Instructions
Page 1
Welcome
You are participating in an economics experiment. The point of this experiement is to understand how people save money as well as how we can help people save better.What You Will Do
You will complete a simple savings game four times over the course of four days. Each day, you will also complete some additional tasks or a questionnaire.In total, the game and the tasks/questionnaire should take about 30 minutes each day.
Your Remuneration
You will be paid [VALUE]€ for your participation at the end of the four days.You are additionally remunerated based on your performance in the savings game.
And, you can further increase the total amount you receive by answering questions correctly in the tasks and questionnaires.
On the following pages, we will explain how the savings game works. Prior to beginning any additional task or questionnaire, you will receive the corresponding instructions as well.
Note: You must complete all four days' tasks to receive payment.
Comprehension Test
On the last page of these Instructions, you must answer some questions to confirm you understand the rules of the savings game.You must answer all questions correctly before you can proceed to the game. But, if you answer a question incorrectly, you may try again. There is no limit to the number attempts you make.
You may also return to previous the pages with the instructions to find the answer if you cannot remember by clicking on the blue button marked Back that will appear on the bottom of the next page.
When you are ready to move to the next page, please click Next below.
Instructions
Page 2
Your Objective
The goal of this task is to maximize your savings of the game's currency over the course of {{ C.NUM_PERIODS }} periods. The currency is denominated by ₮.Your Remuneration
After completing the four rounds of the savings games over four days, a computer program will [randomly select one of your rounds OR average the four rounds' results]. You will receive additional remuneration with your participation pay based on the value of [that round's Savings Account at the end of 120 periods OR the average value of your final Savings Account across four rounds].Specifically, you receive [VALUE]€ per 1₮.
Note: For any round where you are unable to finish the {{ C.NUM_PERIODS }}, the final amount of your Savings Account will be recorded as 0₮.
Instructions
Page 3
Game Screen
Each period, you will see the screen shown below.
Survival
To survive from one period to the next, you must eat one Basket of Goods each period.Every period, you have the option of buying one or more units of Basket of Goods at the price listed in the Catalog.
Since you only eat one Basket of Goods per period, any additional units you purchase in a period are saved in your balance Starting Stock Next Period.
As you can see in the example, Starting Stock Next Period can be -1 units. We will explain this on the following pages.
It is important to understand that if at any time, you are unable to end the period with your Starting Stock Next Period equal to 0 or more, the savings game ends.
Instructions
Page 4
Making Purchases
At the bottom of the game screen there are two sections: Catalog and My Cart.A card labelled "Basket of Goods" displays the price of a unit of Basket of Goods and a button to add it to your cart.
To purchase one or more units of Basket of Goods, click the grey button labelled +1 to add one unit to your cart. If you wish to purchase multiple units in the same period, click the +1 button until you have added the desired quantity to your cart. To the right of the card is "My Cart", where you will see the total units currently selected for purchase and total price.
When you are content with your purchase decision, click the blue button "Finalize Purchase".
Instructions
Page 5
Balances
At the top of the game screen there is a section Starting Balances, which displays amounts you begin the period with. Ending Balances shows the values you will end the period with (after eating a unit of Basket of Goods).Total Cash
Total Cash is the total money you have available to make purchases with.It is the total of your savings from the previous period plus interest earned on your savings from the previous period plus a fixed Wage of {{ C.INCOME }}₮.
Also, you begin the game (Period 1) with an initial amount of cash. In this example, the initial amount is {{ C.INITIAL_ENDOWMENT }}.
In this example, Total Cash is {{ C.TOTAL_CASH }} ({{ C.INITIAL_ENDOWMENT }} + {{ C.INCOME }}₮).
Interest Earned Last Period
You earn interest on the amount in Savings Account when you click Finalize Purchase.Interest is paid at a fixed rate per period and added to your Total Cash.
In the example above, if the interest rate is {{ C.INTEREST_PERCENT}}%, the player will earn {{ C.INTEREST_EARNED }} ({{ C.TOTAL_CASH }} X {{ C.INTEREST_PERCENT}}%).
Note: technically, this is not possible since the player cannot survive to the next period with a Starting Stock Next Period of -1 units.
Instructions
Page 6
Balances
Savings Account
Savings Account displays the amount of money you will save and earn interest on for the next period.As you add and remove items to and from My Cart, the amount displayed in Savings Account will adjust accordingly.
Starting Stock Next Period
Starting Stock Next Period tells you the number of units of Basket of Goods you will have at the start of next period with the quantity you currently have in My Cart.This means that if you add one unit to your cart, Starting Stock Next Period will display 0 because you will eat it at the end of the period. If you add two units to your cart, Starting Stock Next Period will display 1.
In this example, the player has no units of Basket of Goods in their cart, so Starting Stock Next Period displays a -1. If they click Finalize Purchase now, the game will end immediately.
Instructions
Page 7
Price
It is possible that the price of Basket of Goods changes over the course of the savings game.Follow-up Questions
Over the course of the task, you will be asked questions that relate to your experience.Choice Confidence
After you finalize a decision each period, you will be asked to rate how confident you feel about that decision.
Price Change Percentage Estimates
Also, every 12 periods, you will be asked to estimate by what percentage (%) you think the price of Basket of Goods changed during the previous 12 periods.To do so, you must click somewhere on the blue bar which turns the bar grey and reveals a blue dot. Slide the dot along the grey bar to select percentage value of your estimate, as shown below. Whenever you are content with the value selected, click the Next button beneath it.
Note: you will earn an additional [VALUE] of remuneration for every answer that is correct to within [3]% (e.g. if the price changes 50% and you estimate any value between 47% and 53%, you earn an additional [VALUE]).
Instructions
Page 8
Comprehension Test
Below is a brief questionnaire to test your comprehension of the rules of the Savings Game. As a reminder, you must answer all questions correctly to proceed to today's round of the game and the questionnaire.You may check the previous pages for answer at any time by navigating with the blue Back and Next buttons. Also, you may make as many attempts as necessary to get all questions right.
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To practice using the slider for your Price Change Percent Estimates, please select 1%.
Click the blue bar to reveal the slider. Drag it along the bar to select your estimate.
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