Watching a TV soap opera may be considered a guilty pleasure; curling up on the couch to catch the latest plot twist and discover which character’s been caught doing what; it’s fun, but could it also be educational?
Some intriguing new research for the World Bank suggests soap opera fans can actually learn lessons about money from characters’ mistakes. When familiar characters on the TV act in financially reckless ways, the study says many people learn the lesson and apply it in their own lives.
The World Bank study used a popular soap opera in South Africa called Scandal! to test whether viewers learn from the TV drama.
The financial storyline spanned two months and featured one of the leading characters borrowing excessively and irresponsibly through hire purchase, gambling, ending up in financial distress, and eventually seeking help to find her way out.
By the end of the study, viewers of the show were almost twice as likely to borrow from formal sources, less likely to engage in gambling, and less prone to enter hire purchase agreements than a different test group that viewed another soap opera.
Why is the soap opera so persuasive? The finding taps into the well-established idea that people are social creatures, heavily influenced by what those around us are doing – even if we don’t realise it.
The saving conundrum
In the context of personal finance and decisions about saving and spending, a particular challenge emerges. Spending is often visible and therefore more easily spread as a norm, but saving is mostly not visible. A new car, nice shoes, and the latest phone are used in public and shown off to others. But saving is often reflected only in the absence of consumption, making it hard to spot.
One question for anyone trying to help others to save, or who want to save more themselves, is: “how do I make saving conspicuous?”
Perhaps making savings goals prominent on social media could help – if a Facebook feed was filled with status updates like “I’ve just increased my pension contributions”, would people who see it be likely to squirrel away more?
Read the full article on Ezonomics: www.ezonomics.com/stories/can_watching_tv_actually_improve_the_way_you_manage_money/
