
Intervention End Date
2026-07-03

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Minimum acceptable compensation (WTA) to provide a voice recording, in US cents, elicited via reverse BDM.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
comprehension-check pass rates; attrition/drop-out by stage; completion time; share of accepted bids; bid distribution / dispersion by cell (for power calibration); manipulation-check responses; recording length;
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
2 (design type: between vs within participant). Between: 2×2 (privacy × synthesis), each participant sees one condition and provides one bid. Within: privacy fixed, participants see both synthesis levels (randomized order), counterbalanced, one of the two conditions is and bids is randomly selected for comparison to the random payment amount draw.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
automated equal-probability randomization by the survey platform. BDM market price drawn uniformly (1–500 cents) per participant.
Randomization Unit
individual participant
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
6 treatment arms (4 between, 2 within)
Sample size: planned number of observations
390
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
65
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Not applicable — exploratory pilot, not powered for confirmatory inference. Power analysis for the confirmatory study will use variance estimates from this pilot.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Committee on the Use of Human Subjects in Research
IRB Approval Date
2026-06-02
IRB Approval Number
020/2026
Analysis Plan