Applying behavioural insights to online wagering

Last registered on January 28, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Applying behavioural insights to online wagering
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0005373
Initial registration date
February 20, 2020

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
February 21, 2020, 11:54 AM EST

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

Last updated
January 28, 2024, 8:22 PM EST

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

Locations

Country
Australia
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
BETA Team Registration
Affiliation
Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Jack Hodge
PI Affiliation
Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Harry Greenwell
PI Affiliation
Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Katrina Anderson
PI Affiliation
Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2020-07-03
End date
2020-07-31
Keywords
Finance & Microfinance, Welfare
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
G18 Government policy and regulation; D18 Consumer Protection; L88 Sports Gambling Restaurants Recreation Tourism
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study aims to assess the impacts of behavioural interventions on gambling behaviour of online wagerers. We will test the interventions through a framed-field online experiment with randomisation at the individual level.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Anderson, Katrina et al. 2024. "Applying behavioural insights to online wagering." AEA RCT Registry. January 28. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.5373-3.1
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention details withheld until trial completion to avoid contamination.
Intervention Start Date
2020-07-03
Intervention End Date
2020-07-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The amount gambled ($) over 56 gambles
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
This is a continuous measure. It is the total amount bet (lab $) over 56 gambles (gamble 9 to gamble 64) by each individual, averaged within each experimental group. The largest amount that can be gambled for each gamble is 15 lab dollars so the range of this variable will be 0 to 840 lab dollars.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Three arm framed-field experiment, randomised at the individual level
Experimental Design Details
A three-arm randomised trial, to be evaluated using gambling data collected on the online platform and post-experiment survey. There will be two treatment arms and a control arm.
Randomisation will be at the individual level with a one-third probability of assignment to each experimental arm.
We will recruit 1,500 online wagering participants into the trial.
Participants will be required to complete a post-experiment survey.
Participants will gamble for a total of 64 gambles on the simulated online platform. They can choose to not place a bet or bet any amount from 1 lab dollar to 15 lab dollars.
Randomization Method
Randomisation done on computer
Randomization Unit
Individual level
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
No clustering
Sample size: planned number of observations
1500
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Each participant will have a one-third chance of being allocated to each experimental arm. Therefore, we expect approximately 500 observations each in the control, treatment group 1 and group 2.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Power calculations are for alpha of 0.05, power 80% and a two-sided test. We are aiming to recruit 1,500 participants for the trial. With 500 participants for each arm with three arms, we will be able to detect a small standardized effect size (Cohen’s d) of 0.25 – if it exists – for both the mean amount bet and the mean number of bets made. If we are unable to recruit as many participants as hoped, we will only be able to detect larger effect sizes (e.g. Cohen’s d>0.25) if such an effect exists.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Bellberry Limited
IRB Approval Date
2020-02-17
IRB Approval Number
2020-01-021
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
July 31, 2020, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
July 16, 2020, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
1683 individuals
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
1683 individuals
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
558 control, 564 statement A, 561 statement B
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

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Program Files

Program Files
No
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials

Description
BETA public report
Citation
© Commonwealth of Australia, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Better choices: Enhancing informed decision-making for online wagering consumers.
URL
https://behaviouraleconomics.pmc.gov.au/projects/applying-behavioural-insights-online-wagering