Translating Information into Action: A Public Health Experiment in Bangladesh

Reshmaan Hussam (), Abu Shonchoy, Chikako Yamauchi and Kailash Pandey ()
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Reshmaan Hussam: Harvard Business School
Kailash Pandey: Harvard Business School

No 2127, Working Papers from Florida International University, Department of Economics

Abstract: While models of technology adoption posit learning as the basis of behavior change, information campaigns in public health frequently fail to change behavior. We design an information campaign embedding hand-hygiene edutainment within popular dramas using mobile phones, randomly distributed to households in Bangladesh. We document no change in hygiene knowledge, yet substantial improvements in handwashing and health. Employing machine learning techniques with temporal data on media exposure and handwashing, we find that a combination of cumulative and immediate exposure predicts washing, consistent with cue-based habituation. Results highlight how behavior change may be induced by tacit, rather than explicit, knowledge acquisition.

Pages: 38 pages
Date: 2021-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-big and nep-exp
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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https://economics.fiu.edu/research/pdfs/2021_working_papers/21271.pdf First version, 2021 (application/pdf)

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