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Social Image Concerns of Blood Donors
Last registered on October 29, 2019
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information
General Information
Title
Social Image Concerns of Blood Donors
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0004890
Initial registration date
October 28, 2019
Last updated
October 29, 2019 9:47 AM EDT
Location(s)
Country
Italy
Region
Primary Investigator
Name
Egon Tripodi
Affiliation
University of Essex
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Other Primary Investigator(s)
PI Name
Lorenz Goette
PI Affiliation
University of Bonn
Contact Investigator
Additional Trial Information
Status
In development
Start date
2019-10-29
End date
2020-12-30
Keywords
Health, Labor, Other
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
We study experimentally the role of social image concerns for blood donors.
External Link(s)
Registration Citation
Citation
Goette, Lorenz and Egon Tripodi. 2019. "Social Image Concerns of Blood Donors." AEA RCT Registry. October 29. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.4890-1.0.
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Experimental Details
Interventions
Intervention(s)
Field experiment in collaboration with Italian NGO to study short and long term effects of social recognition.
Intervention Start Date
2019-10-29
Intervention End Date
2020-11-30
Primary Outcomes
Primary Outcomes (end points)
Blood donations made in November 2019
Plasma donations made in November 2019
Blood donations made in November 2020
Plasma donations made in November 2020
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
To assess the short [long] term effects of visibility incentives on blood (plasma) donations we compare blood (plasma) donations made in November 2019 [2020] between treatments ii and iv (iii and v).
Secondary Outcomes
Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
We will look into whether treatment effects are stronger
- for women than for men;
- for inactive donors (those who have not donated in the last 24 months) than for active donors.
Experimental Design
Experimental Design
The experiment randomizes whether registered blood donors are offered a public acknowledgment on social media for donating blood in a certain period of time.
Experimental Design Details
This is a between-subjects experiment. In each treatment, a blood donor receives a personalized email in which we vary part of the contents.
The experiment features 5 main treatments:
(i) Control: No email.
(ii) Encouragement Blood: Donor is invited to make a whole blood donation in the coming month.
(iii) Encouragement Plasma: Donor is invited to make a plasma donation in the coming month.
(iv) Visibility Blood: Donor is invited to make a whole blood donation in the coming month. As an incentive, donors are told that for this donation the NGO will be thanking them publicly through its official social media channels.
(v) Visibility Plasma: Donor is invited to make a whole plasma donation in the coming month. As an incentive, donors are told that for this donation the NGO will be thanking them publicly through its official social media channels.

For all treatments (excluding Control) we cross-randomize whether information is provided about the current level of local shortages of blood supply.

Randomization works as follows. Main treatments are divided into three groups: No visibility incentives (i-iii), Visibility incentives for Blood (iv), and Visibility incentives for Plasma (v). We randomize the 65 selected local branches of the NGO into one of these three groups.
In the No visibility incentives group, randomization of the main treatment is done at the individual level. Cross-randomization of secondary information treatment is done at the individual level.
Randomization Method
randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Some of the treatments are randomized across clusters, and some treatments are randomized within clusters.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes
Experiment Characteristics
Sample size: planned number of clusters
65 local branches of the NGO
Sample size: planned number of observations
about 15,000 blood donors
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
For the main treatments, we have about 20 clusters per treatment with about 5,000 donors each.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB
INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARDS (IRBs)
IRB Name
German Association for Experimental Economic Research e.V.
IRB Approval Date
2019-10-28
IRB Approval Number
jN7oi2yd
Analysis Plan
Post-Trial
Post Trial Information
Study Withdrawal
Intervention
Is the intervention completed?
No
Is 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