Nudging Technology Adoption - experimental evidence on menstrual cup uptake

Given the significant potential for innovations or new (superior) technologies to improve individual welfare, it is of interest to economists and other social scientists to understand why only some choose to adopt them, even when they are relatively accessible and affordable. In
developing countries in particular, the relevance of this puzzle is well-recognized in multiple domains, including in agriculture, in health, and in education. A large body of research therefore investigates whether technology adoption can be spurred through various interventions,
aimed at alleviating barriers to adoption, an endeavour that is also of interests to policymakers. In this study, I explore the effects of information framing and the choice environment on encouraging individual adoption of a new technology - the menstrual cup - among young
women in a developing country context (Botswana). Employing a survey experiment with a 2x2 design, I vary whether participants receive information about this technology in a "neutral" or a more "positive" frame. Further, participants are randomly allocated to either receive
the novel product initially (by default), or they receive their usual product. For both treatments, participants are able to opt-out of their assigned product, by later exchanging it for an alternative. With this study, I therefore explore the combined effect of information delivery
and the choice architecture on the individual decision to switch to a more efficient, but novel and unknown product in a stigmatized domain.