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Nudging by Beauty:Improving Women's Health Decisions and Well-Being in the Field

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  • Hisaki KONO
  • Minhaj MAHMUD
  • Yasuyuki SAWADA
  • Nahoko MITSUYAMA
  • Tomomi TANAKA

Abstract

Health interventions often fail to influence behavior because they overlook the choice architecture. We assess a unique intervention targeting women in rural Bangladesh, which emphasized health, hygiene, and nutrition’s role in skin beauty. This intervention aimed to attract the attention of women, who tend to be beauty-conscious. Using the high-dimensional covariate balancing propensity score method, we find significant impacts on beauty, health outcomes, social relationships, and subjective well-being. Our analysis suggests the intervention’s effectiveness is unlikely due to omitted variable bias. Using meta-analysis, we highlight its effectiveness in leveraging beauty salience compared with existing health and hygiene programs.

Suggested Citation

  • Hisaki KONO & Minhaj MAHMUD & Yasuyuki SAWADA & Nahoko MITSUYAMA & Tomomi TANAKA, 2024. "Nudging by Beauty:Improving Women's Health Decisions and Well-Being in the Field," Discussion papers e-23-009, Graduate School of Economics , Kyoto University.
    • Handle: RePEc:kue:epaper:e-23-009
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • D9 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics

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