The Entertaining Way to Behavioral Change∗

We test the effectiveness of an entertainment education TV series, MTV Shuga, aimed at providing information and changing attitudes and behaviors related to HIV/AIDS. Using a simple model we show that “edutainment”can work through an “information”or through a “conformity”channel. We conducted a randomized controlled trial in urban Nigeria where young viewers were exposed to Shuga or to a non-educational TV series. Among those who watched Shuga, we created additional variation in the “social messages”they received and in the people with whom they watched the show. We find significant improvements in knowledge and attitudes towards HIV and risky sexual behavior. Treated subjects are twice as likely to get tested for HIV 6 to 9 months after the intervention. We also find reductions in STDs among women. Our experimental manipulations of the social norm component did not produce significantly different results from the main treatment. Also, we don’t detect significant spillovers on the behavior of friends who did not watch Shuga. The “information”effect of edutainment thus seems to have prevailed in the context of our study. ∗We thank seminar participants at University of Oslo, Trinity College Dublin and IIES Stockholm for helpful comments. Laura Costica and Edwin Ikuhoria did a superb job as research and field coordinators, and Tommaso Coen, Viola Corradini, Dante Donati, Francesco Loiacono, Awa Ambra Seck and Sara Spaziani provided excellent research assistance. This study was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Bank i2i Trust Fund. La Ferrara acknowledges financial support from ERC Advanced Grant ASNODEV. Correspondence: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]