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Information avoidance in moral decisions: an experiment on meat consumption

Last registered on February 14, 2022
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Information avoidance in moral decisions: an experiment on meat consumption
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0008904
Initial registration date
February 11, 2022

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
February 14, 2022, 12:19 PM EST

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

Locations

Country
Switzerland
Region
Fribourg

Primary Investigator

Name
Bénédicte Droz
Affiliation
University of Fribourg
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Berno Buechel
PI Affiliation
University of Fribourg
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Anis Nassar
PI Affiliation
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2022-02-14
End date
2023-06-30
Keywords
Behavior, Lab
Additional Keywords
Information Avoidance, Cognitive Dissonance, Animal Welfare, Meat Paradox
JEL code(s)
D83
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
The study consists of a sequence of online survey and lab experiment. In the survey and the experiment we ask participants questions about their eating behavior. In the lab participants complete a sequence of tasks in which we elicit their attitudes towards animals and meat as well as, in an incentive compatible way, their knowledge about meat and willingness to pay for information regarding meat. Subjects are randomly assigned to two treatments and a control, constituting the exogenous variation in this study.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Buechel, Berno, Bénédicte Droz and Anis Nassar. 2022. "Information avoidance in moral decisions: an experiment on meat consumption." AEA RCT Registry. February 14. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.8904-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

Sponsors

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The study consists of a sequence of online survey and lab experiment. In the survey and the experiment we ask the participants questions about their eating behavior.
Intervention (Hidden)
The online survey will be filled out by the participants approximately two weeks prior the lab experiment.

The survey includes:
- Demographic questions
- Incentivized questions on the participants' knowledge of meat consumption/production
- Questions on their attitudes and beliefs towards meat consumption/production

The lab experiment lasts less than an hour and includes different parts:
- Incentivized questions on the participants' willingness to pay for information about the meat consumption/production
- Incentivized questions on the participants' knowledge of meat consumption/production [same as in survey]
- Questions on the participants' attitudes and beliefs towards meat consumption/production [same as in survey]
- Depending on the treatment, being served a piece of beef meat and a piece of pork meat [see experimental design below]

[The exact questions can be found in the supplementary documents named "Survey_Questions.pdf", "Knowledge_Questions" and "WTP_Questions".]
Intervention Start Date
2022-02-14
Intervention End Date
2022-11-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Willingness to pay for information about meat (WTP)
Knowledge about meat
Attitudes towards meat
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
- Willingness to pay for information about meat (WTP) is asked for each combination of meat type (beef / pork) with topic (animal welfare / environment / health). Its elicitation is incentivized. It can reflect both information-seeking and information-avoidance.

- Knowledge about meat is measured by a battery of multiple choice questions about meat production/consumption. Correct answers are rewarded. Answering "I don't know" is an option. Some of the questions concern negative consequences of meat consumption.

- Attitudes towards meat are measured by a battery of statements to which participants can agree more or less on a seven-point scale. A subset of these statements justifies meat consumption and hence forms the meat justification score. Another subset of these statements concerns the negative consequences of meat consumption.

[The exact questions can be found in the supplementary documents named "Survey_Questions.pdf", "Knowledge_Questions.pdf" and "WTP_Questions.pdf".]

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The study consists of a sequence of online survey and lab experiment. In the survey and the experiment we ask participants questions about their eating behavior. In the lab participants complete a sequence of tasks in which we elicit their attitudes towards animals and meat as well as, in an incentive compatible way, their knowledge about meat and willingness to pay for information regarding meat. Subjects are randomly assigned to two treatments and a control, constituting the exogenous variation in this study.
Experimental Design Details
We use two treatments and a control, to assess if the consumption of meat in the lab influences attitudes, knowledge and willingness to pay for information (WTP) about meat. Subjects are randomly assigned to the two treatments T-Past and T-Future and to the baseline treatment T-Control. Subjects in T-Past are served meat before their WTP, attitudes and knowledge are elicited. Subjects in T-Future anticipate that they will be served meat after their WTP, attitudes and knowledge are elicited. Subjects in T-Control only differ in that they are not served any meat before or after their WTP, attitudes and knowledge are elicited.

Consuming meat may create cognitive dissonance when confronted with its consequences for animal welfare, the environment, and own health. Based on the literature on motivated beliefs (Bénabou and Tirole, 2016) and information avoidance (Golman et al., 2017), we conjecture that eating meat fosters the tendency to avoid and disregard information concerning meat, in particular concerning the negative consequences of meat consumption. Hestermann et al. (2020) formally develop this argument and our hypotheses
follow more or less directly from their model. [see Meat_Hypotheses_and_AnalysisPlan.pdf]
Randomization Method
Randomization was done in office by a computer. This generated a random allocation of treatments to experimental sessions.
Randomization Unit
experimental sessions
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
210 participants.

Sample size: planned number of observations
210 participants.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
70 participants per treatment.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Internal Review Board of the Department of Psychology of the University of Fribourg
IRB Approval Date
2020-07-15
IRB Approval Number
570 R1
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

Meat_Hypotheses_and_AnalysisPlan.pdf

MD5: 6b5fbc51fc7a70baa65c3722fd1e09d6

SHA1: e22df6a4df93845ecb127d100e1e4654c24fd970

Uploaded At: February 11, 2022

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