How to induce sustainable customer picking behavior: The effects of a sustainability message and pricing

Last registered on November 01, 2021

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

How to induce sustainable customer picking behavior: The effects of a sustainability message and pricing

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0008303

Initial registration date

October 04, 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

October 05, 2021, 2:46 PM EDT

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

Last updated

November 01, 2021, 9:53 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country

United States of America

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Thomas Vogt

Affiliation

University of Cologne

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Ulrich W. Thonemann

PI Affiliation

University of Cologne

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2021-10-05

End date

2022-12-31

Keywords

Behavior, Lab

Additional Keywords

Sustainability

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

We study customer picking behavior when purchasing perishable products. We investigate the effects of a sustainability message and pricing, as well as the interaction between these two aspects. In online experiments, subjects can choose between items that differ in expiration date and/or price. In the treatment group, subjects receive a sustainability message.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Thonemann, Ulrich W. and Thomas Vogt. 2021. "How to induce sustainable customer picking behavior: The effects of a sustainability message and pricing." AEA RCT Registry. November 01. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.8303-2.0

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Intervention Start Date

2021-10-05

Intervention End Date

2022-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

The number of individuals who choose the item with the shorter expiration date in each decision round.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

We investigate the effects of a sustainability message and pricing, as well as the interaction between these two aspects in online experiments. Subjects can choose between items that differ in expiration date and/or price. In the treatment group, subjects receive a sustainability message.

Experimental Design Details

We implement the following experimental setting that consists of two successive parts: Shopping and Consumption. In the Shopping part, subjects make purchase decisions for several products. For each product, they can choose between two alternative items that differ in expiration date and/or price. Subjects do not know exactly when they consume a product in the Consumption part. However, they learn their consumption behavior, which follows a probability distribution. In the Consumption part, the actual consumption date for each product is drawn from the given probability distribution.
Each subject starts the experiment with a given budget that is the same for all subjects. For each product that they buy, their budget is reduced by the corresponding purchase price. If a product’s expiration date is before its consumption (as determined by the random draws in the Consumption part), the product has to be purchased again.
A questionnaire on picking behavior, risk aversion and demographics follows the main part of the experiment.

To test the influence of a sustainability message and its interaction with the effects of price discounts, we display a sustainable message in our treatment group.
We analyze whether and how the number of subjects picking the item with the shorter expiration date evolves with price discounts. More specifically, we analyze whether and how the number of subjects picking the item with the shorter expiration date differs between the treatment group with a sustainability message as compared to the baseline without a sustainability message.
We recruit subjects on Amazon Mechanical Turk. We restrict participation to US workers that have completed at least 100 HITs and a HIT completion rate of at least 95%. To participate in this experiment, subjects need to pass a comprehension quiz after the instructions.

This study serves the purpose to test the robustness of the results observed in the study initially registered under AEARCTR-0008303 on October 05,2021.

Randomization Method

Randomization of individuals into treatments by computer.

Randomization Unit

individual

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

we cluster on the individual level and plan to have 190 individuals per treatment group

Sample size: planned number of observations

190 individuals/clusters per treatment group

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

190 individuals/clusters per treatment group

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

On average over all discounts, the share of subjects choosing the item with the shorter expiration date is 11% (=MDES) higher in the treatment group than in the control group, amounting to a relative difference of 22%.

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB