Page 67 - The Power to Change Anything

56 INFLUENCER

This touching account, along with similar interviews, pro-
vided anecdotal evidence that vicarious modeling appeared to
be having an effect. But is there more than just anecdotal
support for the power of this influence strategy? The answer is
yes, and we know with a certainty because Twende na Wakati
was the first controlled national field experiment in the history
of the world. Since the Dodoma region of Tanzania was
excluded from the evening radio broadcasts, researchers could
explore the effect of the vicarious models offered over the radio.
From 1993 to 1995 all regions experienced a variety of
HIV/AIDS interventions, but only half were exposed to the
radio drama.
In their award-winning book, Combating AIDS: Commu-
nication Strategies in Action, Everett Rogers and Arvind Singhal
report that one-fourth of the population in the broadcast area
had modified its behavior in critical ways to avoid HIV—and
attributed the change in behavior to the influence of the pro-
gram. The impact was so remarkable that the controlled exper-
iment had to be stopped after two years in order to make the
intervention available to everyone. Within a year, similar results
were seen in Dodoma.
Rogers and Singhal proved with rare scientific certainty that
exposing experimental subjects to believable models affected
not only their thoughts and emotions but also their behavior.
People who tuned in to Twende na Wakati were more likely to
seek marital counseling, make better use of family planning,
remain faithful to their spouses, and use protection than were
their neighbors who didn’t listen to the serial drama.
Change agents don’t merely aim vicarious models at audi-
ences in the developing world. Readers may not be aware of how
effectively the same methods have been deployed in the United
States. Before David Poindexter and others exported serial dra-
mas to Africa, Poindexter met with Norman Lear—producer of
popular TV sitcoms such as All in the Family and Maude. As
part of their agenda to reduce worldwide population growth,