Gain- versus Loss-Framing for Opting-in to Cropping Series Messages
KEN -21 -1631Last modified on December 19th, 2025 at 10:39 am
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Abstract
PxD operates the MoA-INFO platform in collaboration with Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture to provide free agricultural recommendations to farmers via SMS messages. In this experiment, we aim to test the relative effectiveness of gain- versus loss-framed messages in the cropping series (CS) opt-in invitation messages for long rainy season 2021 (LR 2021). The gain framing emphasized “improving harvests” while the loss framing emphasized “risking crop loss”.
We find that, when compared to the neutral invitation message, the loss-framed message significantly decreased the likelihood of farmers opting-in to the CS, by nearly 7%. This suggests that farmers reacted strongly against a perceived risk of loss. There was no statistically significant difference in opt-in rates between the neutral and gain-framed messages. -
Status
Completed
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Start date
Q1 Feb 2021
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End date
Q1 Mar 2021
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Experiment Location
Kenya
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Partner Organization
Kenya Ministry of Agriculture
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Agricultural season
Long Rains
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Experiment type
A/B test
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Sample frame / target population
MoA-INFO users yet to opt-in to the LR2021 cropping series and yet to provide us with location information
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Sample size
12,738
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Outcome type
Beliefs or perceptions, Service engagement
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Mode of data collection
PxD administrative data
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Research question(s)
Does including “potential gains” and “potential losses” in opt-in invitation messages affect the proportion of farmers who opt-in to the LR 2021 CS?
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Research theme
Message framing
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Research Design
The sample frame comprised 12,738 farmers who had not yet opted-in to the LR 2021 CS and had not provided location information. Farmers were individually randomized into three treatment arms with approximately equal probability. No stratification was applied during randomization.
The intervention tested the effect of message framing on opt-in rates. Farmers were assigned to receive one of three SMS invitation messages. Two versions of invitation messages had an element of “potential benefits” structured as loss framed and gain framed, while the third version was neutrally framed:
Neutral-framed group (n = 4,291): “Select up to two crops to receive advice about this season. Reply A to choose crops to receive regular messages.”
Gain-framed group (n = 4,209): “Improve your harvests this season by getting advice about two crops. Reply A to choose crops to receive regular messages.”
Loss-framed group (n = 4,238): “You risk suffering crop loss this season if you do not cultivate them with appropriate techniques. Reply A to choose crops to receive expert cropping advice.”
We used administrative data of opt-in responses to measure whether the different framings of the opt-in invitation affect farmers’ likelihood of subscribing to advisory content.
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Results
When compared to the neutral invitation message, the loss-framed invitation message significantly decreased the likelihood of farmers opting-in to the CS, by almost 7% (2 percentage points less than the control mean of 30% opt-in rate, statistically significant with p < 0.05). This suggests that farmers reacted strongly against a perceived risk of loss. There is no statistically significant difference between the neutral invitation message and the gain-framed invitation message.