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Texts Don’t Nudge: An Adaptive Trial to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19 in India

Author

Listed:
  • Girija Bahety

    (Tufts University, Department of Economics and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy)

  • Sebastian Bauhoff

    (Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and Center for Global Development)

  • Dev Patel

    (Harvard University, Department of Economics)

  • James Potter

    (Harvard School of Public Health)

Abstract

We conduct an adaptive randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact of a SMS-based information campaign on the adoption of social distancing and handwashing in rural Bihar, India, six months into the COVID-19 pandemic. We test 10 arms that vary in delivery timing and message framing, changing content to highlight gains or losses for either one’s own family or community. We identify the optimal treatment separately for each targeted behavior by adaptively allocating shares across arms over 10 experimental rounds using exploration sampling (Kasy and Sautmann, 2021). Based on phone surveys with nearly 4,000 households and using several elicitation methods, we do not find evidence of impact on knowledge or adoption of preventive health behavior, and our confidence intervals cannot rule out positive effects as large as 5.5 percentage points, or 16 percent. Our results suggest that SMS-based information campaigns may have limited efficacy after the initial phase of a pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Girija Bahety & Sebastian Bauhoff & Dev Patel & James Potter, 2021. "Texts Don’t Nudge: An Adaptive Trial to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19 in India," Working Papers 585, Center for Global Development.
    • Handle: RePEc:cgd:wpaper:585
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    Cited by:

    1. Michele DI MAIO & Francesco FASANI & Valerio Leone SCIABOLAZZA & Vasco MOLINI, 2024. "Facing displacement and a global pandemic: evidence from a fragile state," JODE - Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 90(3), pages 460-480, September.
    2. Shehryar Munir & Farah Said & Umar Taj & Maida Zafar, 2022. "Digital 'nudges' to increase childhood vaccination compliance: Evidence from Pakistan," Papers 2209.06624, arXiv.org.
    3. Islam, Asad & Kusnadi, Gita & Rezki, Jahen & Sim, Armand & van Empel, Giovanni & Vlassopoulos, Michael & Zenou, Yves, 2024. "Addressing vaccine hesitancy using local ambassadors: A randomized controlled trial in Indonesia," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    4. Lenel, Friederike & Priebe, Jan & Satriawan, Elan & Syamsulhakim, Ekki, 2022. "Can mHealth campaigns improve CCT outcomes? Experimental evidence from sms-nudges in Indonesia," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    5. Carney, Kevin & Rosenzweig, Leah R. & Wong, Wendy N. & Akech, Florence & Otieno, James & Maffioli, Elisa M., 2025. "Can SMS interventions increase vaccination? Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    6. Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak & Edward Miguel, 2022. "The Economics of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Poor Countries," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 14(1), pages 253-285, August.
    7. Esposito Acosta,Bruno Nicola & Sautmann,Anja, 2022. "Adaptive Experiments for Policy Choice : Phone Calls for Home Reading in Kenya," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10098, The World Bank.
    8. Allen, James & Mahumane, Arlete & Riddell, James & Rosenblat, Tanya & Yang, Dean & Yu, Hang, 2022. "Teaching and incentives: Substitutes or complements?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    9. Albornoz, Facundo & Bottan, Nicolas & Cruces, Guillermo & Hoffmann, Bridget & Lombardi, María, 2024. "Backlash against expert recommendations: Reactions to COVID-19 advice in Latin America," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    10. Ana Balsa & Cecilia Noboa & Patricia Triunfo, 2024. "Nudging healthy food choices through e‐messages in a supermarket," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(8), pages 1705-1725, August.
    11. Furbush, Ann M. & Josephson, Anna & Kilic, Talip & Michler, Jeffrey D., 2025. "Coping or hoping? Livelihood diversification and food insecurity in the COVID-19 pandemic," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D8 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development

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