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pdfOMB No. 3170-0048
Expires XX/XX/XXXX
About this document
Details of the study (e.g., number of rounds) will be set according to time requirements. All such details
given here are estimates.
Study overview
We propose a study in which participants act as buyers or sellers. Sellers will choose the pricing
structure for their product and are compensated based on profits (quantity sold x price). Buyers will
choose to buy a good from one of the sellers. They are compensated based on the price paid. Markets
in different conditions will vary in terms of price dimensionality (how many dimensions comprise total
price), and in the number of sellers who are present.
Our proposed conditions are as follows:
1-Price Duopoly
Two sellers will choose a single, total price. This price can
vary between 0 and 800 tokens.
Two sellers will choose values for each of 16 prices. Each
price can vary between 0 and 800 tokens, but the total
price is constrained between 0 and 800 tokens.
Four sellers will choose a single, total price. This price can
vary between 0 and 800 tokens.
Four sellers will choose values for each of 16 prices. Each
price can vary between 0 and 800 tokens, but the total
price is constrained between 0 and 800 tokens.
16-Price Duopoly
1-Price Quadropoly
16-Price Quadropoly
Timeline
Informed
consent
[In person,
from
contractor]
General
instructions
(applicable to
all disclosure
conditions)
Practice
rounds
(as buyer
and
seller)
Repeated 2 times, with
different order of
conditions possible
across sessions
Condition
14
specific
game
instructions
rounds
Study detail
•
•
Survey, including
risk preferences,
numeracy, and
basic
demographics
Payment
[In
person]
Disclosure conditions: We will run two markets per session—one duopoly and one quadropoly.
Which price condition players see in their session will be varied across sessions. We will track
the order of conditions across sessions, making sure that all combinations are played an equal
number of times
Market:
1
o
o
o
Each market will be comprised of 2 buyers. There will be 2 sellers in the duopoly
conditions, and 4 sellers in the quadropoly conditions. Participants will be randomly
assigned to a market group each round.
Additionally, the role of buyer and seller will be randomly selected each round.
All participants will be anonymous.
2
General Instructions (Applicable to All Disclosure Conditions and Roles)
Introduction
Values may be modified to allow for problems that arise during pretesting.
Welcome to the experiment.
[next]
Privacy Notice
The information you provide to Gettysburg College will assist the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
gather data that studies the effects of different disclosure regimes on market outcomes.
Participation is voluntary. You may withdraw your participation at any time. No identifying information
will be collected.
Paperwork reduction Act Notice
According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The OMB control number for this
collection is 3170-0048. It expires on XX/XX/XXXX. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to
average approximately 2 hours per response. Comments regarding this collection of information, including the estimated
response time, suggestions for improving the usefulness of the information, or suggestions for reducing the burden to respond
to this collection should be submitted to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Attention: PRA Office), 1700 G Street NW,
Washington, DC 20552, or by email to PRA_Comments @cfpb.gov
Experiment Basics
—section—
Thank you for participating in this experiment.
During the experiment, we require your complete attention. Please do not speak to other participants or
engage in other distracting activities such as using your cell phone. Please do not use the computer
except as instructed.
You will be paid in cash at the end of the experiment, and the amount you earn depends on your choices
during the experiment. It is therefore important that you follow along carefully and fully understand the
instructions.
—section—
The experiment will be conducted through the lab computers. All interactions between you and other
participants will therefore take place through the computers. Please do not try to speak to other
participants or to look at their screens.
If you have a question at any time, please raise your hand and someone will come to your computer to
assist you.
3
—section—
As advertised, you will be given $10.00 today regardless of your performance in the experiment.
In addition, in the experiment you will earn "tokens". For every 700 tokens you earn, you will be paid
$1.00 in cash. You will be paid in private at the end of the experiment.
To start the experiment, you have 800 tokens.
—section—
Throughout these instructions, we will ask you questions about what you read. These are simply meant
to ensure that you understand the instructions, and your responses will not affect the rest of the
experiment or the amount you will earn. Here comes a question now...
[next]
Experiment Basics
True or False: The more tokens you earn in the experiment, the more cash you will be paid at the end.
True
False
[next]
Game Basics
—section—
This is an experiment studying behavior in a simple game. In this game you will play the role of either a
“buyer” or a “seller”.
—section—
If you are a seller, you will earn tokens by producing objects and selling them to buyers.
If you are a buyer, you will earn tokens by buying an object from a seller and then giving it to the
experimenter in exchange for tokens.
—section—
You will play this game many times. Each time you play the game, we call this a “round”.
[Text in brackets varies by condition].]
