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Do planning prompts increase gym attendance? A randomized field experiment.

Last registered on June 08, 2018
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Do planning prompts increase gym attendance? A randomized field experiment.
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0002986
Initial registration date
June 06, 2018

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
June 08, 2018, 12:06 PM 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
Mariana Carrera
Affiliation
Montana State University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Dmitry Taubinsky
PI Affiliation
U.C. Berkeley
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PI Name
Mark Stehr
PI Affiliation
Drexel University
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PI Name
Justin Sydnor
PI Affiliation
University of Wisconsin
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PI Name
Heather Royer
PI Affiliation
U.C. Santa Barbara
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2018-05-21
End date
2019-08-28
Keywords
Health
Additional Keywords
Behavioral economics, psychology, implementation intentions, exercise
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Recent large-scale randomized field experiments have shown that simple and scalable planning interventions -- asking people when and where they plan to act -- can help people follow through on behaviors they intend to pursue in a broad range of settings.
The purpose of this study is to test whether similar planning interventions can increase the frequency of gym visits made by members of a fitness facility.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Carrera, Mariana et al. 2018. "Do planning prompts increase gym attendance? A randomized field experiment. ." AEA RCT Registry. June 08. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2986-1.1
Former Citation
Carrera, Mariana et al. 2018. "Do planning prompts increase gym attendance? A randomized field experiment. ." AEA RCT Registry. June 08. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2986/history/207787
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We test three different planning interventions for increasing visits to the gym.
Intervention Start Date
2018-06-06
Intervention End Date
2018-07-22

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Number of gym visits in the 7 day planning period,
Number of gym visits in the 14 day planning period,
Proportion of sample making a visit on a given day.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Our definition of "Number of gym visits" could be described in more detail as "Number of days with gym visits" since it is constructed by summing up the days on which a participant has at least one visit to the gym.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We randomly assign gym members to a control group or to one of three different treatment groups, which receive a different type of planning intervention. Further details are provided in the Hidden Experimental Design which will be visible after the completion of the study.
Experimental Design Details
We randomly assign gym members to a control group or to one of three different treatment groups: Unlimited Planning, Plan One Visit, or Randomly Assigned Plan. The purpose of the first two treatment groups is to test whether unlimited planning and planning for one visit increase visit rates. The purpose of the third treatment group is to test whether making a plan increases one's probability of going to the gym on a given day. It is possible that plans increase this probability yet have no net effect on visit rates, if there is an offsetting decrease in the probability a person visits the gym on unplanned days. We will test for evidence of this "substitution effect" by comparing the effect of plans on visits in a given day to the net effect of plans on total visits, as described in more detail in our Analysis Plan.
Randomization Method
Randomization via computer (in Stata do-file).
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1
Sample size: planned number of observations
1000
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Up to 250 per treatment arm
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Based on a probable sample size of 877, although we have budgeted for up to 1000 participants, we find the following MDEs: 1. For the effect of Treatment 1 on visits over a 14-day period: MDE is 0.59 visits. The standard error is 0.236. This would be an increase of approximately 20%. 2. For the effect of Treatment 2 on visits over a 7-day period: MDE is 0.29. The standard error is 0.118, and this would also be an increase of approximately 20%. 3. For Hypothesis 3, MDE is 0.07, standard error is 0.0286, and the percentage is 35%. Further details are provided in the analysis plan.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Case Western Reserve University IRB
IRB Approval Date
2018-05-15
IRB Approval Number
20180169
Analysis Plan

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Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
June 30, 2018, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
June 30, 2018, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
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
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials