How Do Consumers Respond to Price Complexity? Experimental Evidence from the Power Sector

Last registered on February 21, 2020
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
How Do Consumers Respond to Price Complexity? Experimental Evidence from the Power Sector
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0005438
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, 11:53 AM EST

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

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region
Western U.S.

Primary Investigator

Name
Grant Jacobsen
Affiliation
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
James Stewart
PI Affiliation

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2015-06-01
End date
2018-03-01
Keywords
Environment & Energy
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
This study will provide experimental evidence on dynamic pricing in the power sector based on data from a large, western utility. The focus of the experiment is the effects of time-of-use pricing and event-based pricing when offered both in isolation and when implemented simultaneously.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Jacobsen, Grant and James Stewart. 2020. "How Do Consumers Respond to Price Complexity? Experimental Evidence from the Power Sector ." AEA RCT Registry. February 21. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.5438-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2016-06-01
Intervention End Date
2018-03-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Household electricity consumption
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
A randomized evaluation of how nine different varieties of dynamic pricing affect household electricity consumption. Three treatments are different varieties of time-of-use pricing. Three treatments are different varieties of critical peak rebates. Three treatments are hybrids that include both time-of-use pricing and critical peak rebates. Experiment conducted at a large western United States utility using a recruit-and-deny randomization procedure.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done by computer. Recruit-and-deny implementation.
Randomization Unit
Household
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
Approximately 3,500
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Approximately 250 minimum by experimental group, with approximately half of the experimental group treated.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

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