The Demand for News: Accuracy Concerns versus Belief Confirmation Motives

Last registered on March 31, 2022
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The Demand for News: Accuracy Concerns versus Belief Confirmation Motives
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0009173
Initial registration date
March 30, 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, 3:26 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
Christopher Roth
Affiliation
University of Warwick
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Ingar Haaland
PI Affiliation
PI Name
Felix Chopra
PI Affiliation

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2021-11-01
End date
2022-03-15
Keywords
Behavior
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We examine the relative importance of accuracy concerns and belief confirmation motives in driving the demand for news. In experiments with US respondents, we first vary beliefs about whether an outlet reports the news in a right-wing biased, left-wing biased, or unbiased way. We then measure demand for a newsletter covering articles from this outlet. Respondents only reduce their demand for biased news if the bias is inconsistent with their own political beliefs, suggesting a trade-off between accuracy concerns and belief confirmation motives. We quantify this trade-off using a structural model and find a similar quantitative importance of both motives.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Chopra, Felix, Ingar Haaland and Christopher Roth. 2022. "The Demand for News: Accuracy Concerns versus Belief Confirmation Motives." AEA RCT Registry. March 31. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.9173-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We provide respondents with different truthful information about the past reporting of the Boston Herald:

Experiment 1
No bias treatment: Information on balanced reporting
Right-wing bias treatment: Information on reporting that favors the Republicans
Experiment 2
No bias treatment: Information on balanced reporting
Left-wing bias treatment: Information on reporting that favors the Democrats
Intervention Start Date
2021-11-01
Intervention End Date
2022-03-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Newsletter subscription
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We provide respondents with different truthful information about the past reporting of the Boston Herald:

Experiment 1
No bias treatment: Information on balanced reporting
Right-wing bias treatment: Information on reporting that favors the Republicans
Experiment 2
No bias treatment: Information on balanced reporting
Left-wing bias treatment: Information on reporting that favors the Democrats
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization was done in a computer
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
7000 individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
7000 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
3500 no bias treatment
1750 in left-wing bias treatment
1750 in right-wing bias treatment
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
March 15, 2022, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
March 15, 2022, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials