Inbound engagement: leveraging peer networks
IND -21 -1464Last modified on July 28th, 2025 at 1:59 am
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Abstract
PxD operates a free agriculture information service delivered over mobile phones, in collaboration with a State Government Department of Agriculture in Odisha using a two-way IVR platform with "outbound" push calls and "inbound" hotline service.
The objective of this A/B test is to understand whether existing successful users of the inbound service, defined as users that have asked a valid, agricultural question in the last six months, can be leveraged to increase engagement with the service among their self-identified peer networks. Further, we want to understand whether certain types of users, for example those that have called in and recorded multiple questions, will be more likely to successfully engage their peer group. We also plan to test whether providing incentives, material or non-material, to the user increases the likelihood of engagement. This A/B test is part of a series of experiments to increase inbound engagement, and will directly inform the use of peer groups in the upcoming Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) of 2021. -
Status
Discontinued
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Start date
Q1 Jan 2021
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Experiment Location
India
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Partner Organization
Government of Odisha
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Agricultural season
Rabi
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Experiment type
A/B test
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Sample frame / target population
Farmers who have recorded a question on the inbound service
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Sample size
1,200
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Outcome type
Service engagement, Information sharing
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Mode of data collection
PxD administrative data, Phone survey
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Research question(s)/hypotheses
Can we leverage successful users of the IVR service in order to increase the number of farmers who ask a valid question?
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Research theme
Social learning
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Research design notes
There are four treatment arms:
*T0 – Control
*T1 – Enroll only: This group will receive an initial invitation and instructions to enroll and support farmers over a three-month period. They will not receive any further encouragement.
*T2 – Public, symbolic reward: At the end of the 3-month period, farmers will receive a certificate from the service with their name and the number of their peers they helped. They will be told about this reward during the initial call. They will also receive additional encouragement messages following the enrollment period and at the end of each week or month.
* T3 – Private, material reward: At the end of the 3-month period, farmers will receive a cash reward in the form of top-up on their phones. They will be told about this reward system during the initial call. For each of their peers who calls in and records a question, they will receive Rs. 10. The maximum they can earn is Rs. 300 (so 30 peers calling in). They will also receive additional encouragement messages following the enrollment period and at the end of each week or month.Successful users of the service will be randomly allocated to a treatment, stratified by: i) number of valid questions asked by successful users; ii) penetration rate per panchayat (low, medium, high), calculated by total number of service users divided by the number of agricultural labours according to the Census; and iii) gender of the successful user.
We will conduct a pilot to test key assumptions.