1 / 25

Defra Water Saving Campaign Pre and Post Evaluation

This report presents the pre and post evaluation findings of a water saving campaign conducted in the UK in late 2009 by Defra. The study aimed to assess campaign awareness, attitudes, and behavior towards water conservation in households. It targeted specific audience segments and utilized media channels like press and radio for promotion. Results indicate a significant increase in awareness following the campaign among various demographic groups. The report also highlights the sources of campaign awareness, with TV being the primary channel. Additionally, it examines public perceptions of the entities responsible for the campaign, with notable findings on government attribution. The research methodology involved a nationally representative sample and surveys conducted before and after the campaign. Further waves of research are recommended for ongoing evaluation.

mcdaniel
Download Presentation

Defra Water Saving Campaign Pre and Post Evaluation

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Defra Water Saving Campaign Pre and Post Evaluation Prepared by: Sarah Appelboom November 2009

  2. Background and campaign objectives • The UK is becoming increasingly water stressed, with many areas already at their maximum abstraction levels. Water treatment, supply and heating all carry a high energy burden and therefore contribute to climate change. • However, saving water is not seen as high priority by the general public compared to saving energy or other climate change issues. UK households use the bulk of water supplied in the UK, so their actions can make a significant difference to the sustainability of future water supplies. • Defra launched a water saving campaign in (mid September) late 2009. The aim of which (is) was to educate citizens that water is a valuable resource which needs to be conserved, and to encourage consumers to change their behaviour and adopt water saving measures. • The campaign targeted 4 Defra segments which account for 48% of the adult population - Positive Greens, Waste Watchers, Concerned Consumers, Sideline Supporters. Media plans were optimised against ABC1s aged 30 – 64 with children. • Media spend: approximately £500k, in national & local press and local radio. 2

  3. Research Objectives • The overall aim of the research was to evaluate the success of the water saving campaign, by way of conducting a pre and post campaign measure, with options for conducting further waves of research over the next 3 – 4 years. • Specifically, the research assessed: • awareness and recognition of the campaign: • attitudes and behaviour towards saving water in the home • differences in awareness and attitudes by segments being targeted from the Defra attitudinal segmentation. 3

  4. Methodology and sample • Questions placed onto TNS face-to-face General Public omnibus. • Nationally representative sample of adults aged 16+ in England. • Sample size (weighted): pre wave 1713 respondents, post wave1732 respondents • Fieldwork dates: • Pre wave: 16 – 20 September 2009 • Post wave: 28 October – 1 November 2009 • 33% of the sample (pre wave) claimed to have a water meter. 4

  5. Awareness and Recognition of campaignKey Findings 5

  6. Prompted Awareness of advertising/publicity about saving water in the home - Total sample Significant uplift in awareness following the campaign activity % * * Indicates statistical significant difference at 95% confidence level Q1 Have you seen or heard any advertising or publicity in the last few months specifically about saving water in the home? Pre wave fieldwork: 16 – 20 September 2009 Post wave fieldwork: 28 Oct – 1 Nov 2009 6 (Weighted Base: all respondents: (1713) (1732)

  7. * Pre Post Prompted Awareness of adv’g/publicity on saving water in the home – By Defra Segments Significant uplift in awareness amongst most of the targeted segments – PG, CC, Side’ S, as well as CPs % * * * * * * Indicates statistical significant difference at 95% confidence level Q1 Have you seen or heard any advertising or publicity in the last few months specifically about saving water in the home? (Weighted base: all respondents: (1217) ( 1258 ) (496) ( 473 ) (475) ( 524 ) (318) (292) (297) ( 306) (126) (135) (152) (139 ) (111) (116) (233) (218) 7

  8. Pre Post Prompted Awareness of adv’g/publicity on saving water in the home – By Demographics & whether water metered • The campaign activity has had broad reach in terms of demographics, with significant uplifts post wave across most groups, with the exception of older respondents aged 65+. • Awareness rose significantly amongst those without water meters. % * * * * * * * * * * Indicates statistical significant difference at 95% confidence level Q1 Have you seen or heard any advertising or publicity in the last few months specifically about saving water in the home? (Weighted base: all respondents): (886) (882) (828) ( 850) (382) (364) (992) (1026) (339) (341) (537) (559) (1176) (1172) (833) (839) (880) (893) (573) (547) (1140) (1184) 8

