Incentivizing citizens’ environmentally-friendly mobility behavior – a field experiment in Austria

Last registered on March 02, 2020
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Incentivizing citizens’ environmentally-friendly mobility behavior – a field experiment in Austria
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0005495
Initial registration date
February 25, 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
March 02, 2020, 3:44 PM EST

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

Locations

Country
Austria
Region
Vienna

Primary Investigator

Name
Jakob Hackel
Affiliation
Vienna University of Economics and Business
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Kerstin Grosch
PI Affiliation
Institute for Advanced Studies
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2020-02-26
End date
2020-10-31
Keywords
Environment & Energy, Governance, Health, Other
Additional Keywords
Mobility, Sustainability, Digital intervention
JEL code(s)
C93, Q55, H23
Secondary IDs
CASE_002_2020_IA
Abstract
In this study, we implement a field experiment to test the effects of a mobile app that rewards sustainable mobility choices of citizens in Vienna. The app automatically tracks transport choices and rewards the choice not to take a car with free entry tickets to local cultural institutions. The app visualizes the modal split of each participant and gives feedback on general CO2 emission reduction.
The modal split of Vienna citizens has overall improved over time, yet as of 2018 the three categories forming sustainable transport methods (Walking, Cycling, Public Transport) make up 71% (Wiener Linien, 2019). Through STEP 2025 the City targets several areas of improvement, such as efficient resource usage and availability of reliable mobility modes without a necessity to own a personal means of transport.
The choice of a transport mode has many variables including comfort, availability, cost, speed and perception. By combining sustainable mobility choices with cultural offers as incentives we intend to combine the willingness of fields outside of mobility to contribute with incentives towards a more sustainable city. Daily, citizens make several decisions on their choice of transport mode. This intervention aims to introduce new variables into this choice, by visualizing and emphasizing a collective goal through individual actions. Instead of subsidizing transport choices directly and monetarily, we test the interaction of non-related incentives (cultural offers) and visualization of choices (CO2 emission reduction) with sustainable mobility.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Grosch, Kerstin and Jakob Hackel. 2020. "Incentivizing citizens’ environmentally-friendly mobility behavior – a field experiment in Austria." AEA RCT Registry. March 02. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.5495-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2020-02-26
Intervention End Date
2020-08-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Outcome variable: modal split of all days with mobility reports
Modal split is defined as: 1 - (distance traveled by car / sum of distance {walking, bike, public transport, car})

Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Modal Split ranges from 0 (100% car usage) to 1 (0% car usage)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
During this experiment, mobile apps will track mobility behavior of users.
The choice of a transport mode has many variables including comfort, availability, cost, speed and perception. By combining sustainable mobility choices with cultural offers as incentives we intend to combine the willingness of fields outside of mobility to contribute with incentives towards a more sustainable city.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization with SPSS random number generation in office, with fellow researchers present.
Lowest 300 numbers Control, 301-600 T1, 601-900 T2
Randomization Unit
Randomized on individual level for all treatments
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
No clusters - 900 subjects
Sample size: planned number of observations
900
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
300 control, 300 treatment 1, 300 treatment 2
equal distribution
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

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