Willingness to Pay for Soapy Water Handwashing Stations

Last registered on April 14, 2015

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Willingness to Pay for Soapy Water Handwashing Stations
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0000669
Initial registration date
April 14, 2015

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 14, 2015, 1:07 PM EDT

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

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Innovations for Poverty Action

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
University at Buffalo
PI Affiliation
University at Buffalo
PI Affiliation
Stanford University and Innovations for Poverty Action

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2015-04-14
End date
2016-09-15
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Pneumonia and diarrhea continue to be primary causes of death among children under five, accounting for 30% of child mortality in Kenya alone. Research has demonstrated that handwashing with soap prevents pneumonia and diarrhea, but lack of soap provisions and limited piped water infrastructure makes handwashing practices difficult. To make the process of handwashing more convenient, Innovations for Poverty Action has redesigned an existing tippy-tap handwashing system to create a more functional, durable, and innovative handwashing system. The result is a water-efficient, soap-frugal handwashing station that is portable and adaptable to multiple settings. The innovative soap foam dispenser conserves soap by dispensing tactile foam and the water tap is easy to use and conserves water.

This study will assess household willingness to pay for the redesigned handwashing system in peri-urban communities in Kisumu, Kenya. Using a take-it-or-leave-it (TIOLI) approach with randomized offer prices, the study seeks to understand the potential market value of the handwashing stations. Additionally, usage and maintenance of the handwashing stations will be evaluated.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Null, Clair et al. 2015. "Willingness to Pay for Soapy Water Handwashing Stations." AEA RCT Registry. April 14. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.669-1.0
Former Citation
Null, Clair et al. 2015. "Willingness to Pay for Soapy Water Handwashing Stations." AEA RCT Registry. April 14. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/669/history/4119
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Households will be given an opportunity to purchase a water-efficient, soap-frugal handwashing station or a soap-frugal soap foam dispenser at randomized offer prices.
Intervention Start Date
2015-04-14
Intervention End Date
2015-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
(1) # of people who have attended a handwashing station introduction meeting (process)
(2) # of households with handwashing stations (process)
(3) # of people served by handwashing stations (process)
(4) % of households that purchase a handwashing station at each price point (evaluation)
(5) Difference in % of households that purchase a handwashing station when offered a refund policy in comparison to those that are not offered a refund policy
(6) % of handwashing stations that are still present (evaluation)
(7) % of handwashing stations stocked with soap and water after one month (evaluation)
(8) % of handwashing stations that are well maintained and functional after one month (evaluation)
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The study will use the take-it-or-leave-it (TIOLI) method by which households will have the opportunity to purchase a handwashing station or soap foam dispenser at a randomly fixed price (0-75% subsidy). Study households will be invited to participate through an introductory community meeting. During the offer stage, study participants will be given a purchase voucher listing randomized purchase prices. Additionally, half of the study households will be randomly offered a 2-week refund policy, which will also be listed on the voucher. The other half of the study households will not be offered any refund policy. Note that households will have the opportunity to purchase either a pipe or bucket configuration of the handwashing station or an individual soap foam dispenser.

The study will be conducted in a series of cycles. A cycle is composed of the following three stages: community meeting, offer stage, and refund stage. The study will be conducted in cycles to provide multiple opportunities for all vouchers to be used. For example, if 40 households express interest in purchasing a handwashing product during the first cycle but only 15 households actually use their voucher to purchase a handwashing station, the remaining unused vouchers will be distributed to interested households during the second cycle. The cycle method also allows us to offer the handwashing products at different times during the year to account for potential constraints such as school fees, holidays, etc. We will continue additional cycles until either all the coupons are used or until budget constraints arise.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization will be done using a reproducible random selection method from list of households that signed up at community meetings in peri-urban sub-locations using Stata. The seed will be set in Stata before assigning random numbers to each household on the list. The list of households will then be sorted by that random number. The first household on the list will be offered a free handwashing station. The remaining random numbers will be used to evenly distribute the available offer prices to the households (e.g., the first one-third will be offered a 0% subsidy, the second one-third will be offered a 33% subsidy, and the remaining one-third will be offered a 66% subsidy). Additionally, 50% of households will be offered a 2-week refund policy based on the random numbers (i.e., the first half of the list will be offered the refund policy and the second half of the list will not).
Randomization Unit
Households
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
400 Households
Sample size: planned number of observations
400 Households
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
400 Households
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Stanford University IRB
IRB Approval Date
2014-08-25
IRB Approval Number
31513-349 (Panel: 2)
IRB Name
Maseno University Ethics Review Committee
IRB Approval Date
2014-10-07
IRB Approval Number
MSU/DRPC/MUERC/00099/14

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