An entertainment serial measurably boosted national contraceptive sales and family-planning visits

Evidence

Compared with nonviewers, heavy viewers of the dramatic serial were more likely to link lower childbearing to social, economic, and psychological benefits. They also developed a more positive attitude toward helping others plan their families (Institute for Communication Research, 1981). Records from family-planning centers revealed a 32% increase in the number of new contraceptive users over the number for the previous year, before the series was televised. As shown in Figure 8.4, national sales of contraceptives changed little in the preceding two baseline years but increased sharply by 23% in the year the program was broadcast. People reported that the televised serial was the impetus for consulting the centers. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2857

Categorization

Category: Factual Claims

• XREF: Connects to Bandura’s own modeling/observational-learning framework and to entertainment-education theory (Miguel Sabido’s Mexico Soap opera work), amplifying this chapter’s theme of mass media as a behavioral-change agent.
• SHARE: A concrete 23%-in-a-year contraceptive sales spike caused by a TV drama is perfect fodder for a media-economics or public-health contact.

Related

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• Kenyan radio drama raised contraception use by 58 percent. (similarity 0.83)
• Entertainment serials durably change social behavior across diverse global cultures (similarity 0.82)
• Contraceptive underuse in Tanzania was motivational, not informational (similarity 0.81)
• Male status concerns and machismo drive resistance to contraception (similarity 0.81)
• Contraceptive use stays low even with full access and knowledge (similarity 0.80)
• Radio serial dramas can model family planning behaviors for underserved populations (similarity 0.79)
• A TV serial drama triggered collective action that nearly quadrupled girls’ school enrollment (similarity 0.79)