experimenting with digital tools
covid19 perceptions and behaviors

Organization: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Lebanon
Role: Head of Experimentation

OVERVIEW

In Lebanon, people’s trust in public institutions is declining, their fatigue is rising, and economic anxieties grow with each passing day. What must it feel like to experience a pandemic under such circumstances? How do people’s access to information affect their perceptions of and behaviors around COVID-19? We sought to answer these questions through a rigorous research project on COVID-19 information, perceptions, and behaviors. 

THE PROCESS

The goal of this research was to collect data about how Lebanese residents access information about COVID-19 and their perceptions of and behaviors around COVID-19. This was designed to generate both statistical and qualitative findings. The methodology consisted of a desk review, 384 phone surveys, 20 key informant interviews, and an online survey that received over 4000 responses. These tools were developed in response to the challenges presented by conducting research during a pandemic, when fieldwork and data collection were severely constrained. In particular, we experimented with behaviorally informed ads on Facebook to determine which messaging elicited the most responses.

MAIN TAKEAWAYS

We discovered that people’s relationship to the pandemic exceeded just health considerations. Instead, perceptions, practices, and access to information were linked to the political and economic conditions of the country. According to the respondents these factors have a direct impact on their daily life. We also found major differences in the results across different governorates and age groups, which confirmed that despite Lebanon’s small size, a one-size-fits-all approach will not work. Our research has revealed that people’s perceptions of and behaviors in response to COVID-19 are overdetermined. They result from the economic situation, regional and demographic diversity, and their perception of and trust in the government. These factors are intimately tied up in the information landscape in Lebanon, which shapes people’s perceptions, and, in turn, informs their behaviors.