Translating Information into Action: A Public Health Experiment in Bangladesh

By: Reshmaan Hussam, Kailash Pandey, Abu Shonchoy and Chikako Yamauchi

Format:Print
| Language:English
| Pages:45

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 substantial improvements in handwashing and health, but no change in hygiene knowledge. Employing machine learning techniques with temporal data on media exposure and handwashing, we find that both cumulative and immediate exposure is correlated with washing, consistent with cue-based habituation. Results highlight how behavior change may be induced by tacit, rather than explicit, knowledge acquisition.