Demand for Ultrasonography: Roles of Price Framing and Sex Information

Last registered on August 20, 2019

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Demand for Ultrasonography: Roles of Price Framing and Sex Information
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0004598
Initial registration date
August 20, 2019

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 20, 2019, 9:33 AM EDT

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

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
University of Hong Kong

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
Cornell University
PI Affiliation
Cornell University

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2019-07-01
End date
2019-11-30
Secondary IDs
Abstract
In this proposed study, we examine the roles of price framing and fetal sex information on demand for obstetric ultrasonography. Specifically, we examine the effects of framing of price information (subsidy versus price discount) and provision of fetal sex information on willingness to pay for ultrasonography of pregnant women. We implement a randomized control trial in the context of rural Malawi in which access to obstetric ultrasonography is severely limited.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Kim, Hyuncheol Bryant, Sangyoon Park and Hyuk Son. 2019. "Demand for Ultrasonography: Roles of Price Framing and Sex Information." AEA RCT Registry. August 20. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.4598-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The main intervention is to provide ultrasonography to pregnant women visiting health clinics for antenatal care. We randomize the price framing scheme and provision of fetal sex information across health clinics and, in case of revisiting health centers, across different dates. In addition, we randomize the actual price each participant has to pay to receive one ultrasonography treatment on the day of their visit. Participants’ demands will be measured using a multiple price list Becker-DeGroot-Marschak (BDM) mechanism.
Intervention Start Date
2019-07-01
Intervention End Date
2019-11-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Each participant’s willingness to pay for ultrasonography service and post-treatment behavior
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Willingness to pay for ultrasonography will be measured using a multiple price list BDM consisting of eleven different subsidy (or price) levels. Information on post-treatment behavior will be collected through a follow-up survey which will ask participants about their recent health and prenatal care investment activities.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
In this study, we employ a two-stage randomized control trial. In the first stage, type of intervention is randomly assigned into one of the four groups which changes across days: 1) price salient, reveal fetal sex information, 2) price salient, do not reveal fetal sex information, 3) subsidy salient, reveal fetal sex information, and 4) subsidy salient, do not reveal fetal sex information. In the second stage, given the first stage intervention, each participant randomly draws a price tag indicating the actual subsidy (price) for receiving ultrasonography. We employ a multiple price list BDM such that prior to making the draw in the second stage participants will make purchase decisions on all eleven subsidy (price) levels.
Experimental Design Details
We work with two health centers located in TA Chimutu in addition to AFF’s mobile antenatal clinics which serves villages in remote areas. To minimize the variation from health-center specific characteristics and seasonal traits, the randomization was stratified by health centers. Next, our surveyors and ultrasonographers visit health centers and mobile clinics to conduct the intervention according to the randomization outcome. During this visit we first conduct a baseline survey with all participants – pregnant women recruited by health surveillance assistants. Second, we introduce the purpose and benefit of the obstetric ultrasonography where we disclose whether the participants will be told the fetal sex information. Third, we conduct a multiple price list BDM using the pre-determined price framing scheme. This is done by asking participants to provide purchase decisions on all prices included in the list of subsidy (price) tags. Finally, each participant randomly draws a price tag indicating the actual subsidy (price) for receiving ultrasonography and depending on their responses in the multiple price BDM the participant may or may not receive ultrasonography treatment.
Randomization Method
We employ a two-stage randomized trial design. First stage randomization of price framing and fetal sex information provision is conducted using researcher’s laptop before start of project. Second stage randomization of actual subsidy (price) level is determined by each participant’s draw from a random lottery right after the multiple price list BDM survey session.
Randomization Unit
Price framing and fetal sex information is randomized at the date-facility level. Actual price (or subsidy, depending on the first-stage treatment outcome) level is randomized at the individual level.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
2,400 pregnant women
Sample size: planned number of observations
2,400 pregnant women
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
600 in price salient, reveal fetal sex information group, 600 in price salient, do not reveal fetal sex information group, 600 in subsidy salient, reveal fetal sex information group, and 600 in subsidy salient, do not reveal fetal sex information group
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Universiy of Hong Kong
IRB Approval Date
2019-08-08
IRB Approval Number
EA1906008
IRB Name
Cornell University
IRB Approval Date
2019-06-24
IRB Approval Number
1905008831
Analysis Plan

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Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials