ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION

(EE)Prof.Dr.Aung Tun

Thet

Based on World Bank WDR 2015, Spotlight 2

MASS MEDIA

Source of sustained change

Means of promoting development

ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION (EE) Opportunity to affect:

Mental models of individual viewers

Mental models accepted by wider society

Context for collective action

THEORY BEHIND ENTERTAINMENT

EDUCATION

ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION (EE) Entertainment media incorporate educational message or information of value to audience

Increase audience members’ knowledge about issues

Create favorable attitudes

Change overt behavior

ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION (EE) Entertainment media incorporate educational message or information of value to audience

Increase audience members’ knowledge about issue

Create favorable attitudes

Change behavior

ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION (EE) Psychologist Albert Bandura - pioneer in social cognitive theory

Children who viewed violent images on television demonstrated more aggressive behavior than those who viewed neutral content

ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION (EE) Observing performance of others

People acquire:

Patterns of behavior

Framework about what behaviors mean

ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION (EE) Focused on narratives - dramas and soap operas

Narrative or story format help motivate change in audience

ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION (EE) Show

Positive role models who experience “rewards”

Negative role models who are “punished”

Third type of role model - transitional character - gradually moves from negative to positive behaviors during story

ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION (EE) Narratives guide audience members through change process

Developing confidence in own abilities (self-efficacy) through association with desirable characters

Facilitate behavior change

Effective when people swept up in narrative, or experience

ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION (EE) When individuals absorbed in narrative

Less critical and defensive

More open to persuasion

ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION (EE) When individuals absorbed in narrative

Less critical and defensive

More open to persuasion

ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION (EE) Identification with specific character involves temporary loss of self

Adoption of character’s perspective

Persuasive messages easily accepted

ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION (EE) People find entertainment more enjoyable when transported beyond themselves and identify with character

Affected by social context

ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION (EE) People find entertainment more enjoyable when transported beyond themselves and identify with character

Affected by social context

ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION (EE) Aspirational videos shown in Ethiopia more effective when more people in community exposed to content

In the United States teens who watched with parent or other trusted adult, comedy that included information on contraception reported greater gains in knowledge

Stimulated discussion which provided further information

EVIDENCE OF IMPACT

ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION (EE) Positive impacts found:

In-script partnership with South African soap operas relating to financial attitudes and behaviors

Videos shown in Ethiopia to induce future-oriented investments such as education for children

Radio drama in Rwanda improved perceptions of social norms such as cooperation and willingness to engage in dialogue

ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION (EE) In Brazil, access to TV Globo network dominated by soap operas with independent female characters with few, or even no children linked to country’s rapid drop in fertility

Viewing soap operas had effect equal to 1.6 years of additional education

ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION (EE) In India access to cable television reduced fertility and son preference and increased women’s autonomy

Radio program in Tanzania linked to significant increase in condom use

In United States reality TV show linked to significant drop in teen pregnancy

BUSINESS MODELS FOR

ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION

ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION (EE) In Latin America private television channels producing commercially successful tele-novelas with social content

In most other developing country markets main approach through public sector or donor-funded productions

ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION (EE) Successful examples:

Hum Log, Kalyani, and Taru in India

Meena in South Asia

Twende na Wakati in Tanzania

ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION (EE) Many markets saturated with media

Challenging to break through and create impact with single show

ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION (EE) New approaches focus on partnerships between the public and private sectors and civil society (PPP) to:

Increase audience size

Overcome high cost of media production

Strengthen social impact

ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION (EE) Happening at firm level in media companies committed to social action:

Well Told Story in Kenya

Participant Media in United States

ENTERTAINMENT EDUCATION (EE) NGOs seek to bridge gap between content experts in academia or government and media producers

Variety of methods: intensive collaboration on scripts to soft-touch approaches such as after-hours “salons”