The effect of different written appeals on hand disinfection in supermarkets

Last registered on June 22, 2020
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The effect of different written appeals on hand disinfection in supermarkets
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0006034
Initial registration date
June 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
June 22, 2020, 11:52 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Switzerland
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Frauke von Bieberstein
Affiliation
University of Bern
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Anna Corinna Kulle
PI Affiliation
University of Bern
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Stefanie Jaussi
PI Affiliation
University of Bern
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2020-05-10
End date
2021-12-31
Keywords
Health, Other
Additional Keywords
Nudging, motivation, social norms, hand hygiene, field experiment
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
In light of the current Covid-19 crisis, disinfecting one's hands before entering a store became a standard procedure in Switzerland, and stores commonly provide dispensers in the entrance area. So far, only little is known on how to effectively get customers to adopt this relatively new behavior as part of their shopping routine.

In a field experiment, we examine how different written appeals affect the willingness of customers to disinfect their hands prior to / when entering a supermarket.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Jaussi, Stefanie, Anna Corinna Kulle and Frauke von Bieberstein. 2020. "The effect of different written appeals on hand disinfection in supermarkets." AEA RCT Registry. June 22. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.6034-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2020-06-24
Intervention End Date
2020-08-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Share of people disinfecting their hands prior to entering a supermarket. We will control for individual observable differences (gender and age group) and for data provided by the supermarket chain (e.g. average amount spent, number of customers present). We will consider all experimental days and make a first day analysis.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We conduct a field experiment with two experimental treatments and a control treatment.
Experimental Design Details
We conduct a field experiment with two experimental treatments and a control treatment. In both experimental treatments, a poster is placed next to a hand disinfection station at the entrance of a supermarket. We vary the message on the poster. One is highlighting that hand disinfection is protecting fellow human beings, the other one is highlighting that hand disinfection is protecting oneself. In the control treatment, there is a hand disinfection station with a poster that merely highlights the hand disinfectant station, but does not convey any other information. As a further control, on an additional day, we check for the influence of the presence of a poster by varying in a store if a poster is present at all or not.
Randomization Method
Randomization over morning, lunch to early afternoon, and late afternoon to evening (ABC/BCA/CAB-design) on three consecutive days in three supermarkets. The randomization was done at the office by rolling a die.
Randomization Unit
Customers shopping at a specific time of the day (morning, lunch to early afternoon, and late afternoon to evening) in one of the three supermarkets.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
no clusters
Sample size: planned number of observations
In total about 7’000-12’000 participants across the two experimental and the one control condition, depending on how many people visit the three stores on the three treatment days.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
About 2’300-4’000 participants per treatment, depending on how many people visit the three stores on the three treatment days.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Ethics Committee University of Bern, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences
IRB Approval Date
2020-06-03
IRB Approval Number
072020
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