Effects of Brief Educational Interventions on Learning to Critically Assess Investment Tips on Social Media

Last registered on September 09, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Effects of Brief Educational Interventions on Learning to Critically Assess Investment Tips on Social Media
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0019554
Initial registration date
August 31, 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
September 09, 2026, 4:41 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
Jonathan Uhrig
Affiliation
University of Mannheim
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Carmela Aprea
PI Affiliation
University of Mannheim
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2026-09-01
End date
2026-12-08
Keywords
Behavior, Crime, Violence, & Conflict, Education, Finance & Microfinance
Additional Keywords
consumer education, consumer protection, consumer finance, household finance, financial education, financial literacy, financial landscape, advertising literacy, investment fraud, investment scam, investment decisions, investment choices, conflict of interest, financial self-interest, financial motives, social media
JEL code(s)
C93, D12, D18, G53
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
With this experiment, we aim to evaluate the effects of brief educational interventions on individuals’ ability to recognize financial self-interest and fraudulent intentions, when present, in investment tips on social media. We conduct a randomized controlled online experiment with individuals aged 18–45 residing in Germany. Participants are randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (i) a pure control group that receives no material, (ii) a treatment group that receives a text-based treatment describing key principles for navigating investment tips on social media, or (iii) a treatment group that receives the same information text supplemented with comic panels embedded throughout the text. Using simulated social media investment-tip videos, we examine the effects of the treatments on participants’ ability to recognize underlying financial self-interest and fraudulent intentions, both immediately and three months after the intervention. Furthermore, we investigate treatment effects on self-efficacy, knowledge, and (intended) behavior.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Aprea, Carmela and Jonathan Uhrig. 2026. "Effects of Brief Educational Interventions on Learning to Critically Assess Investment Tips on Social Media." AEA RCT Registry. September 09. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.19554-1.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2026-09-01
Intervention End Date
2026-12-08

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1) Ability to distinguish between investment tips with: (i) underlying financial self-interest, (ii) fraudulent intentions, and (iii) neither.
2) Knowledge related to principles for navigating investment tips on social media.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
1) Self-efficacy in critically navigating investment tips on social media and recognizing financial self-interest and fraudulent intentions.
2) Intended general and situative behavior immediately after the intervention.
3) General and situative behavior three months after the intervention.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We conduct a randomized controlled online experiment with individuals aged 18–45 residing in Germany. We draw on a quota sample recruited through an online-access panel, with marginal quotas on gender, age group, region, and highest general educational qualification. After a baseline survey that elicits relevant sociodemographic variables for the quota sample as well as further variables, participants are randomly assigned at the individual level to one of three conditions: (i) a pure control group that receives no material, (ii) a treatment group that receives a text-based treatment describing key principles for navigating investment tips on social media, or (iii) a treatment group that receives the same information text supplemented with comic panels embedded throughout the text. We apply stratified randomization to the three experimental conditions by gender and age group.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done by survey software
Randomization Unit
Individuals
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
1,200 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
400 individuals per arm
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 Committee at the University of Mannheim
IRB Approval Date
2026-08-04
IRB Approval Number
EK Mannheim 55/2026
Analysis Plan