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The Media or the Message? Experimental Evidence on Mass Media and Modern Contraception Uptake in Burkina Faso

Author

Listed:
  • Rachel Glennerster
  • Joanna Murray
  • Victor Pouliquen

Abstract

Mass media can spread information and disinformation, but its impact is hard to rigorously measure. Using a two-level randomized controlled trial covering 5 million people, we test both exposure to mass media (with 1,500 women receiving radios) and the impact of a high-quality, intensive 2.5 year, family planning mass media campaign in Burkina Faso (8 of 16 local radio stations received the campaign). We find women who received a radio in noncampaign areas reduced contraception use by 5.2 percentage points (p=0.039) and had more conservative gender attitudes. In contrast, modern contraceptive use rose 5.9 percentage points (p=0.046) in campaign areas and 5.8 percentage points (p=0.030) among those given radios in campaign areas. Births fell 10%. The campaign changed beliefs about contraception but not preferences, and encouraged existing users to use more consistently. We estimate the nationwide campaign scale-up led to 225,000 additional women using modern contraception, at a cost of US$7.7 per additional user.

Suggested Citation

  • Rachel Glennerster & Joanna Murray & Victor Pouliquen, 2021. "The Media or the Message? Experimental Evidence on Mass Media and Modern Contraception Uptake in Burkina Faso," CSAE Working Paper Series 2021-04, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    • Handle: RePEc:csa:wpaper:2021-04
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    File URL: https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:a41bd05f-ed71-4001-8333-0f97b14d68a8
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Céline Zipfel, 2022. "The demand side of Africa's demographic transition: desired fertility, wealth, and jobs," STICERD - Economic Organisation and Public Policy Discussion Papers Series 71, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE.
    2. Rachel Cassidy & Anaya Dam & Wendy Janssens & Umair Kiani & Karlijn Morsink, 2022. "Father of the Bride, or Steel Magnolias? Targeting men, women or both to reduce child marriage," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 22-087/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    3. Ada Gonzalez-Torres, 2022. "Local Media and the Shaping of Social Norms: Evidence from the Ebola outbreak," Papers 2210.15946, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2023.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mass Media Campaign; Radio; Modern Contraception; Family Planning; RCT.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media

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