MPSA Poster

 Basic  facts  about  US-­‐India  rela5ons  have  li8le  impact  on  Indian  a;tudes  about  the  US,  but  some  topics  can  s5mulate  ac5on  to  learn  more.  

Issue  area:   Condi.on’s  content:  (Placebo)  Control  

The  acronym  U.S.A.  stands  for  “The  United  States  of  America.”  

T1:  Foreign  Aid   USAID  gave  $58.1  million  dollars  of  foreign  aid  to  India  in  2012.  

T2:  Trade   U.S.  goods  and  private  services  trade  with  India  totaled  $93  billion  in  2012.  

T3:  Military   Since  2002,  India  and  the  US  have  cooperated  in  yearly  joint  naval  exercises.  

T4:  Travel   Over  850,000  Indian  ciKzens  visit  the  US  per  year.  

T5:  Language   There  are  nearly  as  many  English  speakers  in  India  as  there  are  in  the  US.  

T6:  Culture   Hollywood  films  now  account  for  nearly  10%  of  India’s  box  office  receipts.  

T7:  Investment   US  direct  investment  in  India  was  $28.4  billion  in  2012.  

T8:  Educa.on   In  2012/13,  there  were  nearly  100,000  Indian  students  in  US  universiKes.  

T9:  Environment  US-­‐India  partnership  has  mobilized  more  than  $2  billion  in  public  and  private  clean  energy  finance  to  support  India’s  clean  energy  goals.  

Simple  Informa.on  in  India:  Can  It  Impact  Opinions  of  and  Interest  in  the  US?  

Soren  J.  Schmidt  Prof.  Darren  Hawkins,  Ph.D.  

Department  of  PoliKcal  Science  

Darker  color  =  Control  value,  *(do_ed  outline)  =  90%  confidence  of  difference,  **(solid  outline)  =  95%  confidence  of  difference.  Brackets  show  95%  confidence  intervals.  

40   45   50   55   60   65   70   75   80   85  

Control  

T1:  Aid  

*T2:  Trade  

T3:  Military  

T4:  Tourism  

T5:  Language  

T6:  Entertainment  

T7:  FDI  

T8:  EducaKon  

T9:  Environment  

Feelings  About  the  United  States  

0%   10%   20%   30%   40%   50%   60%   70%   80%  

Control  

T1:  Aid  

T2:  Trade  

T3:  Military  

T4:  Tourism  

T5:  Language  

*T6:  Entertainment  

T7:  FDI  

T8:  EducaKon  

**T9:  Environment  

Opt-­‐in  Rate:  “Learn  More”  About  the  US  

Results  

•  “T2:  Trade”  worsened  feelings  about  the  US.  

•  “T6:  Entertainment”  and  “T9:  Environment”  moKvated  acKon  to  learn  more.  

•  Small  sample  size  and  high  response  variance  made  large  standard  errors  and  li_le  staKsKcal  significance  for  differences  of  means  in  most  condiKons  

Conclusions  

•  Simple  statements  of  fact  alone  are  not  enough  to  substanKally  move  public  opinion.    

•  However,  some  are  potent  enough  to  garner  more  interest  in  US-­‐India  relaKons.  

•  Improving  the  United  States’  image  abroad  will  require  both  potent  posiKve  facts  and  informed  selecKon  of  issue  areas  to  a_ract  addiKonal  a_enKon  

Method  1. We  used  Mechanical  Turk  to  recruit  549  Indian  residents  to  take  a  survey.    

2. Subjects  randomly  received  either  one  of  9  treatments  or  a  control.  

3. ParKcipants  rated  their  feelings  about  the  US  

4. ParKcipants  could  also  opt-­‐in  to  learn  more  about  these  issues  from  other  sources.