Measuring SBC Program or Campaign Exposure

Social and behavior change (SBC) programs use different methods, such as mass media and interpersonal communication, to reach target audiences. Determining the extent to which target audiences are exposed to SBC approaches requires strategies that are specific to the approach. For example, household surveys can assess exposure to a mass media campaign while social media listening can evaluate exposure to a social media campaign. SBC programs can use exposure measures to assess respondent awareness, sentiment, and comprehension of a campaign message.  Practitioners should tailor exposure methods and measures  to address measurement challenges, such as selective attention and social desirability bias. Understanding levels of exposure to SBC programs and campaigns informs implementation, determines budgets that most effectively leverage program resources, and determines the program’s overall effectiveness.

This course aims to support SBC programs by providing an overview of SBC program or campaign exposure measures, including measurement challenges and how to minimize error. It provides examples of questions and data sources, along with explanations for how exposure data can inform SBC programs. This course is comprised of three short instructional videos that last between 10–15 minutes.

Breakthrough RESEARCH has designed this course for monitoring and evaluation officers to help them understand how to capture and use SBC exposure data to inform, monitor, and evaluate SBC program performance. While the steps presented include examples specific to family planning programs, any SBC program can make use of them.