Project no.: 518368

Project acronym: MAX

Project title: Successful Travel Awareness Campaigns and Mobility Management Strategies

Integrated Project

6.2 Sustainable Development1.6.2 Sustainable Surface Transport Objective3.1.1.1.3 Advancing Knowledge on innovative measures in urban transport

Title of Report:

MAX-WPA TF1 Case Study Analysis – Binge Drinking In Scotland

Status: Final

Period covered: Date of preparation:Start date of project: 1 Oct. 2006 Duration:

Version:

Prepared by: AUTH

Checked by:

Verified by:

Status: Final

Dissemination level: Public

Project co-funded by the European Commission within the Sixth Framework Programme (2002-2008)

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MAX - introductionMAX ran from 2006 to 2009 and was the largest research project on Mobility Management within the EU’s sixth framework programme. The MAX consortium, of 28 partners, served to extend, standardise and improve Mobility Management – it did so in the fields of quality management, campaigns, evaluation, modelling and land use planning. Much of the work was directly endorsed by the European Platform on Mobility Management (EPOMM) and continues to be supported by EPOMM – in order to provide truly Europe-wide expansion, standardisation and dissemination of Mobility Management.The work has resulted in several products and services that can be downloaded via www.epomm.org.For more information, please visit www.epomm.org or www.max-success.eu

Max PartnersAustrian Mobility Research, FGM-AMOR (project leader) – Austria Mobiel 21 – Belgium

ILS Institut für Landes- und Stadtentwicklungsforschung gGmbH – Germany Eric N. Schreffler, Transportation Consultant – USA

Equipo de Tecnicos en Transporte y Territorio, ETT – Spain FIT Consulting – Italy

Lyle Bailie International Limited – United Kingdom synergo – Switzerland

Timo Finke Consult Aachen – Germany Traject – Belgium

Austrian Standards Institute – Austria Trivector – Sweden

Universities

University of Piraeus Research Centre – Greece University of Maribor, Faculty of Civil Engineering – Slovenia

Cracow University of Technology – Poland Aristotle University of Thessaloniki – Greece

University of Lyon – CNRS-LET – France Edinburgh Napier University – United Kingdom

University of Central Lancashire – United Kingdom Otto-von-Guericke-University of Magdeburg – Germany

University of Giessen, Institute for applied and empirical social research – Germany

Vilnius Gedimas Technical University – Lithuania

Demonstrators

Almada Municipal Energy Agency, AGENEAL – Portugal Almada Municipality – Portugal

Lazio Transport Company COTRAL – Italy Kortrijk Municipality – Belgium

Tallinn Municipality – Estonia Munich Municipality – Germany

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction..........................................................................................................................6

2. Binge Drinking In Scotland...............................................................................................8

2.1 Background Context..................................................................................................................................8

2.2 Binge Drinking Campaign........................................................................................................................8

3 Method and Data Sources................................................................................................10

4. Discussion of findings.......................................................................................................11

4.1 What are the elements of the Binge Drinking campaign in Scotland and how do they relate to each other? 11

4.1.1 Message...........................................................................................................................................114.1.2 Medium...........................................................................................................................................124.1.3 Marketing Approach and the message receiver..............................................................................124.1.4 Feedback.........................................................................................................................................124.1.5 Physical / Fiscal Interventions........................................................................................................134.1.6 Partnerships.....................................................................................................................................134.1.7 Relationship between the elements of the project...........................................................................13

4.2 Do the elements of the conceptual framework of campaign design match up with elements found in the Binge Drinking campaign in Scotland?..............................................................................................................13

4.3 Does the Binge Drinking campaign in Scotland offer any additional elements which can be added to the conceptual framework?.................................................................................................................................14

4.4 Are there particular success factors or barriers to success evident in the campaign?..........................144.4.1 Success Factors...............................................................................................................................144.4.2 Barriers to Success..........................................................................................................................16

4.5 What are the cumulative effects of media overpressure?........................................................................17

