Promoting precautionary saving decisions - experimental evidence from adolescents in Austria

Last registered on July 07, 2022

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Promoting precautionary saving decisions - experimental evidence from adolescents in Austria

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0009447

Initial registration date

May 15, 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 16, 2022, 5:20 PM EDT

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

Last updated

July 07, 2022, 5:46 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country

Austria

Region

Vienna

Primary Investigator

Name

Kerstin Grosch

Affiliation

Vienna University of Economics and Business

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Anna Walter

PI Affiliation

PI Name

Martin G. Kocher

PI Affiliation

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2022-05-15

End date

2023-02-28

Keywords

Behavior, Education, Finance & Microfinance

Additional Keywords

school experiment, money management

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Prior work

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

Abstract

In this study, we employ a lab-in-the-field experiment with about 720 adolescents from about 36 classes in Austria. We simulate saving decisions in a controlled lab environment in classrooms that involves multiple decisions over time with a potential economic shock at the end. The idea is to simulate a decision under risk in which people with higher buffer stock are better capable to withstand a shock. We study several aspects of saving decisions. First, we investigate individual-level factors that may influence the decision to save or not to save such as risk preferences, loss aversion, cognitive reflection/impulsivity, and numeracy (financial literacy). Second, we study the effectiveness of two soft commitment devices, i.e., commitment devices that neither induce monetary costs nor do they restrict actions. We chose commitment devices that have not been studied, yet, to alter saving decisions and that would be relatively easy to teach and apply in real life. This is motivational goal bracketing and episodic future thinking. The study has been approved by the ethical committee of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Vienna.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Grosch, Kerstin, Martin G. Kocher and Anna Walter. 2022. "Promoting precautionary saving decisions - experimental evidence from adolescents in Austria." AEA RCT Registry. July 07. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.9447-1.1

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

We employ two treatment arms which are episodic future thinking (EFT) and motivational goal bracketing.
In the latter treatment, we examine the effect of bracketing choices. In the first intervention week, all participants make a weekly decision plan for the subsequent 3 weeks. Participants in the ``narrow bracketing'' treatment will have a reminder for their planned weekly saving amounts separately in their individual folder which corresponds to three amounts. In contrast, children in the ``broad bracketing'' treatment will have a reminder for their planned total savings in their folder which corresponds to one single amount. In the control condition, there is no reminder. The EFT intervention aims at fostering adolescents' saving efforts by making the future more attractive. To this end, subjects in the treatment group pre-experience a personal future event in their imagination. The positive emotions associated with the future event potentially renders the future more attractive. In the control condition, participants think of a routine activity instead of a future event.

Intervention Start Date

2022-05-16

Intervention End Date

2022-06-17

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

total savings

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

the sum of savings across the three saving decisions

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

patience (incentivized)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

multiple price list task

Experimental Design

see attachment

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

randomization was done by a computer for the EFT treatment and the control condition; for the bracketing conditions, we randomize within classes by participant ID number.

Randomization Unit

For the EFT treatment, the randomization unit is at the school level. For the bracketing treatments, it is the class level.

Was the treatment clustered?

Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

We aim at 36 classes across nine schools in the sample.

Sample size: planned number of observations

720 pupils

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

We expect about equal numbers in the bracketing conditions, i.e., 240 participants in each condition. For the EFT treatment, we have 17 classes in the control and 21 classes in the treatment condition.

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

see attachment

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB