Should We Use Entertainment Media to Shape Norms and Behaviors at Scale?

"Is engagement in behavior change through partnerships with entertainment media a cost-effective way to improve attitudes and behaviors at scale? What are the ethical concerns of changing cultures and norms? What contributions can we make to the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDG) targets?"

The World Bank (WB)'s Development Impact Evaluation (DIME) department has been testing use of mass entertainment media in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia to change social norms and behaviour  for better development outcomes. This video shares the proceedings of a DIME event that aimed at increasing awareness about the potential of using edutainment to reach the SDGs and exploring whether and how the approach can be scaled.

The WB explains that people are biologically "wired" to remember and relate to experiential stories - much more so than abstract concepts - and impact evaluations are showing they have high efficacy in shifting social norms and behaviours compared with less emotive and relatable content. DIME's existing impact evaluation shows the cost effectiveness and scalability of the approach, and more impact evaluations by DIME are underway. For example, in Nigeria, DIME found that MTV Shuga, a TV drama broadcast in all Sub Saharan countries, improved viewers' HIV knowledge and attitudes towards HIV-positive people after 8 months of watching this show. (Impact was found to be greatest for viewers who were most fully immersed and identified most with the characters. Traditional formats such as flyers, billboards, and manuals are unlikely to trigger these narrative mediators, according to the researchers.) (See Related Summaries, below.)

Despite this type of evidence and the potential of entertaining media (e.g., television, movies, radio, social media, and video games) to accelerate and scale influence on billions, use of mass entertainment in the development context has remained relatively limited. Those gathered at the October 29 2019 event - the proceedings of which may be viewed in the video above - were tasked with question of: "Why?"

Structured as a "SmackDown" (akin to a wrestling bout), the debate featured WB senior management (heads of health, gender, and communications sections), as well as mass entertainment media leaders from MTV, Independent Television Service (ITVS), and Impact(Ed) International (formerly Discovery Learning Alliance). Reflective of the event's makeup, participants stressed that systematic use of entertainment media in WB projects will require strong partnerships with edutainment experts. While working with social media and other online platforms, however, the WB needs to be careful about whom to partner with, as data and privacy protections may be thin.

Participants offered suggestions to scale up this work in developing countries. In addition to working to overcome obstacles such as cultural accountability and distribution barriers, they recommend holding awards ceremonies - a kind of "Development Oscars" - to bridge the gap between the development field and the Hollywoods, Bollywoods, and Nollywoods of the world. Such events could bring more talent to the fore and create momentum for the production of edutainment movies and documentaries that are not expected to be financially profitable.

Describing edutainment as communication approach that should be considered central to the SDG toolkit, participants articulated a call to action to shift some of the behaviour change investments in traditional formats to edutainment. Specifically, it was proposed that 1% of development investments be dedicated to edutainment interventions - though a more realistic goal may be 1% of behaviour change investments, participants acknowledged.