Uncertainty, attention, and marginal propensity to spend

Last registered on March 31, 2022
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Uncertainty, attention, and marginal propensity to spend
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0009165
Initial registration date
March 29, 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
March 31, 2022, 3:19 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Yucheng Liang
Affiliation
Carnegie Mellon University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Alejandro Martinez-Marquina
PI Affiliation
Cornell University
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2022-03-30
End date
2022-12-31
Keywords
Behavior
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We study the effect of future uncertainty on the marginal propensity to spend from realized and unrealized income.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Liang, Yucheng and Alejandro Martinez-Marquina. 2022. "Uncertainty, attention, and marginal propensity to spend." AEA RCT Registry. March 31. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.9165-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2022-03-30
Intervention End Date
2022-12-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The amount of tokens spent on day 1
When making the day-1 spending choice, whether participants click on a button that reveals the product pool or not
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
The willingness-to-pay for the products redeemed on day 1
The willingness-to-pay for the products not redeemed on day 1
The willingness-to-pay for the products not in day 1's choice set
If participants click on the button that reveals the product pool when they make the day-1 spending decision, how much time they spend on that page
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
WTP is elicited for all products in the product pool prior to the spending decision in day 1

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The experiment varies the timing of income shock and studies the marginal propensity to spend.
Experimental Design Details
The experiment is conducted among university students. The experiment takes place on two dates. Each day, participants receive tokens and are allowed to use tokens to redeem consumption goods from a choice set. When participants make the day-1 spending choice, they do not know the choice set of the second day; they only know that it comes from a product pool. Participants are allow to save tokens from the first day to the second day.

Treatment Early Shock: participants receive an income shock that is realized on day 1
Treatment Late Shock: on day 1, participants get to know about an income shock that will realize on day 2

The ability to borrow from future income differs between the two treatments. This is to make sure that the two treatments have the same amount of liquidity.
Randomization Method
Randomization is done through Qualtrics
Randomization Unit
individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
240 participants
Sample size: planned number of observations
240 participants
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Treatment Early Shock: 120
Treatment Late Shock: 120
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Carnegie Mellon University IRB
IRB Approval Date
2021-09-23
IRB Approval Number
IRBSTUDY2016_000000482
IRB Name
Cornell University IRB
IRB Approval Date
2021-12-01
IRB Approval Number
2111010717
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