Addressing gender-based violence norms using edutainment and behavioural science nudges

Summary:

Edutainment shows in the development sector have shown promise to change deep-rooted cultural norms and practices. Busara, in collaboration with Oxford Policy Management, designed an experiment in Zambia that aimed to measure the effectiveness of edutainment videos on gender-based violence (GBV) norms, attitudes, and behaviors. We also wanted to test whether behavioral nudges could further increase the impact of the show. Our study generated key insights regarding the impact of media advocacy in challenging GBV norms and attitudes. We found the impact of the edutainment video alone on shifting individual attitudes and community norms to be inconclusive. However, when we incorporated social proof that suggested others in the community had viewed the message, the impact was a reduction in tolerance towards GBV. Behavioral science can help understand the mechanisms driving the effectiveness of edutainment material as well as increase their impact by incorporating nudges into design and delivery.

Background/Objectives:

The STOP GBV program, funded by DFID and USAID, used a multi-level approach from 2015 to 2018 to address the problem of widespread gender-based violence in Zambia (GBV). The Center for Communication Programmes in Zambia led the prevention and advocacy work and used a mix of media and community engagement efforts, including edutainment videos, to saturate communities with anti-GBV messaging. Oxford Policy Management contracted Busara to set up an experiment to measure the effectiveness of these edutainment videos and test whether behavioral nudges could further increase this impact.

Description of Intervention and/or Methods/Design:

To estimate the impact of the edutainment videos we recruited a sample of 640 men and women, chosen at random from four Nyanja-speaking regions in Zambia. Participants were randomly allocated to two groups. Participants in the control group watched a popular show that is broadcast widely in Zambia. Participants in the treatment group watched the edutainment video. The edutainment video tells the story of a man who, having had several conversations on the topic of gender-based violence, transforms and stops beating his wife. To estimate the additional impact of watching the video in a social mindset, we introduced a social nudge by varying what we told participants right before they watched the video. Half of the participants were told: Many people in your community have also watched this video to elicit a social mindset. The other half watched the video with no additional information.

Results/Lessons Learned:

This study has delivered key insights regarding the impact of media advocacy in changing norms, attitudes and behaviors on gender-based violence (GBV). First, we see that the advocacy video alone has a limited impact on influencing these outcomes, but when that video is framed in a communal context, it was effective in shifting the social norms towards less acceptance of GBV. However, watching our control video, a popular Zambian show which portrayed traditional gender roles through the character of the wife and the daughter in combination with the behavioral nudge shifted the perception towards more community acceptance of GBV. We also found that willingness to report GBV incidents was impacted by the video in the social framing, but not in the direction we would have expected: there was a negative impact on the willingness to report cases of GBV in the community.

Discussion/Implications for the Field:

We make three recommendations to anyone working in the field of gender-based violence prevention and advocacy: 1) Focus on norm perception, rather than individual attitudes, to change behaviors. 2) Advocacy programs and policy that incorporate media should emphasize the social aspects of the campaign, either by highlighting that other community members have taken part in the campaign or by screening them in social settings. 3) Target potentially harmful existing media content in addition to pushing new edutainment content. There are also additional avenues to explore regarding the lack of correlation between negative perceptions and intention to report.

Abstract submitted by:

Adanma Abalunam - Busara
Sarah Swanson - Busara