The motivational effect of detailed job references for volunteers – Evidence from a field experiment on intergenerational cooperation.

Last registered on March 03, 2023

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The motivational effect of detailed job references for volunteers – Evidence from a field experiment on intergenerational cooperation.
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0005688
Initial registration date
April 07, 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
April 07, 2020, 2:08 PM EDT

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

Last updated
March 03, 2023, 4:00 AM EST

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

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
Technion Haifa
PI Affiliation
University of Vechta
PI Affiliation
University of Vechta

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2020-04-09
End date
2022-12-31
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
The high importance of career-oriented motivations within the group of young volunteers and recent evidence that volunteering references can improve employment opportunities, suggests that job references for volunteers can motivate young adults to engage in volunteering activities. However, the question of whether job references can also have a motivational effect on the performance and continuation of volunteering remains unanswered. We assume that performance-based job references can help charitable organizations and volunteers to achieve desired volunteer behaviour better than simple job reference without individual performance indication.

In a field experiment in which young volunteers sign up to support elderly citizens as mentor over a longer period of time in using smartphones computers or tablets, we address this research gap and investigate whether and to which extent performance based job references with different underlying performance assessment mechanisms (bonus, repeated betting) can motivate existing volunteers to enlarge their volunteering activities and engage regularly with high intensity for their elderly mentees.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Erev, Ido et al. 2023. "The motivational effect of detailed job references for volunteers – Evidence from a field experiment on intergenerational cooperation.." AEA RCT Registry. March 03. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.5688-1.4
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2020-04-21
Intervention End Date
2022-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Based on literature on young volunteers career motivation, beneficial labor market outcomes for volunteers and non-pecuniary incentives we expect positive motivational effects of job references that display additional information on the individual performance. Mentors receiving detailed job references should provide a higher quantity of telephone calls/Video chats and messages and also more minutes of support compared to volunteers incentivized with a simple job reference. Additionally, we think this effect is reinforced for detailed job references with repeated betting devices as underlying PMA (T2) and young volunteers who are primarily motivated by career concerns.

We measure these interaction parameters for both the incentive period and the post-incentive period.The latter helps us to capture the continuation of the volunteering activities after the end of the project.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Several measures should capture the preparation effort, like number of downloaded supporting material and self-reported preperation time.

As a consequence of the higher regularity and intensity of the assistance provided by young volunteers with detailed job references, we expect several positive effects on their elderly mentees compared to elderly people with control group volunteers:

• Higher decrease in self-reported loneliness
• Higher increase in smartphone use (average minutes per day)
• higher increase in self-reported social integration,
• higher increase in digital competencies,
• higher self-reported decrease in smartphone anxiety
• a higher increase of life-satisfaction

All these measurements are generated by using a pre post comparison.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We draw our participants from a volunteering project that aims to facilitate intergenerational cooperation between young and reduce feelings of loneliness of old citizens while at the same time increasing the digital expertise of older citizens.
Experimental Design Details
After registration, the participants complete a pre-survey. After completion the enrolled young volunteers are randomly paired with an elderly person and assigned to one of the three treatment conditions using a pure randomization procedure. Subsequently, they receive the weekly goal, select their preferred type of job reference and answer control questions on the treatments. The senior mentees take part in an additional competency test, which is repeated at the end of the trial to measure the change in smartphone skills. While volunteers in the control group are incentivised with a simple job reference without any information on their individual performance, students in the remaining two conditions receive the opportunity to earn up to 100 “engagement points” on their “detailed” job reference, depending (a) on how often they achieve the weekly goal of providing assistance at least once per week by phoning or video-chatting and (b) the underlying PMA (see above).

