Zia, BilalBerg, Gunhild2013-07-102013-07-102013-04https://hdl.handle.net/10986/14445This paper exploits the emotional connections and viewer attentiveness of mainstream media to evaluate the economic impact of financial education messages on debt management delivered through a popular television soap opera in South Africa. The study uses a symmetric encouragement design to compare outcomes of individuals who were randomly assigned to watch a soap opera with financial messages, "Scandal!" to those of individuals who were invited to watch a similar soap opera without financial messages, "Muvhango." Both shows overlapped in evening primetime and had similar past viewership profiles. The financial storyline spanned two months and featured one of the leading characters of the show borrowing excessively and irresponsibly through hire-purchase, gambling, and ending up in financial distress; and eventually seeking help to find her way out. Two intermediate and one final follow-up surveys were conducted as part of the study. The analysis finds individuals assigned to watch Scandal had significantly higher financial knowledge of the issues highlighted in the soap opera storyline, in particular messages delivered by the leading character. On behavior, Scandal viewers were almost twice more likely to borrow from formal sources, less likely to engage in gambling, and less prone to enter hire purchase agreements. Messages promoting a national debt mediation helpline delivered by an external character did not sustain traction beyond immediate interest. Three qualitative focus groups highlight the importance of emotional connections with the leading character in motivating behavior change.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOADVERTISING CAMPAIGNSALCOHOLICARREARSATMAWARENESS CAMPAIGNBANK ACCOUNTBANK ACCOUNTSBANKSBEHAVIOR CHANGEBEHAVIORAL EFFECTSBORROWERBORROWINGBORROWING MONEYBROCHURESBUDGETINGBULLETINBUSINESS DEVELOPMENTCALL CENTERCALL CENTERSCAPTIVE AUDIENCECONSUMERCONSUMER CREDITCONSUMER LOANCONSUMER PREFERENCESCONSUMERSCONTRACEPTIONCONTRIBUTIONCONTRIBUTIONSCREDIT BUREAUCREDIT COUNSELINGCREDIT PROVIDERCREDIT PROVIDERSCREDIT STATUSDAY-TO-DAY MONEY MANAGEMENTDEBTDEBT MANAGEMENTDEBTSDELIVERY MECHANISMSDEMAND FOR SAVINGDEMOGRAPHIC PROFILESDEPOSITDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPMENT BANKDEVELOPMENT POLICYDISPOSABLE INCOMEDISSEMINATIONDIVORCEDOMESTIC VIOLENCEDRUG USEDURABLEDURABLE GOODSEARNINGSECONOMIC ANALYSISEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTEMERGENCIESEMPLOYEEENROLLMENTEQUALITYEXPENDITUREFAMILIESFAMILY MEMBERFAMILY PLANNINGFAMILY PLANNING METHODSFAMILY SIZEFEDERAL RESERVEFEDERAL RESERVE BANKFEMALE GENITAL CUTTINGFEMALE RESPONDENTFEMALE RESPONDENTSFERTILITYFERTILITY RATESFEWER CHILDRENFINANCESFINANCIAL ADVICEFINANCIAL ADVISORFINANCIAL ADVISORY SERVICEFINANCIAL BEHAVIORFINANCIAL BEHAVIORSFINANCIAL CHOICESFINANCIAL CONCEPTSFINANCIAL DECISIONFINANCIAL DECISIONSFINANCIAL DISTRESSFINANCIAL EDUCATIONFINANCIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMFINANCIAL EXPERIENCESFINANCIAL INCENTIVEFINANCIAL INCENTIVESFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL KNOWLEDGEFINANCIAL LITERACYFINANCIAL LITERACY CENTERFINANCIAL LITERACY TESTFINANCIAL LITERACY TRAININGFINANCIAL MANAGEMENTFINANCIAL MATTERSFINANCIAL MISMANAGEMENTFINANCIAL OBLIGATIONSFINANCIAL OUTCOMESFINANCIAL PLANFINANCIAL PROBLEMSFINANCIAL PRODUCTSFINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITYFINANCIAL SECTORFINANCIAL SERVICESFINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRYFINANCIAL SITUATIONFINANCIAL SYSTEMFINANCIAL TROUBLEFOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONSFOREIGN POLICYFORMAL BANKFORMAL BORROWINGFORMAL EDUCATIONFORMAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSGENDERGENDER DIFFERENCEGENDER DIFFERENCESHIVHOME IMPROVEMENTHOMEOWNERSHIPHOMEOWNERSHIP COUNSELINGHOUSEHOLD DEBTHOUSEHOLD EXPENSEHOUSEHOLDSHUSBANDHUSBANDSIMMIGRANTSINCOME GROUPSINCOME LEVELINCOME LEVELSINDEBTEDNESSINDEPENDENT FINANCIAL ADVISERSINFANTINFANT MORTALITYINFANT MORTALITY RATESINFORMED FINANCIAL DECISIONSINSTALLMENTINSTALLMENTSINTEREST CHARGESINTERNATIONAL BANKINTERNATIONAL FAMILY PLANNINGINTERNATIONAL FAMILY PLANNING PERSPECTIVESKNOWLEDGE GAPLIVING STANDARDLIVING STANDARDSLOAN CONTRACTLOAN DEMANDLOAN PAYMENTSLOAN PERFORMANCELOAN PERIODLOAN SHARKSLOAN TERMSLOW INCOMELOW INCOME GROUPSLOW-INCOMEMALARIAMARKETINGMASS MEDIAMEDIA CAMPAIGNSMINORITYMINORITY GROUPSMINORITY WOMENMONTHLY PAYMENTSMORTGAGEMOTHERMULTIPLE LOANSNATIONAL CREDITNATIONAL DEBTNATIONAL TREASURYORAL REHYDRATION THERAPYOUTREACHPERSONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENTPOLICY DISCUSSIONSPOLICY MAKERSPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERPREFERENCE FOR SONSPRIVATIZATIONPROBABILITIESPROBABILITYPROGRESSPUBLIC AWARENESSPUBLIC CALLPUBLIC HEALTHPUBLIC SERVICEPURCHASESRADIORADIO PROGRAMREAL ESTATEREGRESSION ANALYSISREPAYMENTREPAYMENT PERIODRESEARCH ASSISTANCERESERVE BANKRETIREMENTRULE OF LAWSALARYSALESSAVINGSSAVINGS PLANSAVINGS RATESAVINGS RATESSECONDARY SCHOOLSECONDARY SCHOOLINGSOCIAL CHANGESOCIAL MARKETINGSOCIAL NORMSSOUND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENTSOURCE OF INFORMATIONSTATUS OF WOMENTEENTEEN PREGNANCYTEENAGE PREGNANCIESTELEVISIONTELEVISION NETWORKTELEVISION SOAP OPERASTERMINATIONTOLERANCETRUST FUNDTVUNEXPECTED EXPENSESURBAN AREASVICIOUS CYCLEVILLAGESWOMANWORTHYOUNG PEOPLEWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-6407