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

Country

United States of America

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Alexander Staub

Affiliation

Universitat Ramon Llull, ESADE

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Gordon Burtch

PI Affiliation

Boston University, Questrom School of Business

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Christian Peukert

PI Affiliation

University of Lausanne

Contact Investigator

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 (Hidden)

Two crossed manipulations are presented in a consent-style disclosure before participant submit their "willingess to accept" bid: privacy (the recording will be anonymized/de-identified and not linked to personal data vs linked to the personal data already held via Prolific and the survey responses) and synthesis (the recording will not vs may be used to train a generative AI model to produce new messages in the participant's voice). These are implemented as four between-subjects arms (the full 2×2) and two within-subjects arms (privacy held fixed; both synthesis levels elicited from the same participant, order counterbalanced, one randomly selected for payment). After bidding, an incentivised reverse BDM draw determines whether the participant records their voice and receives the corresponding bonus.

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

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

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?

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

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