Each round, you will be grouped with [5 or 3] other participants. There will be [2 or 4] sellers. There will
be 2 buyers.
4
Who is in your group and what role you play are determined randomly by the computer at the start of
each round.
—section—
Each round works like this: [Text in brackets varies by condition.]
1. The computer randomly groups participants into groups of [4, 6].
2. The computer randomly assigns 2 buyer roles and [2, 4] seller roles in each group.
3. Sellers set the prices of their objects.
4. Buyers see the prices of the sellers in their group.
5. Each buyer chooses a seller to buy from and pays the seller's price in tokens.
6. Each seller produces the number of objects that they sold (between 0 and 2), and gives one to
each of their buyers.
7. Each buyer gives the object they bought to the experimenter in exchange for tokens.
[next]
Game Basics
—section—
True or False: A buyer's earnings in a round will be lower if they pay a higher price.
True
False
—section—
True or False: A seller's earnings in a round will be higher if they set a higher price.
True
False
It depends
[next]
Price Instructions
In this game, the price of an object is made up of “sub-prices”. A sub-price is a part of the total price.
Sellers will choose values for each sub-price, and buyers will pay sellers the sum of all the sub-prices.
Buyers will not see the total price — instead, buyers will only see the sub-prices before they make their
choices.
In this game, each object has [1/16] sub-prices.
5
To make clear how this works, we will explain both roles in detail
[next]
Seller Instructions
—section—
Sellers earn tokens by producing objects and selling them to buyers. When you are a seller, your only job
is to set your sub-prices.
When a buyer chooses to buy an object from you, you will automatically produce it. Since there are 2
buyers in your group, you can sell between 0 and 2 objects each round.
—section—
When you are a seller, each object you sell will cost you 100 tokens to produce. Your total earnings at
the end of a round will therefore equal the tokens you received from buyers, minus your total
production costs.
This table summarizes what can happen each round:
# SOLD
RECEIVED FROM BUYERS
PRODUCTION COST
TOTAL EARNINGS
0
0
0
0
1
Sum of sub-prices ("Total price")
100
"Total price" - 100
2
2 x "Total price"
200
2 x "Total price" - 200
—section—
Now, we will go over how sellers set sub-prices. To the right is an example of a seller's interface. Feel
free to enter prices there to see how it works.
Things to keep in mind when setting prices:
1. Sub-prices must be whole numbers (no decimals).
2. Sub-prices cannot be negative.
3. The total price (sum of sub-prices) cannot exceed 800 tokens.
4. You must enter values for all sub-prices.
—section—
You must set your sub-prices by typing values for each sub-price. The sum of the sub-prices will be
shown in the "Total Price" box.
6
Before continuing, please try to set the sub-prices in the example interface to the right.
Total Price:
SUBVALUE
PRICE
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
[next]
Seller Instructions
If a seller sells one object, what is the seller’s production cost?
100 tokens
200 tokens
[1600 tokens – only appears in 16 price condition]
[next]
Buyer Instructions
—section—
A buyer earns tokens by buying an object from a seller and then giving it to the experimenter.
The experimenter gives 800 tokens for an object.
When you are a buyer, your only job is to choose from which seller you want to buy an object.
To the right is an example of a buyer's interface.
7
—section—
As you can see in the example interface, if you are a buyer, you will not see the sellers’ total prices.
Instead, you will see their sub-prices.
After you choose a seller, you will pay the seller the sum of the seller’s sub-prices (the total price).
—section—
After you buy an object, you will automatically give the object to the experimenter and get 800 tokens.
Other than the price, it does not matter which seller you choose — the sellers' objects are the same in
every way.
—section—
Therefore, accounting for everything, within a given round, you will gain 800 tokens and lose the total
price you pay for the object.
Before continuing, please choose a seller in the example interface to the right. [2 or 4 sellers shown,
depending on condition]
SUBPRICE
SELLER 1
1
0
2
41
3
20
4
11
5
38
6
2
7
31
8
40
9
0
10
0
11
0
12
1
13
23
14
48
15
31
16
39
Choose:
Seller 1
SELLER 2
SELLER 3
SELLER 4
2
0
0
21
17
47
0
9
56
37
62
22
50
35
17
0
37
14
7
20
0
41
58
58
8
17
0
11
53
45
18
38
40
45
57
41
22
73
0
0
78
8
0
28
48
0
0
35
Seller 2
Seller 3
8
Seller 4
[next]
Buyer Instructions
If a buyer chooses a seller with a total price of 300 tokens, how many tokens does the buyer earn that
round?
