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Menu Access Rates for Different Menu Reminder Messages
KEN -18 -1397Last modified on November 6th, 2025 at 5:26 pm
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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.
PxD tested whether reminder messages—either general or content-specific—increase menu access rates, and which reminder message generates the most interest. A randomly selected group of platform users was sent a reminder with general or content-specific messages to access the menu. Farmers who received the messages were between 2 and 6 percentage points (pp) more likely to access the menu, with the message about the origins of Fall Armyworm (FAW) increasing the likelihood the most. -
Status
Completed
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Start date
Q3 Jul 2018
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End date
Q3 Aug 2018
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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 platform users (farmers)
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Sample size
17,833
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Outcome type
Service engagement
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Mode of data collection
PxD administrative data
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Research question(s)
Are farmers more likely to access the FAW menu when sent a general reminder or a topic-specific reminder?
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Research theme
Communication technology, Message timing and frequency
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Research Design
The sample consisted of 17,873 MoA-INFO users, with randomization conducted at the individual level. Users were divided into a control group (N = 11,920), which received no reminder message, and a treatment group (N = 5,953), which was split into four sub-groups.
One of the treatment sub-groups (n = 2,982) received a general reminder, without specific content, encouraging the users to access the FAW menu. The other three sub-groups received topic-specific reminders about: detecting FAW (n = 994), managing FAW (n = 994), and the origins of FAW (n = 993).
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Results
Compared to the control group, all treatment messages significantly increased both the likelihood of accessing the menu and the total number of accesses. The most effective was the origins-of-FAW message, which led to a 6.15 pp increase in the probability of accessing the menu. The detecting-FAW message, general reminder, and managing-FAW message increased menu access by 4.23, 3.03, and 2.02 pp, respectively. The results are significant at the 1% level. Effects are significantly larger for farmers who actively engaged with the service even before this trial.