Impact of Nudges on Downloads of COVID-19 Exposure Notification Smartphone Apps: A Randomized Trial

October 17, 2022 updated by: University of Pennsylvania

The Interactive Effect of Social Norm and Self (vs. Others) Benefit Nudges on Downloads of COVID-19 Exposure Notification Smartphone Apps: A Randomized Trial

Eligible participants who were active beneficiaries of a large insurer living in Pennsylvania were sent an email encouraging them to download the contact tracing app in Pennsylvania, COVID Alert PA.

Participants will be randomly assigned to one of four conditions in a 2 (Self-benefit vs. Other-Benefit) x 2 (Social Norms Present vs. Social Norms absent) design.

All participants received an email that said :

"COVID Alert PA is the official Exposure Notification App from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Join Penn Medicine in the fight against COVID-19 and download COVID Alert PA today!"

---Investigators manipulated the content here---

"The app uses Bluetooth to sense when one person is in close contact with another person with the app. If someone tests positive for COVID-19, and they decide to upload the information to the health department, people who have the app and who have been in contact with them will be alerted.

If you are interested in downloading the app, please click COVID Alert PA. We appreciate you joining our efforts. Together we can beat COVID-19!"

In the Other-Benefit condition, it said: "It can help you reduce your risk of unknowingly spreading the virus to your friends, family, and larger community."

In the Self-Benefit condition, it said: "It can help you determine where and when to get testing, and how to get care if you need it."

In the Social Norms Present condition, it said: "Over 650,000 Pennsylvanians have already downloaded the app!"

In the Social Norms Absent condition, it said the statement about social norms above.

Participants who do not open the initial email received a follow-up email.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

16903

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Pennsylvania
      • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19146
        • Independence Blue Cross (IBX)

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Eligible participants were active beneficiaries of a large insurer living in Pennsylvania.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Participants who did not subscribe to offers and promotions emails were excluded, as were Medigap beneficiaries.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Factorial Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Self-Benefit/Social Norm
As part of their email, they read, "It can help you determine where and when to get testing, and how to get care if you need it." and "Over 650,000 Pennsylvanians have already downloaded the app!"
Behavioral: Self-Benefit/Social Norm
As part of their email, they will read, "It can help you determine where and when to get testing, and how to get care if you need it." and "Over 650,000 Pennsylvanians have already downloaded the app!"
Experimental: Self-Benefit/No Social Norm
As part of their email, they read, "It can help you determine where and when to get testing, and how to get care if you need it." They did not read any information about the number of Pennsylvanians who downloaded the app.
Behavioral: Self-Benefit/No Social Norm
As part of their email, they will read, "It can help you determine where and when to get testing, and how to get care if you need it." They will not read any information about the number of Pennsylvanians who downloaded the app.
Experimental: Other Benefit/Social Norm
As part of their email, they read, "It can help you reduce your risk of unknowingly spreading the virus to your friends, family, and larger community." and "Over 650,000 Pennsylvanians have already downloaded the app!"
Behavioral: Other Benefit/Social Norm
As part of their email, they will read, "It can help you reduce your risk of unknowingly spreading the virus to your friends, family, and larger community." and "Over 650,000 Pennsylvanians have already downloaded the app!"
Experimental: Other Benefit/No Social Norm
As part of their email, they read, "It can help you reduce your risk of unknowingly spreading the virus to your friends, family, and larger community." They did not read any information about the number of Pennsylvanians who downloaded the app.
Behavioral: Other Benefit/No Social Norm
As part of their email, they will read, "It can help you reduce your risk of unknowingly spreading the virus to your friends, family, and larger community." They will not read any information about the number of Pennsylvanians who downloaded the app.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Click on Link to Download COVID Alert PA App
Time Frame: 48 days
The investigators measured choice to click on the link to download the COVID Alert PA app or not, conditional on opening the email. Because participants may not immediately open their e-mail, or may return to the e-mail to click the link, we allowed for a period of approximately 7 weeks or 48 days from date of initial e-mail for completion of outcome measure.
48 days

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Pennsylvania

Collaborators

Pennsylvania Department of Health

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

December 11, 2020

Primary Completion (Actual)

January 28, 2021

Study Completion (Actual)

January 28, 2021

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 12, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 13, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

October 15, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 28, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 17, 2022

Last Verified

October 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 844564

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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