Company Reviews, Ratings, and Jobseeker Behavior

Last registered on December 19, 2022
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Company Reviews, Ratings, and Jobseeker Behavior
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0007224
Initial registration date
February 17, 2021

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
February 18, 2021, 6:23 AM EST

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

Last updated
December 19, 2022, 8:32 AM EST

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
George Ward
Affiliation
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2021-01-21
End date
2025-01-01
Keywords
Labor
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Digitization has lead to large changes in the way that people look for and decide between jobs. We use a randomized controlled trial to study the effects of company reviews and ratings on jobseeker behavior. We conduct a field experiment on a large jobs website in the USA, which hosts job postings as well as collecting reviews and ratings of companies from current and former employees. We display ratings and review information at the bottom of job adverts, and test for the effects of this treatment on a user's decision whether or not to apply.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Ward, George. 2022. "Company Reviews, Ratings, and Jobseeker Behavior." AEA RCT Registry. December 19. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7224-1.2
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2021-02-18
Intervention End Date
2021-03-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Applications
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Decision whether or not to click application button.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Users are randomized into treatment groups that show reviews and company ratings information at the bottom of job adverts on the website's mobile platform.

Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization is based on cookie, and is done using the website's in-house A/B testing system.
Randomization Unit
User (cookie)
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Not applicable.
Sample size: planned number of observations
Each group is 20% of the website traffic.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Each group is 20% of the website traffic.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
MIT Committee on the Use of Humans as Experimental Subjects
IRB Approval Date
2020-11-01
IRB Approval Number
E-2700
Analysis Plan