300 tokens
500 tokens
800 tokens
[next]
Round Summary Example
At the end of each round, you will see a screen that summarizes what happened in that round.
An example is shown below.
In this example, you were Seller 1, you set sub-prices that summed up to tokens, and Buyer 1 bought
from you. Therefore, you made 225 tokens in this round.
This round you were Seller 1 and earned 225 tokens.
You sold 1 object for 325 tokens each.
Your total production cost was 100 tokens.
Your earnings are itemized in the table below.
Your Earnings
VALUE
# SOLD
TOTALS
Benefit
325
x1
325
Cost
-100
x1
-100
Total
225
x1
225 tokens
Buyers' Choices
SELLER 1
Buyer 1
Buyer 2
SELLER 2
SELLER 3
SELLER 4
X
X
9
Sellers' Prices
SUB-PRICES
SELLER 1
SELLER 2
SELLER 3
SELLER 4
1
2
16
10
0
2
69
68
34
37
3
21
1
3
22
4
4
23
32
49
5
12
0
23
0
6
0
1
15
40
7
65
17
67
52
8
0
76
47
31
9
32
0
5
3
10
14
4
97
63
11
40
12
0
0
12
15
35
33
25
13
4
52
6
44
14
18
10
39
0
15
29
29
14
89
16
0
31
0
20
Total Price
325 tokens
375 tokens
425 tokens
475 tokens
[next]
Practice Rounds
Assign participants such that everyone plays one round as a buyer and one round as a seller. Practice
rounds are played with computers making random decisions. Each participant is a seller in the first
round, then a buyer in second round.
Practice Rounds
We will now go through 2 practice rounds to help you understand the game.
You will not be paid for your performance in these rounds.
10
You will play the [Seller/Buyer] role this round.
Game Rounds
Both buyers and sellers. Repeat for a certain number of rounds (to be determined based on timing).
Throughout, there will be text that indicates that you are waiting for the other players to finish
making their choices. These text screens should disappear automatically.
Waiting for other players to begin the game…
Seller game screen
[#] represents an open text box that is pre-populated with nothing. Choose the appropriate number
of prices based on condition (i.e., 1 or 16).
Time Remaining: 60
You are seller [1/2/3/4].
Please choose your sub-prices.
As a reminder:
Sub-prices must be whole numbers (no decimals).
Sub-prices cannot be negative.
The total price (sum of sub-prices) cannot exceed 800 tokens.
Your production cost is 100 tokens per object.
You must enter values for all sub-prices.
Choose a "Total price" and press "Distribute" to choose random sub-prices that sum to "Total
price".
You can press "Distribute" as many times as you like.
You can edit individual sub-prices even if you already pressed the distribute button.
Press "Next" to submit your prices.
Total Price: [
]
SUBVALUE
PRICE
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
SUBPRICE
11
12
13
14
15
16
VALUE
[next]
Please wait for buyers to make their decisions…
Buyer game screen 1
Time Remaining: 60
You are buyer [1/2].
Please choose a seller to purchase an object from.
As a reminder:
You will pay the sum of the sub-prices.
You will exchange the object you buy for 800 tokens.
Press "Next" to submit your choice.
SUBSELLER 1
PRICE
SELLER 2
SELLER 3
SELLER 4
1
10
27
0
6
2
8
37
82
2
3
10
37
52
8
4
11
94
1
7
5
1
22
0
4
6
4
9
105
3
7
6
14
0
8
8
3
11
133
6
9
5
27
94
6
10
6
19
98
7
11
11
25
7
18
12
24
31
6
10
13
7
9
0
12
14
3
37
85
19
12
SUBSELLER 1
PRICE
SELLER 2
SELLER 3
SELLER 4
15
3
26
37
5
16
7
8
65
6
Choose:
Seller 1
Seller 2
Seller 3
Seller 4
[next]
Round summary screen
ROLE should say “Seller 1”, “Seller 2”, “Seller 3”, “Seller 4”, “Buyer 1” or “Buyer 2”
Prices are examples; actual prices should be listed instead.
Round Results
Time Remaining:
This round you were [ROLE] and earned 30 tokens.
You sold 1 object for 130 tokens each.
Your total production cost was 100 tokens.
Your earnings are itemized in the table below.
