IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jeeman/v86y2017icp141-159.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Seeing, believing, and behaving: Heterogeneous effects of an information intervention on household water treatment

Author

Listed:
  • Brown, Joe
  • Hamoudi, Amar
  • Jeuland, Marc
  • Turrini, Gina

Abstract

Providing information about environmental health risks only sometimes induces protective action. This raises questions about whether and how risk information is understood and acted upon, and how responses vary across contexts. To characterize such variation, we stratified a randomized experiment related to household water quality across two periurban areas in Cambodia. When we showed specific evidence of water contamination to lower-SES households who were initially more optimistic about water safety, they altered their beliefs about health risk and increased their demand for a treatment product. However, demand for the treatment product among higher and initially more pessimistic SES households did not change significantly. These findings highlight the importance of better understanding heterogeneity in the specific drivers of responses to health risk information.

Suggested Citation

  • Brown, Joe & Hamoudi, Amar & Jeuland, Marc & Turrini, Gina, 2017. "Seeing, believing, and behaving: Heterogeneous effects of an information intervention on household water treatment," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 141-159.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:86:y:2017:i:c:p:141-159
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2016.08.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0095069616302042
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jeem.2016.08.005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Kremer & Edward Miguel, 2007. "The Illusion of Sustainability," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(3), pages 1007-1065.
    2. Ferraro, Paul J. & Miranda, Juan José, 2013. "Heterogeneous treatment effects and mechanisms in information-based environmental policies: Evidence from a large-scale field experiment," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 356-379.
    3. Jill E. Luoto & David I. Levine & Jeff Albert, 2011. "Information and Persuasion Achieving Safe Water Behaviors in Kenya," Working Papers WR-885, RAND Corporation.
    4. Whittington, Dale & Jeuland, Marc & Barker, Kate & Yuen, Yvonne, 2012. "Setting Priorities, Targeting Subsidies among Water, Sanitation, and Preventive Health Interventions in Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(8), pages 1546-1568.
    5. Kremer, Michael R. & Karlan, D. S. & Hornbeck, Richard A. & Gine, X. & Duflo, E. & Pariente, W. & Null, C. & Miguel, E. & Devoto, F. & Crepon, B. & Banerjee, A. & Zwane, A. P. & Zinman, J. & Van Dusen, 2011. "Being Surveyed Can Change Later Behavior and Related Parameter Estimates," Scholarly Articles 11339433, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    6. Stefano DellaVigna & Matthew Gentzkow, 2010. "Persuasion: Empirical Evidence," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 2(1), pages 643-669, September.
    7. Subhrendu K. Pattanayak & Alexander Pfaff, 2009. "Behavior, Environment, and Health in Developing Countries: Evaluation and Valuation," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 1(1), pages 183-217, September.
    8. Jessica Cohen & Pascaline Dupas & Simone Schaner, 2015. "Price Subsidies, Diagnostic Tests, and Targeting of Malaria Treatment: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(2), pages 609-645, February.
    9. Hunt Allcott, 2015. "Site Selection Bias in Program Evaluation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 130(3), pages 1117-1165.
    10. Richard Anderson & Michael Grossman, 2009. "Health and the household," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 219-226, September.
    11. Alix Peterson Zwane & Michael Kremer, 2007. "What Works in Fighting Diarrheal Diseases in Developing Countries? A Critical Review," CID Working Papers 140, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    12. Dora L. Costa & Matthew E. Kahn, 2013. "Energy Conservation “Nudges” And Environmentalist Ideology: Evidence From A Randomized Residential Electricity Field Experiment," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 680-702, June.
    13. Deon Filmer & Lant Pritchett, 2001. "Estimating Wealth Effects Without Expenditure Data—Or Tears: An Application To Educational Enrollments In States Of India," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 38(1), pages 115-132, February.
    14. Grossman, Michael, 1972. "On the Concept of Health Capital and the Demand for Health," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 80(2), pages 223-255, March-Apr.
    15. Katherine L. Dickinson & Sumeet R. Patil & Subhrendu K. Pattanayak & Christine Poulos & Jui-Hen Yang, 2015. "Nature's Call: Impacts of Sanitation Choices in Orissa, India," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(1), pages 1-29.
    16. Allcott, Hunt, 2011. "Social norms and energy conservation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(9-10), pages 1082-1095, October.
    17. Michael A. Boozer & Tomas J. Philipson, 2000. "The Impact of Public Testing for Human Immunodeficiency Virus," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 35(3), pages 419-446.
    18. Jeuland, Marc & Orgill, Jennifer & Shaheed, Ameer & Revell, Geoff & Brown, Joe, 2016. "A matter of good taste: investigating preferences for in-house water treatment in peri-urban communities in Cambodia," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(3), pages 291-317, June.
    19. Paul J. Ferraro & Michael K. Price, 2013. "Using Nonpecuniary Strategies to Influence Behavior: Evidence from a Large-Scale Field Experiment," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(1), pages 64-73, March.
    20. Amrita Ahuja & Michael Kremer & Alix Peterson Zwane, 2010. "Providing Safe Water: Evidence from Randomized Evaluations," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 2(1), pages 237-256, October.
    21. Jalan, Jyotsna & Somanathan, E., 2008. "The importance of being informed: Experimental evidence on demand for environmental quality," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 14-28, August.
    22. Ashraf, Nava & Jack, B. Kelsey & Kamenica, Emir, 2013. "Information and subsidies: Complements or substitutes?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 133-139.
    23. Marc A Jeuland & David E Fuente & Semra Ozdemir & Maura C Allaire & Dale Whittington, 2013. "The Long-Term Dynamics of Mortality Benefits from Improved Water and Sanitation in Less Developed Countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(10), pages 1-16, October.
    24. Pascaline Dupas, 2009. "What Matters (and What Does Not) in Households' Decision to Invest in Malaria Prevention?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(2), pages 224-230, May.
    25. Stanislav Kolenikov & Gustavo Angeles, 2009. "Socioeconomic Status Measurement With Discrete Proxy Variables: Is Principal Component Analysis A Reliable Answer?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 55(1), pages 128-165, March.
    26. Jill Luoto & David I. Levine & Jeff Albert, 2011. "Information and Persuasion Achieving Safe Water Behaviors in Kenya," Working Papers 885, RAND Corporation.
    27. Delavande, Adeline & Giné, Xavier & McKenzie, David, 2011. "Measuring subjective expectations in developing countries: A critical review and new evidence," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 151-163, March.
    28. Allcott, Hunt, 2011. "Social norms and energy conservation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(9), pages 1082-1095.
    29. Sebastien Houde, Annika Todd, Anant Sudarshan, June A. Flora , and K. Carrie Armel, 2013. "Real-time Feedback and Electricity Consumption: A Field Experiment Assessing the Potential for Savings and Persistence," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1).
    30. Madajewicz, Malgosia & Pfaff, Alexander & van Geen, Alexander & Graziano, Joseph & Hussein, Iftikhar & Momotaj, Hasina & Sylvi, Roksana & Ahsan, Habibul, 2007. "Can information alone change behavior? Response to arsenic contamination of groundwater in Bangladesh," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 731-754, November.
    31. Balasubramanya, Soumya & Pfaff, Alexander & Bennear, Lori & Tarozzi, Alessandro & Ahmed, Kazi Matin & Schoenfeld, Amy & van Geen, Alexander, 2014. "Evolution of households' responses to the groundwater arsenic crisis in Bangladesh: information on environmental health risks can have increasing behavioral impact over time," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(5), pages 631-647, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sarah Wairimu Kariuki & Vivian Hoffmann, 2022. "Can information drive demand for safer food? Impact of brand‐specific recommendations and test results on product choice," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(3), pages 454-467, May.
    2. Aziz, Sonia & Boyle, Kevin & Akanda, Ali S. & Hanifi, M.A. & Pakhtigian, Emily L., 2022. "Early Warning Systems, Mobile Technology, and Cholera Aversion: Evidence from Rural Bangladesh," RFF Working Paper Series 22-24, Resources for the Future.
    3. Yokoo, Hide-Fumi & Arimura, Toshi H. & Chattopadhyay, Mriduchhanda & Katayama, Hajime, 2023. "Subjective risk belief function in the field: Evidence from cooking fuel choices and health in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    4. Christopher Cotton & Ardyn Nordstrom & Jordan Nanowski & Eric Richert, 2020. "Community Campaigns to Improve Attitudes towards Girls' Education Can Increase Math Scores and Enrollment," Working Paper 1426, Economics Department, Queen's University.
    5. Chattopadhyay, Mriduchhanda & Arimura, Toshi H. & Katayama, Hajime & Sakudo, Mari & Yokoo, Hide-Fumi, 2021. "Subjective probabilistic expectations, household air pollution, and health: Evidence from cooking fuel use patterns in West Bengal, India," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    6. Alexandra K. Shannon & Faraz Usmani & Subhrendu K. Pattanayak & Marc Jeuland, 2019. "The Price of Purity: Willingness to Pay for Air and Water Purification Technologies in Rajasthan, India," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 73(4), pages 1073-1100, August.
    7. Saraswat, Deepak, 2024. "Gender composition of children and sanitation behavior in India," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    8. Lei, Xiaoyan & Song, Guangxiang & Su, Xuejuan, 2021. "Information, Belief, and Health Behavior: Evidence from China," Working Papers 2021-9, University of Alberta, Department of Economics.
    9. Pakhtigian, Emily L. & Aziz, Sonia & Boyle, Kevin J. & Akanda, Ali S. & Hanifi, S.M.A., 2024. "Early warning systems, mobile technology, and cholera aversion: Evidence from rural Bangladesh," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    10. Hasan, Syed M. & Akram, Agha Ali & Jeuland, Marc, 2021. "Awareness of coping costs and willingness to pay for urban drinking water service: Evidence from Lahore, Pakistan," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    11. Jack, B. Kelsey, 2017. "Environmental economics in developing countries: An introduction to the special issue," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 1-7.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Szabó, Andrea & Ujhelyi, Gergely, 2015. "Reducing nonpayment for public utilities: Experimental evidence from South Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 20-31.
    2. Barnwal, Prabhat & van Geen, Alexander & von der Goltz, Jan & Singh, Chander Kumar, 2017. "Demand for environmental quality information and household response: Evidence from well-water arsenic testing," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 160-192.
    3. Andor, Mark A. & Gerster, Andreas & Peters, Jörg & Schmidt, Christoph M., 2020. "Social Norms and Energy Conservation Beyond the US," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    4. Cattaneo, Cristina & D’Adda, Giovanna & Tavoni, Massimo & Bonan, Jacopo, 2019. "Can We Make Social Information Programs More Effective? The Role of Identity and Values," RFF Working Paper Series 19-21, Resources for the Future.
    5. Bonan, Jacopo & Battiston, Pietro & Bleck, Jaimie & LeMay-Boucher, Philippe & Pareglio, Stefano & Sarr, Bassirou & Tavoni, Massimo, 2021. "Social interaction and technology adoption: Experimental evidence from improved cookstoves in Mali," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    6. Andrea Szabo & Gergely Ujhelyi, 2014. "Can Information Reduce Nonpayment for Public Utilities? Experimental Evidence from South Africa," Working Papers 2014-114-31, Department of Economics, University of Houston.
    7. Daniel A. Brent & Corey Lott & Michael Taylor & Joseph Cook & Kimberly Rollins & Shawn Stoddard, 2020. "What Causes Heterogeneous Responses to Social Comparison Messages for Water Conservation?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 77(3), pages 503-537, November.
    8. Jessoe, Katrina, 2013. "Improved source, improved quality? Demand for drinking water quality in rural India," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 460-475.
    9. Pascaline Dupas & Edward Miguel, 2016. "Impacts and Determinants of Health Levels in Low-Income Countries," NBER Working Papers 22235, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Tonke, Sebastian, 2020. "Imperfect Procedural Knowledge: Evidence from a Field Experiment to Encourage Water Conservation," VfS Annual Conference 2020 (Virtual Conference): Gender Economics 224536, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    11. Alec Brandon & Paul Ferraro & John List & Robert Metcalfe & Michael Price & Florian Rundhammer, 2017. "Do the effects of social nudges persist? Theory and evidence from 38 natural field experiments," Natural Field Experiments 00598, The Field Experiments Website.
    12. Alec Brandon & Paul J. Ferraro & John A. List & Robert D. Metcalfe & Michael K. Price & Florian Rundhammer, 2017. "Do The Effects of Nudges Persist? Theory and Evidence from 38 Natural Field Experiments," NBER Working Papers 23277, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Bonan, Jacopo & Cattaneo, Cristina & d’Adda, Giovanna & Tavoni, Massimo, 2021. "Can social information programs be more effective? The role of environmental identity for energy conservation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    14. Mekonnen, Alemu & Hassen, Sied & Jaime, Marcela & Toman, Michael & Zhang, Xiao-Bing, 2023. "The effect of information and subsidy on adoption of solar lanterns: An application of the BDM bidding mechanism in rural Ethiopia," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    15. Meredith, Jennifer & Robinson, Jonathan & Walker, Sarah & Wydick, Bruce, 2013. "Keeping the doctor away: Experimental evidence on investment in preventative health products," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 196-210.
    16. Andor, Mark A. & Gerster, Andreas & Peters, Jörg, 2022. "Information campaigns for residential energy conservation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    17. John A. List & Robert D. Metcalfe & Michael K. Price & Florian Rundhammer, 2017. "Harnessing Policy Complementarities to Conserve Energy: Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment," NBER Working Papers 23355, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Krämer, Marion & Kumar, Santosh & Vollmer, Sebastian, 2021. "Anemia, diet, and cognitive development: Impact of health information on diet quality and child nutrition in rural India," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 495-523.
    19. Asmare, Fissha & Jaraitė, Jūratė & Kažukauskas, Andrius, 2021. "The effect of descriptive information provision on electricity consumption: Experimental evidence from Lithuania," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    20. Andor, Mark A. & Fels, Katja M., 2018. "Behavioral Economics and Energy Conservation – A Systematic Review of Non-price Interventions and Their Causal Effects," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 178-210.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    C93; D10; I12; I15; O13; Q53; Health risk; Health-seeking behavior; Water-borne disease; Environmental health; Risk information; Randomized intervention; Cambodia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:86:y:2017:i:c:p:141-159. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622870 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.