Using messaging to share information on the benefits, costs, and quality of education can be a highly cost-effective way to promote participation in schooling and achieve substantial learning gains. However, there are unanswered questions regarding why messaging works in some contexts and not in others, and what is it specifically about messaging that works? 

This study will answer these questions by evaluating the impact that tailoring different message characteristics has on promoting returns to education among marginalised groups in Ghana. 

Using sandbox and design-based research (DBR) methodologies, the impact of tailoring individual message characteristics will be tested with small experiment groups.

The learning from these experiments will subsequently support a large-scale quantitative analysis to determine the relative impact that optimising important message characteristics has on students’ attendance rate, and the variation in impact between different marginalised groups. Ultimately this intends to further the evidence-base for answering which aspects of messaging are most effective in increasing participation in education for marginalised groups.