Relevance & Research Question:
Economic experiments which are conducted offline in the academic world suffer from several shortcomings like the artificial setting, a small number of cases and the fact that the test persons are usually students who know that they are part of an experiment.
In online market research academic experiments are comparatively rare. The University of Cologne in cooperation with the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and MANUFACTS developed an experiment which gets rid of the aforementioned deficits by using the advantages of online research. Our study asks the question to what extent the offline findings of economic experiments can be confirmed by using a more diverse target group as well as a more realistic and iterative scenario.
Methods & Data:
In this economic experiment we investigate how individuals perceive wage cuts or wage increases measuring their reaction in terms of work performance. Using a design with repeated online survey sessions we simulate the conditions of a long-term work-relationship. Hence, we can examine the influence of the individual’s loss aversion over time. Participants are recruited from online panels.
Results:
The fieldwork just started and will be finished in early 2013.
Added Value:
The primary contributions include generally the introduction of experiments to online research and specifically a more realistic implementation of offline experiments. Another benefit is the more diverse sample: online experiments are not limited to students or any other specific groups anymore but to a wide range of target groups. Furthermore, by using an online economic experiment we are able to boost the N to considerably higher numbers. And, last but not least: Online survey tools open new doors for technically innovative experimental designs that could not be done so far due to technological constraints.
From our perspective the whole online research world can profit from experimental designs, because by definition they are more playful and exciting as most usual online surveys (a higher motivation of panel participants as positive side-effect). So it’s just the next logic step to transfer these study designs to marketing related topics such as brand usage, purchase decisions etc.