Discrimination in Customer Service

Last registered on May 01, 2020
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Discrimination in Customer Service
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0005706
Initial registration date
May 01, 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
May 01, 2020, 3:37 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Tami Kim
Affiliation
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Alexandra Feldberg
PI Affiliation
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2016-07-26
End date
2016-08-17
Keywords
Firms & Productivity, Labor
Additional Keywords
Service quality
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
We email hotels from one of twelve fictitious email accounts (varying race, gender, and education) asking for local restaurant recommendations. We assess discrimination against email-senders by examining the quantity and quality of service provided.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Feldberg, Alexandra and Tami Kim. 2020. "Discrimination in Customer Service." AEA RCT Registry. May 01. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.5706-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We sent emails to hotels in the US, asking for restaurant recommendations. Emails were identical except for two components: the 1) city of the recipient hotel and 2) email-sender’s name. The email “From” line and signature varied to reflect the race (white, black, Asian), gender (male, female), and social status (graduate degree, no graduate degree) of email-senders.
Intervention Start Date
2016-07-26
Intervention End Date
2016-08-17

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1. Response received
2. Number of restaurants
3. Email length
4. Additional information
5. Passes the buck (refers the sender to another information source without answering the question)
6. Etiquette (included a name or honorific in the response and/or signed off the email with a complimentary close)
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The study is a 3(race: white, black, Asian) X 2(gender: male, female) X 2(social status: graduate degree, no graduate degree) design.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Via random number generator
Randomization Unit
Individual-level (i.e., hotel).
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
6,000 hotels
Sample size: planned number of observations
6,000 hotels
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
500 per condition
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Harvard Business School
IRB Approval Date
2016-05-05
IRB Approval Number
IRB16-0525
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

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