PAYING ATTENTION TO PROFITABLE INVESTMENTS: EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE FROM RENEWABLE ENERGY MARKETS

Last registered on July 06, 2021
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
PAYING ATTENTION TO PROFITABLE INVESTMENTS: EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE FROM RENEWABLE ENERGY MARKETS
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0007924
Initial registration date
July 05, 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 06, 2021, 10:38 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Senegal
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Arndt Reichert
Affiliation
Leibniz University Hannover/ The World Bank
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2016-03-01
End date
2022-09-30
Keywords
Environment & Energy
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
D83, D03, O12, O30, Q42
Secondary IDs
Abstract
This study aims to provide an explanation for why many information campaigns fail to affect decision-making. In a large randomized field experiment, we aim to show that a large information intervention about a profitable and climate-friendly household investment has limited effects if it only provides generic data. In contrast, it is expected to cause households to make new investments when it follows a campaign strategy designed to minimize information processing costs. These predictions are consistent with a model of selective attention, where individuals prioritize information that they believe is valuable after accounting for the costs of attending to the data that arise due to limited mental energy and time. We also examine and discuss the role of selective attention relative to other possible channels for the effect of the campaign strategies.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Reichert, Arndt. 2021. "PAYING ATTENTION TO PROFITABLE INVESTMENTS: EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE FROM RENEWABLE ENERGY MARKETS ." AEA RCT Registry. July 06. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7924-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We examine a key component of a large program of a major international institution that informs households in rural Senegal about solar lamps—a profitable and climate-friendly technology innovation in the study area —with a focus on the benefits for home production and quality attributes. Importantly, we will introduce random variation in information content. While one program variant provides generic information content, another singles out for each of the main applications the most suitable type among solar lamps available at local markets and the associated benefit with the objective of simplifying choices for households. The significant advantage associated with simplified choices is a reduction of the cognitive effort and time required to select the technological configuration that yields maximum returns.
Intervention Start Date
2022-03-01
Intervention End Date
2022-03-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
solar lamp ownership
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
village-level randomized control trial
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
village
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
150
Sample size: planned number of observations
3750
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
50
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
6-7 percentage points
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Institutional Review Board of The German Association for Experimental Economic Research
IRB Approval Date
2020-11-19
IRB Approval Number
MZ3R2S9n
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