Your Earnings
VALUE
# SOLD
TOTALS
Benefit
130
x1
130
Cost
-100
x1
-100
Total
30
x1
30 tokens
Buyers' Choices
SELLER 1
Buyer 1
SELLER 2
SELLER 3
SELLER 4
X
Buyer 2
X
Sellers' Prices
SUB-PRICES
SELLER 1
SELLER 2
SELLER 3
SELLER 4
1
5
132
40
105
2
5
51
20
0
13
SUB-PRICES
SELLER 1
SELLER 2
SELLER 3
SELLER 4
3
5
0
66
32
4
5
0
45
29
5
5
180
0
0
6
5
36
0
5
7
5
0
0
61
8
5
63
0
25
9
5
92
48
73
10
5
53
17
3
11
5
84
14
187
12
5
1
117
56
13
55
0
77
6
14
5
0
41
0
15
5
34
8
134
16
5
23
39
17
130 tokens
749 tokens
532 tokens
733 tokens
Total Price
Next
[next]
At the end of 8 rounds, re-randomize players into groups. Return to the seller and buyer instructions
for the next disclosure condition.
14
Survey
Thank you, the games are now complete. Before we finish, we have a few questions to help us better
understand how you make decisions and tradeoffs.
RiskQ1
If participant choses “50% chance…”, administer RiskQ2
If they chose “100%...”, administer RiskQ3
This question measures risk preferences.
RiskQ1. Hypothetically, which would you prefer: a 50% chance of getting $35, or a 100% chance of
getting $15?
___ A 50% chance of $35
___ A 100% chance of $15
[next]
RiskQ2 display is contingent on RiskQ1 = “50%...”
For any response, continue to NumeracyQ1
This question measures risk preferences.
RiskQ2. Hypothetically, which would you prefer: a 50% chance of getting $35, or a 100% chance of
getting $17.50?
___ A 50% chance of $35
___ A 100% chance of $17.50
[next]
RiskQ3 display is contingent on RiskQ1 response = “100%...”
For any response, continue to NumeracyQ1
This question measures risk preferences.
RiskQ3. Hypothetically, which would you prefer: a 50% chance of getting $35, or a 100% chance of
getting $10?
___ A 50% chance of $35
___ A 100% chance of $10
[next]
RiskQ4. How willing are you to take risks in your life, in general?
o
Not at all willing
to take risks
o
o
o
o
Very willing to
take risks
[next]
8 questions developed by: Fagerlin, A., Zikmund-Fisher, B. J., Ubel, P. A., Jankovic, A., Derry, H. A., &
Smith, D. M. (2007). Measuring numeracy without a math test: Development of the Subjective
Numeracy Scale. Medical Decision Making, 27(5), 672-680.
[next]
15
3 questions developed by: Schwartz, L. M., Woloshin, S., Black, W. C., & Welch, H. G. (1997). The role
of numeracy in understanding the benefit of screening mammography. Annals of Internal Medicine,
127(11), 966-972.
[next]
Thank you for your responses. Now, we have a few questions to help us better understand your choices
during the game. First, we have questions about your choices when you were a seller.
SStrategyQ1. When you were playing as a seller, how did you decide what prices to set?
[open-ended text box]
SStrategyQ2. If you were telling someone else how to play this game, what would you tell them to do
when playing as a seller?
[open-ended text box]
[next]
SStrategyQ3. When you were playing as a seller, how often did you think about the prices you had
seen in previous rounds?
___ Every round
___ Almost every round
___ Most rounds
___ A few rounds
___ None of the rounds
[next]
SSingleQ1. Please think about the rounds where you had to set only 1 price. Which one of these
descriptions best matches your behavior toward buyers?
___ I picked a price that I thought would make it harder for buyers to make a decision
___ I picked a price that I thought would make it easier for buyers to make a decision
___ I didn’t think about buyers when I was setting prices
[next]
SSingleQ2. Please think about the rounds where you had to set only 1 price. Which one of these
descriptions best matches your behavior toward other sellers?
___ I picked a price that I thought would be higher than other sellers
___ I picked a price that I thought would be the same as other sellers
___ I picked a price that I thought would be lower than other sellers
___ I didn’t think about other sellers when I was setting a price
[next]
SMultiQ1. Please think about the rounds where you had to set 16 sub-prices. Which one of these
descriptions best matches your behavior toward buyers?
___ I picked prices that I thought would make it harder for buyers to make a decision
___ I picked prices that I thought would make it easier for buyers to make a decision
___ I didn’t think about buyers when I was setting prices
[next]
16
SMultiQ2. Please think about the rounds where you had to set 16 sub-prices. Which one of these
descriptions best matches your behavior toward other sellers?
___ I picked a total price that I thought would be higher than other sellers
___ I picked a total price that I thought would be the same as other sellers
___ I picked a total price that I thought would be lower than other sellers
___ I didn’t think about other sellers when I was setting prices
[next]
SMultiQ3. Please think about the rounds where you had to set 16 sub-prices. Indicate how much you
agree with the following statements.
