Publication: The Entertaining Way to Behavioral Change: Fighting HIV with MTV
Date
2019-09
ISSN
Published
2019-09
Author(s)
Banerjee, Abhijit
La Ferrara, Eliana
Orozco-Olvera, Victor H.
Abstract
This paper tests the effectiveness of an
entertainment education television series, MTV Shuga, aimed
at providing information and changing attitudes and
behaviors related to HIV/AIDS. Using a simple model, the
paper shows that “edutainment” can work through an
individual or a social channel. This study is a randomized
controlled trial conducted in urban Nigeria, where young
viewers were exposed to MTV Shuga or a placebo television
series. Among those exposed to MTV Shuga, the trial created
additional variation in the social messages they received
and the people with whom they watched the show. The study
finds significant improvements in knowledge and attitudes
toward HIV and risky sexual behavior. Treated subjects are
twice as likely to get tested for HIV eight months after the
intervention. The study also finds reductions in sexually
transmitted diseases among women. These effects are stronger
for viewers who reported being more involved with the
narrative, consistent with the psychological underpinnings
of edutainment. The trial’s experimental manipulations of
the social norm component did not produce significantly
different results from the main treatment. The individual
effect of edutainment thus seems to have prevailed in the
context of this study.
Citation
“Banerjee, Abhijit; La Ferrara, Eliana; Orozco-Olvera, Victor H.. 2019. The Entertaining Way to Behavioral Change: Fighting HIV with MTV. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8998. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32372 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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