TV, TEDx, and Tweets: Measuring the Impacts of a Multi-Pronged Edutainment Program in the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan

The evidence so far is mixed as to whether educational entertainment (or “edutainment”) can create sustainable changes in financial attitudes and behaviors, and few studies have tested such hypotheses in Central Asia. This paper utilizes a genetic matching algorithm to estimate the impact of three edutainment interventions in the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan: a television series, a TEDx-style in-person speaker event, and an interactive social media video. The study randomly selected 2,187 respondents from 14 cities across the two countries to participate. A random subset of respondents was sent text messages encouraging them to view the three edutainment interventions, which were also disseminated nationally in the respective countries. Using a midline survey conducted a few weeks after concluding the campaign in both countries, and an endline survey three months later, the study measured the immediate effects of the campaign as well as those that lasted into the medium term. The findings show broad impacts in the form of account ownership, savings habits, spending habits, and personal beliefs. Treated respondents were more likely to open accounts at formal financial institutions, especially e-wallets. Treated respondents also increased their savings balance using these formal accounts, and it was observed that these savings were sourced primarily from their informal savings balances. While some of these effects faded by endline, markers of account usage (for example, transactions and likelihood of saving) persisted even months after participation in the campaign. Moreover, parti cipation in the campaign led to increased awareness of the societal expectations responsible for women’s financial disenfranchisement and undesired financial behavior among youths. Generally speaking, however, the findings did not indicate a change in the degree of agreement with these norms as a result of the campaign. The study suggests that edutainment campaigns can be used to create lasting effects on measures of financial formalization and awareness of social norms.