Harnessing Emotional Connections to Improve Financial Decisions: Evaluating the Impact of Financial Education in Mainstream Media

This paper exploits the emotional connections and viewer attentiveness of mainstream media to evaluate the economic impact of financial education messages on debt management delivered through a popular television soap opera in South Africa. The study uses a symmetric encouragement design to compare outcomes of individuals who were randomly assigned to watch a soap opera with financial messages, "Scandal!" to those of individuals who were invited to watch a similar soap opera without financial messages, "Muvhango." Both shows overlapped in evening primetime and had similar past viewership profiles. The financial storyline spanned two months and featured one of the leading characters of the show borrowing excessively and irresponsibly through hire-purchase, gambling, and ending up in financial distress; and eventually seeking help to find her way out. Two intermediate and one final follow-up surveys were conducted as part of the study. The analysis finds individuals assigned to watch Scandal had significantly higher financial knowledge of the issues highlighted in the soap opera storyline, in particular messages delivered by the leading character. On behavior, Scandal viewers were almost twice more likely to borrow from formal sources, less likely to engage in gambling, and less prone to enter hire purchase agreements. Messages promoting a national debt mediation helpline delivered by an external character did not sustain traction beyond immediate interest. Three qualitative focus groups highlight the importance of emotional connections with the leading character in motivating behavior change.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Zia, Bilal, Berg, Gunhild
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, D.C. 2013-04
Subjects:	ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS, ALCOHOLIC, ARREARS, ATM, AWARENESS CAMPAIGN, BANK ACCOUNT, BANK ACCOUNTS, BANKS, BEHAVIOR CHANGE, BEHAVIORAL EFFECTS, BORROWER, BORROWING, BORROWING MONEY, BROCHURES, BUDGETING, BULLETIN, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, CALL CENTER, CALL CENTERS, CAPTIVE AUDIENCE, CONSUMER, CONSUMER CREDIT, CONSUMER LOAN, CONSUMER PREFERENCES, CONSUMERS, CONTRACEPTION, CONTRIBUTION, CONTRIBUTIONS, CREDIT BUREAU, CREDIT COUNSELING, CREDIT PROVIDER, CREDIT PROVIDERS, CREDIT STATUS, DAY-TO-DAY MONEY MANAGEMENT, DEBT, DEBT MANAGEMENT, DEBTS, DELIVERY MECHANISMS, DEMAND FOR SAVING, DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILES, DEPOSIT, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DEVELOPMENT BANK, DEVELOPMENT POLICY, DISPOSABLE INCOME, DISSEMINATION, DIVORCE, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DRUG USE, DURABLE, DURABLE GOODS, EARNINGS, ECONOMIC ANALYSIS, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, EMERGENCIES, EMPLOYEE, ENROLLMENT, EQUALITY, EXPENDITURE, FAMILIES, FAMILY MEMBER, FAMILY PLANNING, FAMILY PLANNING METHODS, FAMILY SIZE, FEDERAL RESERVE, FEDERAL RESERVE BANK, FEMALE GENITAL CUTTING, FEMALE RESPONDENT, FEMALE RESPONDENTS, FERTILITY, FERTILITY RATES, FEWER CHILDREN, FINANCES, FINANCIAL ADVICE, FINANCIAL ADVISOR, FINANCIAL ADVISORY SERVICE, FINANCIAL BEHAVIOR, FINANCIAL BEHAVIORS, FINANCIAL CHOICES, FINANCIAL CONCEPTS, FINANCIAL DECISION, FINANCIAL DECISIONS, FINANCIAL DISTRESS, FINANCIAL EDUCATION, FINANCIAL EDUCATION PROGRAM, FINANCIAL EXPERIENCES, FINANCIAL INCENTIVE, FINANCIAL INCENTIVES, FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, FINANCIAL KNOWLEDGE, FINANCIAL LITERACY, FINANCIAL LITERACY CENTER, FINANCIAL LITERACY TEST, FINANCIAL LITERACY TRAINING, FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, FINANCIAL MATTERS, FINANCIAL MISMANAGEMENT, FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS, FINANCIAL OUTCOMES, FINANCIAL PLAN, FINANCIAL PROBLEMS, FINANCIAL PRODUCTS, FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, FINANCIAL SECTOR, FINANCIAL SERVICES, FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, FINANCIAL SITUATION, FINANCIAL SYSTEM, FINANCIAL TROUBLE, FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS, FOREIGN POLICY, FORMAL BANK, FORMAL BORROWING, FORMAL EDUCATION, FORMAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, GENDER, GENDER DIFFERENCE, GENDER DIFFERENCES, HIV, HOME IMPROVEMENT, HOMEOWNERSHIP, HOMEOWNERSHIP COUNSELING, HOUSEHOLD DEBT, HOUSEHOLD EXPENSE, HOUSEHOLDS, HUSBAND, HUSBANDS, IMMIGRANTS, INCOME GROUPS, INCOME LEVEL, INCOME LEVELS, INDEBTEDNESS, INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL ADVISERS, INFANT, INFANT MORTALITY, INFANT MORTALITY RATES, INFORMED FINANCIAL DECISIONS, INSTALLMENT, INSTALLMENTS, INTEREST CHARGES, INTERNATIONAL BANK, INTERNATIONAL FAMILY PLANNING, INTERNATIONAL FAMILY PLANNING PERSPECTIVES, KNOWLEDGE GAP, LIVING STANDARD, LIVING STANDARDS, LOAN CONTRACT, LOAN DEMAND, LOAN PAYMENTS, LOAN PERFORMANCE, LOAN PERIOD, LOAN SHARKS, LOAN TERMS, LOW INCOME, LOW INCOME GROUPS, LOW-INCOME, MALARIA, MARKETING, MASS MEDIA, MEDIA CAMPAIGNS, MINORITY, MINORITY GROUPS, MINORITY WOMEN, MONTHLY PAYMENTS, MORTGAGE, MOTHER, MULTIPLE LOANS, NATIONAL CREDIT, NATIONAL DEBT, NATIONAL TREASURY, ORAL REHYDRATION THERAPY, OUTREACH, PERSONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, POLICY DISCUSSIONS, POLICY MAKERS, POLICY RESEARCH, POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER, PREFERENCE FOR SONS, PRIVATIZATION, PROBABILITIES, PROBABILITY, PROGRESS, PUBLIC AWARENESS, PUBLIC CALL, PUBLIC HEALTH, PUBLIC SERVICE, PURCHASES, RADIO, RADIO PROGRAM, REAL ESTATE, REGRESSION ANALYSIS, REPAYMENT, REPAYMENT PERIOD, RESEARCH ASSISTANCE, RESERVE BANK, RETIREMENT, RULE OF LAW, SALARY, SALES, SAVINGS, SAVINGS PLAN, SAVINGS RATE, SAVINGS RATES, SECONDARY SCHOOL, SECONDARY SCHOOLING, SOCIAL CHANGE, SOCIAL MARKETING, SOCIAL NORMS, SOUND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, SOURCE OF INFORMATION, STATUS OF WOMEN, TEEN, TEEN PREGNANCY, TEENAGE PREGNANCIES, TELEVISION, TELEVISION NETWORK, TELEVISION SOAP OPERAS, TERMINATION, TOLERANCE, TRUST FUND, TV, UNEXPECTED EXPENSES, URBAN AREAS, VICIOUS CYCLE, VILLAGES, WOMAN, WORTH, YOUNG PEOPLE,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/04/17561771/harnessing-emotional-connections-improve-financial-decisions-evaluating-impact-financial-education-mainstream-media https://hdl.handle.net/10986/14445
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