The Ministry of Social Development undertook three surveys between December 2007 and September 2008 to measure the reach and retention of the Campaign for Action on Family Violence ‘It's not OK' television advertisements.
Two phases of ads have run with a total of 2,695 New Zealanders taking part in these telephone surveys.
Results show how well the ‘It's not ok' ads reach people, influence attitudes and change behaviour.
Purpose
The objective of the tracking surveys was to measure the reach and retention of the television advertisements which are part of the mass media component of the Campaign. In particular, the surveys:
- measure the level of awareness
- assess who the media campaign is reaching
- identify what messages people are retaining/taking away from the media campaign
- assess the personal relevance of the campaign messages with a sample population of New Zealanders.
Key Results
Recall of the TV ads has increased with every survey.
- Ninety-five percent of the people surveyed in September 2008 recalled something from at least one of the ads. This is an increase from 87% of the people surveyed in survey one and 89% in survey two.
- Ninety percent of people surveyed in September 2008 recalled seeing one or more of the ads from the second phase of the ‘It's not ok' ads (prompted recall). This was a significant increase in recall from 66% in April 2008.
- Recall was high for all groups, particularly Māori males (94%) and Māori females (98%).
Response to the ads: Overall 68% of the people who recalled one of the ads surveyed in September 2008 agreed that the ads helped them to understand more about behaviours that should not be tolerated. The ads created the expectation that a violence free life is possible. Of the people who recalled one of the ads, 88% agreed that the ads made them see change is possible. Of the people who recalled one of the ads, 57% agreed that the advertisements made them feel that they could help to influence someone to change their violent behaviour. This feeling was particularly strong for Pacific peoples.
The TV ads generated discussion among viewers. Overall 68% of the people who recalled one of the ads reported having discussed them. This rose from 56% in survey two.Of the people who recalled one of the ads 22% (over one in five) reported taking at least one action as a result of seeing them. This number of people reporting action is consistent across the three surveys. The people surveyed who took some action were most likely to talk to family and friends (14%) and to try and stop violence they were worried about (12%).