Introduction

Late-2024 update: This project is on hiatus/moved

Note from David Reinstein: The EA Market Testing team has not been active since about August 2023. Some aspects of this project have been subsumed by Giving What We Can and their Effective Giving Global Coordination and Incubation (lead: Lucas Moore).

Nonetheless, you may find the resources and findings here useful. I'm happy to answer questions about this work.

I am now mainly focused on making The Unjournal a success. I hope to return to some aspects of the EAMT and effective giving research projects in the future. If you are interested in engaging with this, helping pursue the research and impact, or funding this agenda, please contact me at [e-mail].

For a data-driven dynamic document covering (some of) our trials & evidence see HERE.

In the Partner Organizations and Trials section, you will find reports of the trials we have run with organizations, including Giving What We Can and One For the World (OftW).

These trials are also cataloged : Shared view of the relevant trials (); .

Our primary approach and goals

We want to identify the most effective and scalable strategies for marketing EA and EA-adjacent ideas and actions. To do this, we believe that running real-world marketing trials and experiments with EA-aligned organizations will provide the best evidence to act upon. By systematically varying the messaging, framing, and contexts, we can map out 'what works better where'.

We believe this approach is likely to be the most fruitful because:

1. Using naturally-occurring populations in real-world settings with meaningful costly choices and outcomes will lead to more relevant findings. In comparison to convenience samples of undergraduates or professional survey participants who are aware that they are doing a research study, we anticipate greater:

   • Internal validity: our results are less likely to be influenced by biases, such as acquiescence bias and hypothetical decision-making.

   • : the context we are testing is similar or identical to the context we care about.

2. We will "learn by doing" by encountering unanticipated obstacles and learning about practical implementation issues involved with advertising, promotion, and communication.

3. We can share what we learn with relevant EA organizations and audiences. They then can build on our findings, rather than having to repeatedly make mistakes themselves.

4. The trials themselves should also have a direct positive value in promoting EA.

5. There is limited downside risk. We are generally not testing risky messages and are careful to avoid diluting or misrepresenting EA's core ideas.

Key themes, priorities, and 'high-value questions'

This project primarily aims at:

1. Robust and generalizable insights that improve communication and messaging

2. Meaningful and relevant long-run outcomes, such as;

   • Creating new, strong EAs by getting people more interested and involved in EA ideas, actions, and the community

   • Having people consider and identify with key values and practices, such as making meaningful altruistic choices, considering effectiveness and impact in doing so, strong analytical and epistemic practices, and broad (or carefully considered) moral circles

3. Across a range of EA causes and groups (longtermism, global health, animal welfare)

In the document below (EAMT: HVQs), we consider the shared goals, paths, and questions that are valid across organizations. Specifically, these are actionable and promising themes and projects that can be implemented, measured, and communicated fluidly throughout the EA network.