[Display scale showing: Completely Disagree – Mostly disagree – Somewhat disagree –
Somewhat agree – Mostly agree – Completely agree]
[next]
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
I set specific patterns of sub-prices
I only cared about the first few sub-prices
I only cared about very high sub-prices
I only cared about very low sub-prices
I set sub-prices that I thought looked random
I set sub-prices that would be difficult for buyers to add together
I set sub-prices based on prices that I saw in previous rounds
Sub-prices didn’t matter; only the total price was important
SCompQ1. In some rounds, there were 3 other sellers, and in some rounds, there was only 1 other
seller. How did your behavior change across these two situations, as a seller?
[open-ended text box]
[next]
Next, we have a few questions about your choices when you were a buyer.
BStrategyQ1. When you were playing as a buyer, how did you decide what object to choose?
[open-ended text box]
BStrategyQ2. If you were telling someone else how to play this game, what would you tell them to do
when playing as a buyer?
[open-ended text box]
[next]
BStrategyQ3. When you were playing as a buyer, how often did you think about the prices you had
seen in previous rounds?
___ Every round
___ Almost every round
___ Most rounds
___ A few rounds
___ None of the rounds
[next]
17
BMultiQ1. Please think about the rounds where there were 2 sellers and each seller had 16 sub-prices.
Which one of these descriptions best matches your behavior?
___ I looked at every one of the sub-prices
___ I looked at more than half of the sub-prices
___ I looked at less than half of the sub-prices
___ I looked at almost none of the sub-prices
BMultiQ2. Please think about the rounds where there were 4 sellers and each seller had 16 sub-prices.
Which one of these descriptions best matches your behavior?
___ I looked at every one of the sub-prices
___ I looked at more than half of the sub-prices
___ I looked at less than half of the sub-prices
___ I looked at almost none of the sub-prices
[next]
BMultiQ3. Please think about the rounds where sellers had 16 sub-prices. Indicate how much you
agree with the following statements.
[Display scale showing: Completely Disagree – Mostly disagree – Somewhat disagree –
Somewhat agree – Mostly agree – Completely agree]
[next]
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
I read prices from the top to the bottom of the screen
I looked for sub-prices that were especially large
I looked for sub-prices that were especially small
I looked at all of the sub-prices for a single seller before moving to the next seller
I looked at the sub-prices across sellers rather than concentrating on a single seller at a time
I changed how I looked at sub-prices from round to round
I didn’t look carefully at the sub-prices
I chose randomly
BCompQ1. In some rounds, there were 4 sellers, and in some rounds, there were 2 sellers. How did
your behavior change across these two situations, as a buyer?
[open-ended text box]
[next]
Experience level
ExperienceQ. Approximately how many in-person, laboratory experiments have you completed
before today? If you’re not sure, please make your best guess.
___ 0
___ 1 to 3
___ 4 to 6
___ 7 to 9
___ 10 or more
18
CoursesQ. Please indicate if you have taken college-level coursework in any of the following fields.
(Mark all)
__Yes __No Microeconomics or game theory
__Yes __No Marketing or business
__Yes __No Law
__ Yes __ No Cognitive psychology
[next]
GenderQ. What is your gender?
___ Male
___ Female
EnglishQ. Is English your primary language?
___ Yes
___ No
___ Prefer not to answer
AgeQ. How old are you? ______ years
[next]
Only administer during pilot sessions.
FutureStudiesQ. Researchers conducting this study may be interested in contacting you regarding
additional research studies in the next year. These future studies will provide compensation of
approximately $35/hour. Please indicate whether you would like us to contact you for these studies.
Doing so will not affect any aspect of your participation today, including payment or privacy.
___ Yes, I would like to be contacted for future studies
___ No, I would not like to be contacted for future studies
[next]
MiscQ. You’re almost finished! Do you have any comments or questions about this research? If so,
please let us know in the text-box below. Please do not add any personally identifying information
about you, such as your name or student ID number. (optional)
[open-ended text box]
[next]
Thank you for your participation today. Please wait patiently for the experimenter to call your subject
number. When your number is called, gather all of your belongings, and walk to where you will be paid.
Your subject number is [subject number].
Please remember that this research is only valuable if all participants have the same experience.
Therefore, please do not discuss this experiment with others outside of the lab.
19
| File Type | application/pdf |
| Author | Beckett, Dustin (CFPB) |
| File Modified | 2019-06-05 |
| File Created | 2019-06-05 |