Motivated Narratives

Last registered on May 05, 2022
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Motivated Narratives
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0009357
Initial registration date
May 04, 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
May 05, 2022, 10:05 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Region
Entire Country (Prolific)
Country
United States of America
Region
Entire Country (Prolific)

Primary Investigator

Name
Kai Barron
Affiliation
WZB
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Tilman Fries
PI Affiliation
WZB Berlin
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2022-05-06
End date
2023-03-31
Keywords
Behavior, Lab
Additional Keywords
Narratives, motivated reasoning, beliefs, persuasion, sender-receiver, models, stories, communication, truth-telling.
JEL code(s)
D91, C90, C72, D83
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.
Abstract
Our experimental design takes inspiration from the ideas discussed in Schwartzstein and Sunderam (2021) and explores when and why persuasion using models might occur. It builds on a previous experiment registered in our "Narrative Persuasion" pre-registration and incorporates scope for motivated reasoning.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Barron, Kai and Tilman Fries. 2022. "Motivated Narratives." AEA RCT Registry. May 05. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.9357-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Please see the attached pdf that describes our study in detail.
Intervention Start Date
2022-05-06
Intervention End Date
2022-05-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Key outcomes are described in detail in the attached pdf, but are mainly constructed from the beliefs of receivers and messages of senders.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Please refer to the attached pdf for details.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Please refer to the attached pdf for details.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
Please refer to the attached pdf for details.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We exogenously vary the scope for motivated reasoning to play a role in narrative construction. Please see the attached pdf for details.
Experimental Design Details
Please see the attached pdf for details.
Randomization Method
Several layers of randomization are implemented by the computer software, oTree, that was used to programme this experiment. Further details are provided in the attached pdf.
Randomization Unit
We have multiple layers of randomization (the attached pdf provides more details):

(i) Participants are randomized into different treatment conditions and then randomly assigned into groups of 6.
(ii) Within groups, participants are randomized into being senders and receivers.
(iii) Receivers are randomized into different incentive conditions.
(iv) Sender-receiver pairs receive randomly generated data series to inform their decisions.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
90 (see attached pdf for details)
Sample size: planned number of observations
540 new observations (see attached pdf for details)
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
180 observations in EndogenousStake; 360 in ExogenousStake (see attached pdf for details)
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Please see page 23 of the attached pdf for details.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
WZB Research Ethics Committee
IRB Approval Date
2021-09-10
IRB Approval Number
2021/3/122
Analysis Plan

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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