Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP16492
Authors: Alex Armand; Britta Augsburg; Antonella Bancalari; Kalyan Kumar Kameshwara
Abstract: We study how social proximity between the sender and the receiver of information shapes the effectiveness of preventive health campaigns. Focusing on shared religious affiliation as a signal of proximity, we implemented a field experiment during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in two major Indian cities characterized by Hindu-Muslim tensions. We randomly allocated a representative sample of slum residents to receive either "doctor messages" consisting of voice messages promoting recommended practices to prevent virus transmission or uninformative control messages on their mobile phones. The messages, introduced by a local citizen (the sender), were cross-randomized to commence with a greeting signaling either a Hindu or a Muslim identity, thereby manipulating the religion concordance between the sender and receiver. As compared to control messages, doctor messages are effective at improving compliance with recommended practices. However, the impact of these messages is contingent on the presence of religion concordance. In instances of concordance, the take-up of doctor messages is larger, and the intervention demonstrates efficacy in establishing a protective barrier against misinformation related to preventive practices.
Keywords: health; information; religion; india; covid19
JEL Codes: C93; D91; I12; I15; O12
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| doctor messages (I11) | compliance with recommended practices (L42) |
| religion concordance (Z12) | compliance with recommended practices (L42) |
| doctor messages (I11) | beliefs in non-evidence-based practices (I00) |
| religion concordance (Z12) | beliefs in ingroup misinformation (C92) |
| doctor messages (I11) | misinformation shared by outgroup citizens (D72) |