the changelog
Volume 1, Issue 1 | May 2022
A WINDOW INTO OUR WORK
The Centre for Social and Behaviour Change is a research centre at Ashoka University dedicated to expanding behaviour science in India and amplifying its role in building public policies that directly impact society. We’re economists, designers, neuroscientists, psychologists, and sociologists excited about understanding behaviour and decision-making, and using what we know to benefit people and communities in need.
This newsletter is a window into our work — our projects, partnerships, and publications that are making a difference in behaviour science and policy in India. We’ve also included a section with reading/listening/watching/learning resources that have caught our interest recently — enjoy!
PROJECTS
ENGAGING MEN IN FAMILY PLANNING, UTTAR PRADESH
In partnership with the Government of UP, the UP TSU, ICRW, IHAT and the Population Council, CSBC is creating an urgent large-scale intervention to promote family planning that engages men. Together with Applied Wonder, we have developed social and behaviour change communication (SBCC) material and piloted it in Aligarh and Fatehpur. These materials include visual, audio, and iconographic content in Hindi that will be collated into a comprehensive kit that can be used by government health functionaries.
STRENGTHENING ADHERENCE TO EARLY INITIATION OF BREASTFEEDING AND EXCLUSIVE BREASTFEEDING
Our Behavioural Design & Impact Lab conducted a diagnostic to understand the behavioural barriers that lead to non-adherence to Early Initiation of Breastfeeding (EIBF) and Exclusive Breastfeeding (EBF). Some barriers we identified are low value-perception of colostrum, that supplements are incorrectly believed to positively impact the child’s health, supplements being micro-dosed and not seen as ‘feed’, separation of responsibility of breastfeeding and agency in its decision-making, and grandmothers reinforcing prevalent social norms around supplementation. We have designed interventions to address these barriers, and these interventions have been prototyped in the field with key actors like pregnant and lactating mothers, grandmothers, and front-line health workers. The next phase of this project will involve an evaluation of the final interventions.
IDENTIFYING AND ADDRESSING VACCINE HESITANCY USING ‘PERSONAS’, UTTAR PRADESH
Using data from the COVID-19 Trends and Impact Survey (CTIS) conducted by the University of Maryland, we identified seven classes of vaccine hesitancy personas of Facebook users in India and assessed the impact of demographic covariates on hesitancy. We then used the main behavioural and attitudinal determinants of each persona to recommend appropriate behavioural interventions to reduce hesitancy. Read more about our results here.
NEW PARTNERSHIPS
CSBC signed an MoU with Tata Trusts for their work on the Jal Jeevan Mission. We will identify and use behaviour change strategies within the program and support the NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. Learn more about what we’ve done so far here.
CSBC also signed an MoU with Dvara Health Finance to provide behavioural science-backed insights and design experiments that test Dvara’s interventions related to increasing the access and use of family healthcare plans and encouraging the uptake of healthcare financing options.
PAST EVENTS
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND DIGITAL FINANCIAL BEHAVIOUR
We hosted a panel discussion moderated by Dr Pavan Mamidi, Director, CSBC, on Emerging Technologies and Digital Financial Behaviour. Our chief guest was Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog. Panellists included Anna Roy and Dr Mudit Kapoor. Read more.
UN YOUNG CHANGEMAKERS CONCLAVE (UNYCC) 2022
Diksha Radhakrishnan, Deputy Director, CSBC, and Abhishek Bachchan discussed how story-telling can be leveraged as one of the seven superpowers to drive sustainable behaviour change at the UNYCCC 2022, hosted by X Billion Skills Lab. Read more.
ASHOKAX COURSE: HOW TO CHANGE A LIFE
We held an in-person gathering to congratulate the first graduating cohort of AshokaX’s online certificate programme How to Change a Life, taught by behavioural scientists at CSBC. Read more.
REPORT LAUNCH: STORIES OF CHANGE
CSBC launched a report that features 30 case studies of innovations that apply behavioural science across five thematic areas in Aspirational Districts. Read more.
PUBLICATIONS
COVID-19: Identifying and Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy Using ‘Personas’.
By Ishank Daral & Dr Sneha Shashidhara
Article
Stories of Change
Report
Social Norms Programming in South Asia: A Landscape Analysis
By Rangoli Gupta & Shweta Bankar
Report
BORROWED WISDOM
Recommended reading/listening/watching/learning
Since this is our first issue, here is an article that breaks down the differences between behavioural science, behavioural economics, and behaviour change. This infographic illustrates the evolution of behavioural science. Finally, in this podcast, Professor Richard Thaler and Professor Cass Sunstein discuss how ‘nudge’ has evolved over the last decade and where the science of human behaviour is headed next. Bonus: the preface to Nudge: The Final Edition.
Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook for more, and sign up for our newsletter here.