Experiment 1:
The intervention period takes ten weeks. During this period the older mentees work on tasks using their smartphones every week. The younger mentors can support them. Furthermore, we observe weekly target achievement, based on the telephone protocol of participants on these activities.
In a post intervention period of ten weeks, we further observe the smartphone behavior and the exchange between the young and older participants for three weeks, to see whether they continue their volunteering commitment by working together with their mentees on further smartphone tasks.
The study ends with a post-test. Both tandems participate in a post-survey. The elderly persons will also conduct the same competency test, they have already conducted in the pre-intervention period. Most importantly, the young volunteers report the exchange with their mentees by uploading screenshots of the telephone protocol (only phone and video calls with their mentees during the past thirteen weeks, no contents). A crosscheck of the smartphone usage data of both tandem partners allows further statements about the contact intensity and frequency. The participation fee of 15 € will be paid for taking part in both surveys, reporting the exchange with their tandem partners and downloading the app to measure smartphone usage.

The fist tandems started on April 20th. A second wave of tandems started two weeks later. Since new elderly participants can still participate, new tandems are still conveyed. This is due to high scepticism towards smartphone related tasks by this subgroup, which sometimes takes time for convincing.

Experiment 2:
The intervention period takes nine weeks. Elderly participants take part in smartphone-, tablet- or computer--related courses. The younger mentors can support them in this time. Furthermore, we observe weekly target achievement, based on the telephone protocol of participants on these activities. In rare cases, the courses are only given for a small amount of weeks, which is why a shorter intervention period may be chosen.
In a post intervention period of eleven weeks, we further observe the exchange between the young and older participants, to see whether they continue their volunteering commitment by working together with their mentees on further smartphone-related, tablet-related or computer-related tasks.
The study ends with a post-test. Both tandems participate in a post-survey. The elderly persons will also conduct the same competency test, they have already conducted in the pre-intervention period. Most importantly, the young volunteers report the exchange with their mentees by uploading screenshots of the telephone protocol or secreenshots from the computer or tablet (only phone and video calls with their mentees during the past thirteen weeks, no contents). A crosscheck of the smartphone usage data of both tandem partners allows further statements about the contact intensity and frequency. The participation fee of 15 € will be paid for taking part in both surveys, reporting the exchange with their tandem partners and downloading the app to measure smartphone usage.

After a pre-study in 2019, the first tandems started on october 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemia many courses are on hold.


Experiment 3:
The intervention period takes nine weeks. Elderly participants are selflearners for smartphone, computer or tabletskills. They get official learning documents to deepen and learn new skills. The younger mentors can support them in this time. Furthermore, we observe weekly target achievement, based on the telephone protocol of participants on these activities.
In a post intervention period of eleven weeks, we further observe the exchange between the young and older participants, to see whether they continue their volunteering commitment by working together with their mentees on further smartphone-related, tablet-related or computer-related tasks.
The study ends with a post-test. Both tandems participate in a post-survey. The elderly persons will also conduct the same competency test, they have already conducted in the pre-intervention period. Most importantly, the young volunteers report the exchange with their mentees by uploading screenshots of the telephone protocol or secreenshots from the computer or tablet (only phone and video calls with their mentees during the past thirteen weeks, no contents). A crosscheck of the smartphone usage data of both tandem partners allows further statements about the contact intensity and frequency. The participation fee of 15 € will be paid for taking part in both surveys, reporting the exchange with their tandem partners and downloading the app to measure smartphone usage.


The three experiments are chosen to test our mechanism in many realistic settings. Furthermore, the corona pandemic hinders us to deepen our analysis in the context of experiment 2.
Randomization Method
Randomization into the three treatment groups is done by a computerized random draw.
Randomization Unit
Individual (volunteers)
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
0
Sample size: planned number of observations
200 tandems are planned
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
66 volunteers in each treatment condition
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
German Association for Experimental Economic Research e.V
IRB Approval Date
2020-04-06
IRB Approval Number
1eQYzSTN

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
December 31, 2022, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
December 31, 2022, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
Yes
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
196
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
Control: 62 Bonus: 64 Repeated Betting: 70
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials