Willful Ignorance in the Context of Atrocity Crimes and the Role of Information Provision on Attitudes and Moral Behavior

Last registered on August 27, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Willful Ignorance in the Context of Atrocity Crimes and the Role of Information Provision on Attitudes and Moral Behavior
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0019503
Initial registration date
August 26, 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
August 27, 2026, 12:56 PM 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
Christine Binzel
Affiliation
FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Thomas Richter
PI Affiliation
GIGA
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Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2026-08-17
End date
2026-08-30
Keywords
Behavior, Crime, Violence, & Conflict
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study uses an online survey experiment in Germany to examine how people respond to politically and morally relevant information concerning ongoing atrocity crimes committed by a foreign state and Germany’s role in this context. We study information seeking and avoidance, as well as how receiving information affects attitudes and behavior. We also examine whether responses vary across individuals with different prior beliefs, knowledge, and information preferences.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Binzel, Christine and Thomas Richter. 2026. "Willful Ignorance in the Context of Atrocity Crimes and the Role of Information Provision on Attitudes and Moral Behavior." AEA RCT Registry. August 27. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.19503-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Participants are randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions that differ in whether and how they receive politically and morally relevant information. Depending on the condition, participants may receive information directly, make incentivized choices about whether to receive the information, or receive feedback about their prior knowledge before making these choices.
Intervention Start Date
2026-08-17
Intervention End Date
2026-08-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The primary outcomes capture (i) participants' information preferences and (ii) their post-treatment attitudes and behavior. Information-preference outcomes include whether participants avoid information when receiving it is costless (AvoidAtZero), whether they avoid information even when receiving it is financially beneficial (CostlyAvoider), whether they are willing to forgo money to receive information (Seeker), and a continuous measure of willingness to pay for information. Post-treatment outcomes include respondents' assessments of Israel's conduct in Gaza and Germany's responsibility, support for policy measures by the German government, uncertainty as measured by “don't know” responses, protest intention, and incentivized charitable giving to the European Legal Support Center.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
See pre-analysis plan.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
See pre-analysis plan.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
See pre-analysis plan.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We conduct an online survey experiment with adults in Germany. Participants are randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions that vary whether and how they receive politically and morally relevant information and whether they receive feedback about their prior knowledge. Some participants also make incentivized choices concerning whether they wish to receive information. We study information-seeking and information-avoidance behavior and subsequently measure attitudes and behavior.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Individual-level computerized randomization within the online survey. Participants are assigned to one of four experimental groups with equal probability (p = 0.25 for each group).
Randomization Unit
Individual survey participant.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
4,000 individual survey participants (the treatment is not clustered).
Sample size: planned number of observations
4,000 individual survey participants.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
1,000 participants in Group A (control), 1,000 participants in Group B (information treatment), 1,000 participants in Group C (WTP treatment), and 1,000 participants in Group D (WTP treatment with feedback).
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Ethics Commission of the School of Business, Economics and Society at FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg
IRB Approval Date
2026-02-19
IRB Approval Number
N/A
Analysis Plan

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