Parties, Opinions and Actions: COVID-19 and Climate Change in Germany

Last registered on October 20, 2023
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Parties, Opinions and Actions: COVID-19 and Climate Change in Germany
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0007475
Initial registration date
April 06, 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
April 07, 2021, 10:33 AM EDT

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

Last updated
October 20, 2023, 5:22 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Germany
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Valentina Stöhr
Affiliation
TUM
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2021-04-20
End date
2021-06-15
Keywords
Behavior, Electoral, Environment & Energy
Additional Keywords
COVID-19, Climate Change
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study should provide insight into the impact party cues have on the public opinion on the amount of action to be taken to protect the environment and climate during the current COVID-19 crisis. In particular, the effects of cues from one or multiple parties as well as the mechanisms behind these effects are supposed to be analyzed employing two online survey experiments.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Stöhr, Valentina. 2023. "Parties, Opinions and Actions: COVID-19 and Climate Change in Germany." AEA RCT Registry. October 20. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7475-2.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
There will be two online survey experiments conducted at the same time. In one of them, the respondents get to read a statement that is either labeled to be from a specific party or not labeled at all and is either in favor of or against more environmental and climate protection during the COVID-19 crisis. In the other survey experiment, the respondents get to read statements from all parties that are either all in favor of, all against or have mixed opinions on more environmental and climate protection during the COVID-19 crisis.
Intervention Start Date
2021-04-20
Intervention End Date
2021-05-04

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
There are two main sets of outcomes that measure the importance the respondent attaches to environment and climate protection. The two sets are each composed of two questions concerning either the action taken by the German government or oneself to protect the environment and the climate in terms of the adequacy and urgency of these actions at the moment. Each of these four questions will be used separately to construct four dependent variables. Additionally, a question concerning the donation decision of the respondents is also used to construct another dependent variable.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
The dependent variables are composed of the differences within the answers to each of these five questions before and after the treatments. Thus, there are five dependent variables.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The respondents have to fill out an online survey. For both survey experiments, they first have to answer some general questions on personal data and knowledge and believes about politics and the environment. After that they have to answer the questions on the outcome variables, then get to read the statements described above and answer the questions on the outcome variables again.
Experimental Design Details
All respondents first have to answer a set of questions on their personal data, political orientation and knowledge, pro-environmental behavior, climate change knowledge and environmental concern which will later on be used as control variables in the analysis. This is followed by the questions on the outcome variables described above. Next, the respondent is provided with the statement (in the first experiment) or statements (in the second experiment) that was/were chosen randomly as described in the intervention description. In a last step the respondent again has to answer the five outcome questions.
Randomization Method
Randomization is done by a computer, i.e. via the online surveying platform Qualtrics.
Randomization Unit
Randomization is done at individual level.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
3000 respondents in total, with about 2530 partaking in the first and 470 in the second survey experiment.
Sample size: planned number of observations
3000 respondents in total, with about 2530 partaking in the first and 470 in the second survey experiment.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
About 160 per treatment group, with 16 groups ((7 party labels/no label x pro/con statement) in the first and 3 groups (pro consensus, con consensus, overall disagreement) in the second survey experiment.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
German Association for Experimental Economic Research e.V.
IRB Approval Date
2021-03-31
IRB Approval Number
RC8ncB7A
Analysis Plan

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Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
April 29, 2021, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
April 29, 2021, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
3000 respondents
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
No
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Abstract
This paper provides insight into the impact of party cues on the public’s desire for climate protection. In particular, the effects of cues from one or multiple parties as well as the mechanisms behind these effects are analyzed. Utilizing the case of Germany’s multi-party system, two online survey experiments with a representative sample of the German voting population are conducted. Despite finding rather small effect sizes overall, results show that a party statement in favor of more climate protection is effective in changing participants’ opinions towards the same direction. People appear to be even more impressionable when they receive unexpected cues or are lead to believe that all parties work together to fight climate change. Finally, respondents that do not care about or oppose climate protection are more easily persuaded.
Citation
Stöhr, Valentina, Climate Protection in Germany: Party Cues in a Multi-Party System. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4330958 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4330958
URL
http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4330958

Reports & Other Materials