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Information Use on Social Media

Last registered on July 01, 2021
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Information Use on Social Media
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0007908
Initial registration date
June 30, 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
July 01, 2021, 8:32 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
India
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Gauri Chandra
Affiliation
University of Oxford
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2021-07-02
End date
2022-06-30
Keywords
Behavior, Health
Additional Keywords
Beliefs
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
My research objective is to examine how sharing information on social media impacts subsequent beliefs about that information. I aim to test the theory of Cognitive Dissonance - whether actions shape beliefs, and hypothesise that once people share information on their social media profile, they come to believe in it more strongly than they did before. I aim to conduct an online experiment with a large sample from India, which would involve a task of sharing information on Facebook and subsequent measurement of beliefs about the veracity of that information. This research has important policy relevance as the insights can extend an understanding of how the simple act of sharing unverified information itself could contribute to the prevalence of unsubstantiated beliefs, with serious consequences for individual well-being.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Chandra, Gauri. 2021. "Information Use on Social Media." AEA RCT Registry. July 01. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7908-1.1
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2021-07-02
Intervention End Date
2022-06-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Beliefs about the veracity of the information shared by the participant on social media.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
I aim to conduct an online experiment with a sample of 2500 participants from India, which would involve a task of sharing information on Facebook. All participants will be shown Facebook posts from a page created for the purpose of this experiment. The posts will contain news headlines from a reliable media house. Their interaction with the posts will vary by the treatment arm that they are randomly assigned to, followed by measurement of their beliefs about the information they encountered during the sharing task.
Experimental Design Details
The baseline survey will collect information about demographics as well as the participants' social media usage. I will elicit their priors about different pieces of information, including the news headline that they will be encouraged to share. Participants will then be randomly assigned to either the control, where they simply read the posts, or one of the treatments where they will be incentivised to share a particular post or given the choice to share any one of the posts. Thereafter, they will be asked to rate the veracity of the information that was presented to them in the sharing task, to capture any changes in beliefs as a result of the act of sharing.
Randomization Method
Qualtrics' Algorithmic Randomisation
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
2500
Sample size: planned number of observations
2500
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
500
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Blavatnik School of Government Research Ethics Committee (DREC)
IRB Approval Date
2021-05-11
IRB Approval Number
SSH/BSG_C1A-21-10
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
December 31, 2022, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
February 27, 2023, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
n= 4342 individuals
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
n= 4342 individuals
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
~ 540 individuals per treatment arm
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials