Attrition and how it impacts in causal inference
Examples of attrition in abtestingA company was testing two different versions of a landing page for a new product. One version of the page had a longer form that required more information from visitors, while the other version had a shorter form that required less information. The company found that the shorter form had a higher conversion rate, but they also noticed that more visitors dropped out of the test before completing the form. When they investigated further, they found that the visitors who dropped out were more likely to be people who were not interested in the product. This suggests that the attrition bias was caused by the fact that the shorter form was more likely to be seen by people who were not interested in the product in the first place. A company was testing two different versions of an email campaign. One version of the email had a more persuasive headline, while the other version had a less persuasive headline. The company found that the more persuasive headline had a higher open rate, but they also noticed that more people unsubscribed from the email list after receiving the more persuasive headline. When they investigated further, they found that the people who unsubscribed were more likely to be people who were already on the email list and who were not interested in the product being promoted. This suggests that the attrition bias was caused by the fact that the more persuasive headline was more likely to be seen by people who were already on the email list and who were not interested in the product in the first place. |