  9. Pre Post Source of advertising/publicity - Amongst those aware of it Responses of 4% or above shown: * • TV is main claimed source for seeing, as is typical on tracking surveys. • However, awareness of radio rose from 5% - 11%, though press seems to have been less impactful. * * * % * Indicates statistical significant difference at 95% confidence level Q2 Where did you see or hear the advertising or publicity about saving water in the home? (Weighted Base: those claiming to have seen advertising/publicity: Pre (406), Post: (533) 9

  10. Pre Post Who is responsible for the advertising/publicity? - Amongst those aware of it Responses of 3% or above shown: * • Attribution of the advertising to Government rose significantly to 30%, whilst dropping slightly for the water companies, though still relatively low. • Attribution to Defra was low at 2%. % * Indicates statistical significant difference at 95% confidence level Q3 Who do you think was responsible for this advertising or publicity? (Weighted Base: those claiming to have seen advertising/publicity: Pre (406), Post: (533) 10

  11. Sink: 9% Shower 9% Drain 6% Post wave : % recognising the advertising- Total sample • 40% recognised the advertising when shown it, with radio having greater cut through at 32% vs 16% for press. • The 3 press executions attained similar levels of awareness. % Q8A Have you seen this/these newspaper/magazine advert(s) before? Q8B: Have you heard this radio ad before? Q8c: Have you seen this ad on the website/internet? 11 (Weighted Base: all respondents: Post (xxxx) Post wave fieldwork: 17 – 21 Oct

  12. Post wave : % recognising the advertising- By Defra segments • Recognition of the advertising was significantly higher amongst the targeted Defra segments. % * vs segments 5-7 Defra segments 1 - 4 Defra segments 5 - 7 * Indicates statistical significant difference at 95% confidence level Q8A Have you seen this/these newspaper/magazine advert(s) before? Q8B: Have you heard this radio ad before? Q8c: Have you seen this ad on the website/internet? 12 (Weighted Base: all respondents: Segments 1 - 4(1258), Segments 5 -7(473)

  13. Post wave: % recognising the advertising- By those with water meter /no meter Recognition of the press advertising was higher amongst those with water meters, though overall recognition of the campaign was similar regardless of whether metered or not. % * vs no water meter Have a water meter No water meter Q8A Have you seen this/these newspaper/magazine advert(s) before? Q8B: Have you heard this radio ad before? Q8c: Have you seen this ad on the website/internet? 13 (Weighted Base: all respondents: have meter(547), no meter(1184)

  14. Normative charts on advertising recognition (burst 1 – campaign launch) 14

  15. COI Normative Data: Ad recognition by media (Non-TV camps.) - Spend on each media type at burst 1 • Water saving campaign compares similarly and favourably to other COI non TV campaigns overall and for radio recognition, given the lower than average media spends. • However, the press has lower than average cut through, to be expected to some extent due to the lower medi spend vs norms. £’000 spent at launch % recognising advertising 15 Base: Any = 16 campaigns; Radio = 16 campaigns; Press = 14 campaigns; Outdoor = 5 campaigns

  16. Water Usage BehaviourKey Findings 16

  17. Pre vs post Pre vs post Pre vs post Pre vs post Current and intended water usage behaviours – summary- Total Sample No positive shift in behaviour Current water usage (Q5a) Future water usage (Q5b) No positive shift in behaviour • Current & Future behaviour (Q6a/b) • Turn the tap off while you brush your teeth • Use a bucket and sponge to wash your car • Use a watering can, when you water your plants • Wait until you have a full load before putting on the washing machine • Take short showers-- 7 minutes or less • Use a hosepipe No positive shift in behaviour Make an effort to cut down on water usage (Q4) Cut down on use of hot water (Q4b) No positive shift in behaviour, but two thirds already claiming to do this and intend to keep it up See full graphs for these questions in appendix 17

