An invitation from a neighbor did not change how many people came to clean
Most people who answered the phone in three Tunis neighborhoods said they would attend, but about 3% of recruited households showed up.
The key idea
Saying yes on the phone and showing up in the street are two different steps. Here, the gap between them was visible.
The study, in plain language
In three Tunis neighborhoods, the team invited households to a community cleanup. Participants were randomly assigned to receive an invitation from a neighbor or an outsider. Everyone received the same reminders and incentives. The two groups did not differ detectably in how many said they would participate or how many actually attended.
The phone survey showed something else. Of the 947 households reached, 92% said they would attend. But among the 1,199 households recruited, 34 people came on cleanup day. The figures use different denominators, so they cannot simply be subtracted, but they illustrate the distance between saying yes and showing up. Also, living in the neighborhood did not guarantee knowing the inviter personally.
What they found
- Researchers detected no difference in intention or attendance depending on whether the inviter was a neighbor or an outsider.
- Most people who answered the phone said they would attend.
- In the end, only a small fraction of recruited households attended.
How they studied it
Researchers randomized whether a neighbor or an outsider invited each household to a community cleanup in three Tunis neighborhoods. Both groups received the same reminders and incentives. They recorded who said they would attend by phone, then counted who showed up.
What the study cannot show
- Few people attended, and living in the neighborhood did not guarantee personally knowing the inviter. The result does not rule out social influence on other activities or smaller effects.
Something to think about
When someone organizes an event, how many people who confirm actually come? Someone’s absence does not prove they are uninterested: obstacles between saying yes and showing up may not be visible.
The original study
Neighborly social pressure and collective action: Evidence from a field experiment in Tunisia
Source under CC BY 4.0. English adaptation and explanation by PaperFlow, with AI assistance. The text has been reorganized for a general audience; it is not the complete paper and does not imply endorsement by its authors.
One study alone does not represent a field's consensus. Educational content does not replace professional advice. Report a possible error.
