Sanitation and Potential Gains from Sanitation Marketing in Ghana

6 Household demand for improved sanitation in developing countries is an important 7 social and behavioral process with implications for public health, sanitation policy and 8 planning, and sanitation design and technology development. This paper develops a 9 behavioral approach to assess household demand for improved sanitation in Ghana. Adoption 10 decision stages of preference, intention, and choice to install a toilet in Ghana are defined, 11 measured in a survey and used to estimate sanitation demand, identify factors affecting 12 demand at each stage, and classify households by adoption stage to identify targeted demand-13 stimulation strategies. Results from a representative national sample of 536 households 14 indicate that of 74% of households without any home sanitation, 31% have some likelihood of 15 installing a toilet within the next year, but only 6% are very likely to do so; 62% had not 16 considered the idea. Motivating and constraining factors are compared at each adoption stage 17 and strategies likely to increase toilet installation in Ghana discussed. The approach is useful 18 for assessing behavioral indicators of sanitation demand in developing countries and 19 suggesting where marketing approaches can and cannot work to accelerate adoption of 20 household sanitation improvements. 21