How Does Exposure to Discordant Media Sources Affect Political Attitudes and Behavior? Experimental Evidence from Turkey

Last registered on July 27, 2022

Pre-Trial

General Information

Title

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0008489

Initial registration date

November 07, 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

November 08, 2021, 1:39 PM EST

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

Last updated

July 27, 2022, 9:36 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country

Turkey

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Shelley Liu

Affiliation

UC Berkeley, Goldman School of Public Policy

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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Horacio Larreguy

PI Affiliation

ITAM

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Jeremy Bowles

PI Affiliation

Stanford University

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PI Name

Ahmet Akbiyik

PI Affiliation

Harvard University, Harvard Kennedy School

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Additional Trial Information

Status

On going

Start date

2021-02-01

End date

2022-10-31

Keywords

Behavior, Governance

Additional Keywords

media, information, political polarization

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Prior work

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

Abstract

When citizens lack exposure to media sources which offer contrasting perspectives, biased information consumption diets risk undermining democratic accountability. This might especially be the case in dominant party settings where many citizens lack familiarity with credible media sources from across the political spectrum. In the context of Turkey, we implement a randomized control trial that induces citizens’ exposure to either politically aligned (concordant) or non-aligned (discordant) online media sources over the course of half a year. We consider effects on media consumption and attitudes; information-sharing within social networks; affective polarization; political engagement; and attitudes towards government and democracy. Our results will speak to the relationship between media consumption and democratic accountability in a setting where citizens’ exposure to discordant information sources is otherwise limited.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Akbiyik, Ahmet et al. 2022. "How Does Exposure to Discordant Media Sources Affect Political Attitudes and Behavior? Experimental Evidence from Turkey." AEA RCT Registry. July 27. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.8489-1.2

Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

We implement a randomized control trial that induces citizens' exposure to either politically aligned (concordant) or non-aligned (discordant) online media sources over the course of half a year.

Intervention Start Date

2021-02-01

Intervention End Date

2022-03-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Media consumption and attitudes; information-sharing within social networks; affective polarization; political engagement; and attitudes towards government and democracy.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

See PAP

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

We randomly assigned experimental participants to exposure to one of six media outlets, which differ in their political views (pro-government vs. anti-government) and the way they disseminate information (news articles vs. fact checking). Participants were (1) instructed to follow their assigned news outlet on social media, and (2) financially incentivized to consume a curated set of top headlines from their assigned outlet, which they receive once a week via SMS messages and notifications from a cell phone application developed for this project.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization is conducted on the computer

Randomization Unit

The unit of randomization is at the individual level.

Was the treatment clustered?

Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

500

Sample size: planned number of observations

6000

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

24% control, 19% strong anti-government outlet, 9% moderate anti-government outlet, 9% anti-government factchecking, 8% pro-government fact-checking, 9% moderate pro-government outlet, 21% strong pro-government outlet

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

Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB