Learning, Sharing, and Adopting: Behavioral Pathways of Information Dissemination in Technology Adoption

authors: Jingru Jia, Paul McNamara

This study examines how information dissemination shapes smallholder farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for PICS bags in rural Sierra Leone, leveraging a two-wave randomized controlled trial to capture both immediate and persistent effects. The research explores not only the direct impact of prior informational exposure on sustained WTP but also unpacks the mechanisms through which dissemination operates namely, the breadth of sources, recall of specific benefits, and peer-to-peer sharing. Findings reveal that exposure to diverse communication channels and salient messages significantly increases WTP, while social sharing behaviors further amplify this effect, underscoring the crucial role of community learning and reinforcement in technology adoption. These results suggest that strategic, multi-channel information campaigns combined with peer engagement can enhance long-term behavioral change, with important implications for the design of future agricultural interventions and knowledge diffusion strategies.