Social Interaction and Technology Adoption : Experimental Evidence from Improved Cookstoves in Mali

We investigate the role of social interaction in technology adoption by conducting a field experimentin urban Mali. We invite women to attend a training session,where information on a more efficientcooking stove is provided along with the opportunity to purchase the product at market price.During that session we randomly assign participants to receive information on a peer'sactualpurchase of an improved cookstove.We find that women are more likely to purchase during ourintervention and use the product in the following six to nine months if the information they receiveis on a peer who purchased the product and whose opinion is respected In general,we find positivedirect and spillover effects of attending the session.We then investigate whethers ocial interactionplays a role int he natural diffusion of this technology by putting forward evidence that women whoparticipated in the session and did no tbuy are more likely to later adopt the produc twhe nmorewomen living around them own it.We investigate the various mechanisms of socia linteractionpotentially at play and provide evidence supporting imitation effects, rather than social learning orconstraint interaction