  18. Make an effort to cut down on water usage at home (Q4a) % stating: “I’m already doing this and intend to keep it up” * Post wave: Current and intended water usage behaviours-by those who Recognised the advertising Those recognising the ads were more disposed to positive behaviour changes, though not possible to attribute this to the water saving campaign alone – there is some suggestion they are slightly more naturally disposed to good environmental behaviours per se though less evidence of this in terms of their overarching attitudes towards the environment. • …Recognisers possibly slightly more disposed towards better habits anyway: • I find it hard to change my habits to be more environmentally friendly – 67% recognisers disagree vs 60% not seeing ads. • More likely to recycle: 93% vs 89% • Happy with what I do at the moment: 49% vs 53%; would like to do more: 51% vs 47% • But no difference on 9 out f 13 Defra attitude statements • And those recognising the campaign are more likely than those not recognising the campaign to be currently taking the following actions and to continue to do so in the future: • Turn the tap off while you brush your teeth • Use a bucket and sponge to wash your car • Use a watering can, when you water your plants • Wait until you have a full load before putting on the washing machine • Take short showers-- 7 minutes or less • Use a hosepipe BUT… * Indicates statistical significant difference at 95% confidence level Q4: Here are some changes that people might make to their lifestyles: Q4a: Make an effort to cut down on water usage at home 18 (Weighted Base: Post wave: Recognition Defra water saving advertising – Recognise (689), do not recognise (1043)

  19. Post wave: Sample Profile by recognition of advertising Those recognising the advertising have a similar demographic profile as those not seeing the advertising – so profile is not skewing more positive behaviours for those recognising the campaign. 19 (Weighted Base: Recognisers (689), Not seen advertising (1043)

  20. Post wave: Claimed action taken having seen advertising- By those who recognise the advertising Almost 50% of those seeing the advertising claimed they would take more measures to use less water Q8c: As a result of seeing and hearing these adverts, which of the following applies to you? 20 (Weighted Base: those who recognise ads ( 689) (224) (465) (521) (168)

  21. Attitudes towards water usage/savingsKey Findings 21

  22. Strongly disagree (-2) Tend to disagree (-1) Tend to agree (1) Strongly agree (2) Attitudes towards water usage/savings – Total Sample Attitudes towards water usage mainly unchanged, though a higher number disagree that “using less water is not an issue as we’re an island” % neither agree nor disagree Mean score We should all try and save water regardless of whether it rains or is sunny 7% 1.32 Pre 7% 1.34 Post Water is a limited resource that needs to be valued and conserved Pre 8% 1.29 Post 7% 1.34 Everyone needs to do their bit to save water Pre 5% 1.43 Post 5% 1.45 Using less water is not an issue for us as we are an island 14% -0.86 Pre * 14% -0.95 Post 15% 0.71 We can use as much water as we want unless there is hosepipe ban Pre 14% -0.76 Post * Indicates statistical significant difference at 95% confidence level Q7 How much do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements? 22 (Weighted Base: those seeing advertising: Pre (1713), Post: (1732)

  23. Summary 23

  24. Summary • One third of the general public claimed to be aware of the water saving campaign, a significant uplift versus claimed awareness prior to the start of the campaign (31% vs 24%). • Awareness of the campaign was broad in terms of reach across different demographic groups, and levels were significantly higher amongst the targeted Defra segments (33% for segments 1 – 4 vs 25% segments 5 – 7). • The campaign attained good levels of overall recognition for the level of media spend – 40%, in line with norms, though press appears to have been less impactful than radio (16% recognition vs 30% radio) and slightly below norms. Recognition was significantly higher amongst the targeted Defra segments (41% vs 35%). • Despite good levels of awareness for the campaign, there was no shift in current and intended water usage behaviours. This might be expected at this early stage of the campaign and with these levels of media spend. • Though there is some evidence of more positive water usage behaviour intentions amongst those recognising the campaign vs those not doing so …but this cannot be attributed to the campaign effects alone as these respondents tended to have more of a pre disposition to environmentally caring behaviours per se than those not recognising the campaign. 24

  25. 32

More Related