Energy billing guideline research - Group A

Last registered on July 20, 2021

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Energy billing guideline research - Group A
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0007974
Initial registration date
July 18, 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 20, 2021, 1:58 PM EDT

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

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2021-06-29
End date
2021-07-24
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Across the energy market consumers experience confusion reading and understanding their energy bills. The current rules for what is required in energy bills are almost a decade old, and fail to reflect the changes to the market that have occurred during this period. We are aiming to inform the development of new rules for energy bills, designed to improve customer understanding.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Bennetts Kneebone, Laura and BETA Team Registration. 2021. "Energy billing guideline research - Group A." AEA RCT Registry. July 20. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7974-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Details of the outcome measures will be made public after completion of the trial.
Intervention Start Date
2021-06-29
Intervention End Date
2021-07-24

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Details of the outcome measures will be made public after completion of the trial.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Details of the outcome measures will be made public after completion of the trial.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Details of the outcome measures will be made public after completion of the trial.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
Details of the outcome measures will be made public after completion of the trial.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Details about the experimental design will be made public once the trial is over.
Experimental Design Details
This research will involve three randomised trials run sequentially on the same sample via an online survey. Participants will be shown a version of a bill or billing element and then need to respond to multiple choice questions to assess comprehension, free text questions to assess intentions (coded as binary) and questions that ask them to evaluate what they were shown. Comprehension scores and intentions will be the primary outcome measures.
Randomization Method
Participants are recruited online and are randomly assigned to an intervention by the survey software. Randomization will occur within the Qualtrics survey platform. After demographics are collected, all respondents are individually assigned a random number from 0 to 3 (with a 0.25 probability of assignment) for each trial, indicating treatment arm. Sample size may not be perfectly balanced between groups.
Randomization Unit
The randomization unit is individual participants (one level)
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
6,000 individuals (not clustered)
Sample size: planned number of observations
6,000 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Trial 1: Approximately 1,500
Trial 2: Approximately 1,500
Trial 3: Approximately 1,500
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
We performed power calculations using a standard alpha of 5%, and a standard power of 80% for a one-tail test. Approximate sample size will be 1,500 participants per arm. We estimate that for continuous outcomes we will be able to detect a standardised effect of approximately 0.1 SD unit. For our hypotheses that compare proportions we present a minimum detectable effect based on a conservative assumption of a 50% baseline. With a sample size of 1500 we will be powered to detect 4.55pp increase over the baseline.
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Macquarie University Human Research Ethics
IRB Approval Date
2021-06-23
IRB Approval Number
N/A
Analysis Plan

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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