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Anti-corruption awareness raising: Effective messaging and best practices

This Helpdesk Answer provides an overview of recent debates regarding the effectiveness of anti-corruption awareness raising campaigns. While experimental studies indicate that simply highlighting the pervasiveness or immorality of corruption does not effectively lead to a change in behaviour or attitudes or even backfires, there is promise in approaches that emphasise progress in anti-corruption, the relevance of corruption in everyday life and citizens' strong condemnation of it. Highlighted best practices suggest the special importance of three factors: focusing on positive examples, using engaging formats and tailoring content to specific cultural contexts.

3 May 2024
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Anti-corruption awareness raising: Effective messaging and best practices

Main points

  • Various experimental studies indicate awareness raising messages emphasising the pervasiveness of corruption and its illegality or illegitimacy do not significantly reduce demands for and acceptance of bribes, increase reporting rates or alter attitudes towards (anti-)corruption.
  • While a limited number of experimental studies suggest that messages emphasising corruption control may have positive effects, others caution against emphasising government led reforms, particularly when citizens have low confidence in government effectiveness.
  • Some experimental studies suggest that messages emphasising the relevance of corruption in everyday life and citizens' strong condemnation of it can discourage citizens from bribing and encourage them to report corruption.
  • The Integrity Icon initiative operating in several countries, which employs a ‘naming and faming’ approach, attests to the importance of emphasising positive trends to curb corruption.
  • Video campaigns in Greece and Ukraine showcase the effectiveness of anti-corruption awareness campaigns that reach targets in an entertaining way.
  • Tilapia Da Cartoonist, a meme-based anti-corruption campaign in Ghana, suggests that contextualised awareness raising campaigns can effectively and attractively convey campaigners’ messages about (anti-)corruption to a local audience.

Cite this publication


Ishikawa, Y. (2024) Anti-corruption awareness raising: Effective messaging and best practices. Bergen: U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Chr. Michelsen Institute (U4 Helpdesk Answer 2024:21)

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Yusuke Ishikawa

Disclaimer


All views in this text are the author(s)’, and may differ from the U4 partner agencies’ policies.

This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

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