Excerpted from Process Evaluation of the Central West/Southwest Binge Drinking Media Campaign, 2001. Middlesex-London Health Unit, London, Ontario. http://www.healthunit.com/articlesPDF/10792.pdf (PDF). Used with permission.
In 2001, 16 public health units that participate in the Substance Abuse Prevention Network of Central West and Southwest Ontario developed a public awareness campaign about binge drinking, geared towards young adults. As part of the evaluation of this campaign, conducted by the Hamilton and Middlesex-London Public Health Research Education and Development programs, a document on the lessons that had been learned was released.
The following excerpts, from the Executive Summary, provide an excellent example of the thinking that goes into the creation of a public awareness campaign.
Rationale for the Campaign
"In Canada, 2/3 of young adults binge drink. Binge drinking is an important public health issue in this population because it can lead to alcohol poisoning, impaired judgement, injuries and death. To increase awareness about the definition, risks and alternatives to binge drinking, the Substance Abuse Prevention Network of Central West and Southwest Ontario collaborated to develop and implement a large scale media campaign targeted to 19 to 24 year olds. The campaign consisted of the wide distribution of posters and postcards, the placement of paid radio advertisements, media releases and health unit participation at related community events." (p.1)
A focus group is a moderated discussion designed to assess the thoughts and attitudes of participants on a defined topic. Led by a trained interviewer, focus groups permit participants to share their views in a friendly, non-judgemental and relaxed environment. In focus groups, participants share ideas as they respond to questions posed by the moderator.
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As part of the post-campaign assessment, focus groups were conducted with 66 representatives from the main target audience. These focus groups were developed in order to better understand the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs held by young men and women about binge drinking. Based on the responses of participants, researchers were better able to understand how this group defines binge drinking, how they see binge drinking as a social norm, the perceived benefits of binge drinking, and the factors that influence their decisions to binge drink.From the focus groups, the Health Unit was able to establish a clear picture of young adults in this age group and their perceptions about binge drinking. They found:
"The term 'binge drinking' is not used by the participants. They used terms associated with less risk such as "chugging" and "funnelling" to describe excessive drinking. The term 'binge drinking' had a negative connotation for the participants. Participants were surprised that binge drinking is defined as the consumption of more than five drinks on a single occasion. They did not like the concept of defining binge drinking through the use of a pre-determined number of drinks because individual tolerance levels vary. Given this, some individuals may have disregarded the campaign messages being promoted. The participants differentiated binge drinking from other types of drinking according to the purposeful intent to drink excessively and the speed at which drinks are consumed. Binge drinking was generally perceived as a purposeful action, where the primary purpose and focus of a social gathering was to get drunk.
The students viewed binge drinking as a social norm and explained that experiencing the consequences of excessive alcohol consumption were part of a 'rite of passage.' Participants revealed that they binge drink because it is fun and because it is perceived to enhance social interactions. The benefits of having fun are perceived to outweigh any potential risks or negative consequences related to binge drinking.
Many factors that influence an individual's decision to binge drink were identified. Interpersonal factors include peer pressure, perceived self-concept and parental influences. Situational factors include being a part of the 'university experience' and a perceived lack of non-alcohol related activities to participate in. The expense of binge drinking was not a major factor in the decision to not binge drink. There was considerable discussion about the irony that individuals do not seem to mind spending a large amount of money on drinking but that they resent having to pay a relatively small amount of money to participate in non-drinking activities." (pp. 1&2)
Based on the responses from the young adults who participated in the focus groups, the Health Unit came up with a series of recommendations for future social marketing campaigns targeting 19-24 year olds:
- When discussing serious messages such as binge drinking, use a serious tone.
- Develop messages that are different from all the other advertisements – either by vivid graphic images or being simple and quiet.
- Make sure the messages have direct personal relevance to the target population, use real stories and local statistics.
- Messages about risks should not focus on long-term physical health effects. If the campaign message is about health effects, the focus should be on the immediate and short-term risks to the target population.
They also pinpointed four possible messages to use in future binge drinking media campaigns:
- Be a good friend.
- Drink responsibly.
- Chugging alcohol can have an impact on your family and friends.
- Chugging alcohol can affect your immediate health and personal safety.
Questions
- What are the four aspects of binge drinking that these researchers wanted more information on?
- Review the findings from the focus groups and create a list of questions that a moderator might ask to collect this information.
"Anyone who drinks too much alcohol too fast can die from alcohol
poisoning. Even you."
- This is the poster that was created as part of the original awareness campaign. Given what you know about this group from the focus testing, do you think this poster would be effective? Why or why not?
