A Comparison of Interactive Narrative and Static Mobile Phone Interventions in Uganda

Summary:

Narratives have been more effective than non-narrative interventions in print and film, and interactivity has increased social change intervention effectiveness in online contexts. However, more research is necessary to establish whether the same holds true for basic mobile phones in developing country contexts. We hypothesized that: H1) callers in the interactive, narrative condition will have greater interest in and understanding of a message than those in the static condition; H2) callers in the interactive narrative condition will have higher knowledge than those in the static or control condition; and H3) callers in the interactive, narrative condition will have higher self-efficacy than those in the static or control condition. We employed an experimental design with three different experimental conditions: a control condition; an interactive, narrative mobile phone condition; and an equivalent mobile phone condition that included the same information about growing chillies without interactive or narrative elements. There was no difference in interest or understanding of the message (H1) or self-efficacy (H3) among conditions. However, those in the interactive, narrative phone condition had higher knowledge than those in the static or control condition. Interactivity may be an especially important element for increasing learning.

Background/Objectives

Narratives have been more effective than non-narrative interventions in print and film; however, more research is necessary to establish whether the same holds true for basic mobile phones in developing country contexts. We hypothesized that: H1) callers in the interactive, narrative condition will have greater interest in and understanding of a message than those in the static condition; H2) callers in the interactive narrative condition will have higher knowledge than those in the static or control condition; and H3) callers in the interactive, narrative condition will have higher self-efficacy than those in the static or control condition.

Description Of Intervention And/or Methods/Design

We employed an experimental design with three different experimental conditions: a control condition; an interactive, narrative mobile phone condition; and an equivalent mobile phone condition that included the same information about growing chillies without interactive or narrative elements. A population of 50,164 mobile phone users who spoke Luganda were randomized to condition. Participants in the two mobile phone conditions were sent promotions encouraging them to call for information on growing chillies that matched their assigned condition. After they called, they were sent a post-test survey about planting and growing chillies as well as their self-efficacy and interest in the message. Participants assigned to the control condition did not receive a promotion but were surveyed. Survey follow-ups continued until the minimum of 250 participants per condition was achieved. The final sample was 347 control participants, 282 interactive narrative participants, and 271 non-interactive, non-narrative participants.

Results/Lessons Learned

There was no statistically significant difference in interest between participants in the interactive, narrative condition and participants in the static condition, F(1/389) = 0.63, p = .43. Likewise, participants did not differ in their reports of whether it was hard to make sense of what was going on in the messages, F(1/389) = 0.85, p = .36. In contrast, knowledge statistically significantly differed by condition, F(2/1172) = 6.98, p = .001 A post-hoc comparison with a Bonferroni adjustment revealed that the interactive, narrative group answered significantly more questions correctly than the control group or the static group. The latter two groups did not differ significantly from each other. For the overall self-efficacy scale, there was no statistically significant difference among any of the three conditions (F(2/992) = 0.33, p = .72).

Discussion/Implications For The Field

This study used a novel design that employed experimental randomization while allowing participants to opt-in to participate by responding to message promotions. Given this design, all participants in the phone conditions were interested in the information; moreover, they did not differ in how well they understood the information. In this field experiment, there was evidence suggesting the possibility for participants to learn more from and interactive, narrative than from static content that is simply read over the phone. However, there was no comparable evidence of impact in self-efficacy. Interactivity may be an especially important element for increasing learning.

Abstract submitted by: 

Lauren Frank - Portland State University

Paul Falzone - Peripheral Vision International (PVI)

Lizzie Goodfriend - Peripheral Vision International (PVI)