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Social Coordination in Response to Disaster: Experimental Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Last registered on December 11, 2020
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Social Coordination in Response to Disaster: Experimental Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0005716
First published
December 11, 2020, 5:47 PM 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

Primary Investigator

Name
Ha Diep-Nguyen
Affiliation
Purdue University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Jun Yang
PI Affiliation
Indiana University
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2020-04-13
End date
2021-12-31
Keywords
Other, Welfare
Additional Keywords
Trust, Donation, Public goods, Cooperative Economic Behavior
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
We study the cooperative economic behavior of donations to provide public goods in response to disastrous events. We partnered with a charitable organization that aims to purchase and distribute surgical masks to smaller hospitals and facilities in areas hard-hit by the COVID-19. We launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for their operations in April 2020. We randomly rotated different versions of this campaign's GoFundMe webpage that vary in profile pictures, campaign descriptions, and operation updates. Our analysis has three components. First, we construct a measure of each version's trustworthiness based on the ratings provided by the subjects on Amazon MTurk. We then analyze the connection between the campaign page features and the level of trustworthiness. Second, we study how perceived trustworthiness affects the contributions to the campaign. Finally, we extend our measure of trustworthiness to all campaigns that are related to PPE provision in the GoFundMe platform for generalization.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Diep-Nguyen, Ha and Jun Yang. 2020. "Social Coordination in Response to Disaster: Experimental Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic." AEA RCT Registry. December 11. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.5716-1.0
Former Citation
Diep-Nguyen, Ha and Jun Yang. 2020. "Social Coordination in Response to Disaster: Experimental Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic." AEA RCT Registry. December 11. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/5716/history/81588
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We have two interventions in this project.
First, we partner with a charitable organization that aims to identify and distribute surgical masks to smaller hospitals and facilities in areas hard-hit by the COVID-19 in launching a GoFundMe campaign in early April 2020. We randomly rotated different versions of their GoFundMe page that vary in profile pictures, description scripts, and progress updates.
Second, we conducted a survey on Amazon mTurk that randomly shows different versions of the campaign page and asks for their incentivized perception of the campaign's credibility.
Intervention (Hidden)


Intervention Start Date
2020-04-16
Intervention End Date
2020-05-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Donation amount
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
In the first intervention, we worked with a charitable organization that purchases and distributes surgical masks to smaller hospitals and facilities in areas hard-hit by the COVID-19 in launching a fund-raising campaign on GoFundMe. GoFundMe allows for changes and updates to the campaign page. As such, we created a total of 16 versions of the campaign page
2 variations in the gender of the profile picture: Male and Female
2 variations in the ethnicity of the profile picture: White and Non-white
2 variations in campaign description: long with more details and short with little details
2 variations in campaign updates on how the organization has used the funds to purchase and distribute masks: show updates and no updates
We then randomly rotated the campaign page every 3 hours from 9 AM to 9 PM for 4 shifts (and back to the default page from 9 PM to 9 AM the next day). We had the rotation up for 1 month from April 17 to May 16, 2020.

We then run a survey on Amazon mTurk to gauge the donor's perception of the campaign's credibility. In the survey, we first showed each subject a campaign page randomly chosen from the 16 versions we have in the first intervention. We then ask subjects how much they would donate to the campaign that they see. To incentivize truthful telling, we offer a raffle in which if they win, the amount that they indicated will be deducted from the prize money and donated on their behalf. We also ask them to give a score out of 10 on how credible they think the campaign is

Our analysis has three components.
First, we construct a measure of each version's trustworthiness based on how subjects in Amazon MTurk judge the version. We then analyze the connection between campaign page features and the level of trustworthiness.
Second, we study how trustworthiness affects contribution to the campaign.
Finally, we extend our measure of trustworthiness to all campaigns that are related to disaster relief provision in the GoFundMe platform for generalization.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization was done by computer using Python.
Randomization Unit
Experimental sessions
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
120 sessions
Sample size: planned number of observations
500
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
120 treated sessions, 30 control sessions
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Indiana University Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2020-11-23
IRB Approval Number
2011539981
IRB Name
Indiana University Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2020-04-16
IRB Approval Number
2004265242
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