Religious proximity and misinformation: Experimental evidence from a mobile phone-based campaign in India

Alex Armand, Britta Augsburg, Antonella Bancalari and Kalyan Kumar Kameshwara

Journal of Health Economics, 2024, vol. 96, issue C

Abstract: We investigate how religion concordance influences the effectiveness of preventive health campaigns. Conducted during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in two major Indian cities marked by Hindu–Muslim tensions, we randomly assigned a representative sample of slum residents to receive either a physician-delivered information campaign promoting health-related preventive practices, or uninformative control messages on their mobile phones. Messages, introduced by a local citizen (the sender), were cross-randomized to start with a greeting signaling either a Hindu or a Muslim identity, manipulating religion concordance between sender and receiver. We found that doctor messages increased compliance with recommended practices and beliefs in their efficacy. Our findings suggest that the campaign’s impact is primarily driven by shared religion between sender and receiver, leading to increased message engagement and compliance with recommended practices. Additionally, we observe that religion concordance helps protect against misinformation.

Keywords: Health campaign; Information; Religion; India; COVID-19; Field experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D91 I12 I15 O12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:96:y:2024:i:c:s0167629624000286

DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2024.102883

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