How Do Disadvantaged Groups Seek Information About Public Services? A Randomized Controlled Trial of Communication Technologies

Abstract

Abstract Governments and NGOs are switching to phone‐ and Internet‐based communication technologies to reduce costs and broaden access to public services. However, these technological shifts can backfire if they exacerbate administrative burden in high‐need communities. We conducted a randomized controlled trial in Greece evaluating which communication mode best allows disadvantaged groups to solicit information about free services. Subjects were 18 times more likely to use a prepaid postcard and eight times more likely to use a postcard requiring postage than a hotline or email to seek information about free dental care. Focus groups indicate that low self‐efficacy greatly limits disadvantaged groups’ willingness to use newer technologies for bureaucratic inquiries. We demonstrate that the administrative burden associated with technological shifts is larger than previously believed and that widespread psychological barriers include not only the stigma of welfare receipt, but also the stigma of mishandling a conversation with a bureaucrat. Evidence for Practice Scholarship on administrative burden underestimates both the magnitude and the types of challenges disadvantaged communities face when using new technologies to access free services. Even in high literacy countries with extensive Internet availability and widespread use of mobile phones for informal social communication, the switch to new technologies for aid provision creates major challenges for aid recipients. Although phone‐ and Internet‐based communication technologies reduce costs for service providers, they impose sizable psychological burdens on disadvantaged communities that often lack confidence and technical skills to use these technologies for formal, bureaucratic communications. When designing outreach programming, service providers should consider using postcards and similar tools that place minimal informational and technological demands on disadvantaged communities and avoid the potential for uncomfortable interactions.

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