‘Mali is my Eldorado’ The effectiveness of EU-funded information campaigns on migration

ADMIGOV Deliverable 6.4 (2021)

Information campaigns have become an important tool that the European Union (EU) and its member states employ and fund to halt irregular migration. Little is known, however, about the effectiveness of these campaigns. This study uses a video financed by the EU, which has been broadcast in Mali, to study whether this clearly recognizable EU information tool is trusted by those who see it, whether it changes people’s risk perceptions, and what the effect is of these changed risk perceptions on the likelihood that people will (continue to) migrate. Based on surveys with 584 respondents in Mali, comprising Malian residents without a migration history, Malian returned migrants, and West African transit migrants, we conclude that higher risk perceptions after seeing the video do indeed translate into a lower likelihood of (continued) migration. This is only the case, however, when Malian returned migrants (who, our analysis shows are more susceptible to the video’s message) are included in the sample. We also find that the video fails to increase risk perceptions in those groups that are most likely to migrate to begin with, such as youth and respondents who are unsatisfied with their lives. Importantly, and confirming suggestions in the academic literature, respondents with migration aspirations and more extensive diaspora networks report significantly lower trust in the video – which is a key factor explaining the degree to which respondents change their risk perceptions after having seen the video.