You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

Eliminating Behavioral Barriers to Saving through a Tablet App for the Base of the Pyramid in Paraguay

Last registered on April 08, 2025
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Eliminating Behavioral Barriers to Saving through a Tablet App for the Base of the Pyramid in Paraguay
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0002080
Initial registration date
March 14, 2017

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 14, 2017, 5:30 PM EDT

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

Last updated
April 08, 2025, 11:36 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
Paraguay
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Jeanne Lafortune
Affiliation
Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
José Tessada
PI Affiliation
Associate Professor, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2016-10-15
End date
2018-04-30
Keywords
Finance & Microfinance
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Low-income individuals rarely use formal savings products and seem to show little response to traditional incentives as a result of constraints and behavioral barriers. The treatments in this evaluation, which can be implemented in any standard tablet and are easily scalable by traditional banks, propose the use of an app to give simple information to poor individuals and help them move forward with a savings plan, reinforced with the use of SMS reminders. Starting in April 2017, a pilot will be rolled out testing the effectiveness of a tablet on savings and the use of precautionary methods. A follow-up survey was conducted in the last months of 2017. We are now analyzing the results of the follow-up.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Lafortune, Jeanne and José Tessada. 2025. "Eliminating Behavioral Barriers to Saving through a Tablet App for the Base of the Pyramid in Paraguay." AEA RCT Registry. April 08. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2080-2.1
Former Citation
Lafortune, Jeanne and José Tessada. 2025. "Eliminating Behavioral Barriers to Saving through a Tablet App for the Base of the Pyramid in Paraguay." AEA RCT Registry. April 08. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2080/history/258610
Sponsors & Partners

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The purpose of the intervention is to answer research questions such as: 1) what are the key barriers that the Base of the Pyramid faces in terms of savings, 2) can financial products that are feasible to implement for a traditional bank solve these barriers and can researchers promote savings using a precautionary motive and 3) can a tablet-based intervention solve some of the barriers faced by individuals at the moment of saving?
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2016-10-15
Intervention End Date
2018-04-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
savings
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Baseline data collection has been ongoing since mid-October 2016 through a face-to-face survey with the use of tablets. At the end of the survey, individuals are randomly assigned to one of the 5 app-based treatment groups or to the control group. If they agree to answering the survey, they receive an incentive through cell phone minutes. The treatments are as follows:

#1: receive a short message on screen of the tablet reminding the importance of saving (control group).
#2: treatment is the same message as #1 including a monthly SMS reminder for a maximum period of six months (this period applies to every case a SMS is offered).
#3: the tablet will automatically calculate how much money the individual is currently saving based on income and spending data. The participant will use this as a reference to build a (flow) goal. The surveyor will include and show this goal on screen to the treated individual.
#4: same treatment as #3, including a monthly SMS reminding they can save their monthly goal.
#5: individuals shall pick a good or service of their interest (product, housing, holiday, etc) and declare how much they would be willing to save in order to contribute to its future purchase. Participants will also be offered to receive a monthly SMS reminding to save $X for Y good/service.
#6: app will calculate the individual’s need for buffer stock savings, depending on unforeseen income or expense variations declared in the baseline survey. A SMS will also be sent reminding to save $X to avoid income/expense shocks.


Starting in April 2017 a pilot will be carried out.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Not specified
Randomization Unit
individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
n/a
Sample size: planned number of observations
4000
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
667
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Comite etico cientifico de Ciencias Sociales, Artes y Humanidades, PUC-Chile
IRB Approval Date
2015-11-18
IRB Approval Number
151013001
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
December 01, 2016, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
4028 individuals
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
No
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Abstract
We use a large-scale randomized control trial to evaluate information interventions to motivate savings in a mostly unbanked population. We find positive impacts of personalized SMSs on savings during the messaging period and larger than existing studies. However, they fade away after messaging stops, like in other experiments. Compared to the existing literature, we can better identify the sources of that effect. Personalized SMSs are not more likely to be received or more memorable. Highlighting a specific monetary goal appears to be more effective than tangibility. Also, salience or personalization separately do little to increase the intensive margin of savings. Heterogeneous effects are consistent with limited attention co-existing with other behavioral biases; for groups where reactance and frustration play a role, those are overcome only when personalized SMSs are employed.
Citation
Viviane Azevedo, Jeanne Lafortune, Liliana Olarte, José Tessada, Personalizing or reminding? How to better incentivize savings among underbanked individuals, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Volume 222, 2024, Pages 25-63, ISSN 0167-2681, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2024.04.005
URL
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167268124001409

Reports & Other Materials