4.6 Is the use of a mix of media really efficient?...........................................................................................17

4.7 How can a wide range campaign be split into different components to address different segments?. . .18

4.8 Does the Binge Drinking Campaign in Scotland demonstrate a balance of emotional and rational approaches within it’s message? Is the rational approach effective? Are the rational arguments receivable? 19

5 Conclusions......................................................................................................................21

5.1 Recommendations for Campaign Design................................................................................................21

5.2 Recommendations for Task Forces 2-5...................................................................................................21

6 References..........................................................................................................................22

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Table of Tables

Table 1 Total campaign reach 16

Table 2: Frequency of drinking alcohol 18

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Table of Figures

Figure 1 Poster used for the campaign conveying a message for individuals to drink responsibly 10

Figure 2 Travel Awareness Conceptual Framework 13

Figure 3 `Where saw or heard advertising (spontaneous) 14

Figure 4 Change in attitudinal and behavioural statements 15

Figure 5 Types of drinker 18

Figure 6 Male directed poster 19

Figure 7 Female directed posters 19

Figure 8 Rational message to prevent binge drinking 19

Figure 9 Rational message to prevent binge drinking 19

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1. Introduction

This is a Task Force 1 case study for MAX-SUCCESS project Work Package A. It is one of five case studies which will be used to provide a theoretical basis for the main research for Task Forces 2-5 in Work Package 3. The findings of the State of the Art Review (WP1) and the requirements of the Research Plan (WP2) identified the need to analyse certain elements of Travel Awareness campaigns in more detail, namely key success factors in campaign design, the use of emotional and rational elements and the composition, nature and interaction of different elements of a campaign. This last requirement is depicted in a draft conceptual framework of Travel Awareness campaigns produced by UCLAN following the State of the Art review.

The following core objectives (which are similar to the objectives of the other task force one case studies) are therefore as follows:

To analyse the effectiveness of the conceptual framework developed for WP3 in relation to this practical project.

To assess in detail the components of the campaign on Binge Drinking in Scotland – the case study will enable the researchers to assess whether a campaign such as this reflects a similar composition of elements as the conceptual framework and is transferable to Travel Awareness campaigns

To examine success factors which may be applicable to Travel Awareness campaigns.

To understand in detail the role of emotional and rational arguments within this campaign and how they relate to theory.

To analyse the role of media in this campaign

To understand segmentation used in this campaign

The following research questions will be analysed using the information generated by the case study:

1. What are the elements of the Binge Drinking campaign in Scotland and how do they relate to each other?

2. Do the elements of the conceptual framework of campaign design match up with elements found in the Binge Drinking campaign in Scotland?

3. Does the Binge Drinking campaign in Scotland offer any additional elements which can be added to the conceptual framework?

4. Are there particular success factors or barriers to success evident in the campaign?

5. What are the cumulative effects of media overpressure? This particular campaign was intensively launched for a limited time period (i.e. middle of August to December), based on the hypothesis that this would be more effective than launching the same activities over a longer time period.

6. Is the use of a mix of media really efficient? The campaign simultaneously used TV, cinema, radio and poster advertisements and informational leaflets and internet advertising.

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7. How can a wide range campaign be split into different components to address different segments? As the target group of the campaign was broad enough to include young people from 16 to 35, it was further segmented into different sub-groups and addressed by different medium and/or customised messages.

8. Does the Binge Drinking campaign in Scotland demonstrate a balance of emotional and rational approaches within it’s message? Is the rational approach effective? Are the rational arguments receivable?

Questions one to three are related to the conceptual framework and will be addressed together. Once the elements of this campaign have been analysed, the key success factors will be addressed, and questions five and six will look at aspects specific to this campaign (which might provide information on good practice for Travel Awareness campaigns. Question seven will look at the segmentation used in this campaign, and question eight will explore emotional and rational arguments, with a specific focus on rational arguments.

The report will outline the campaign in section two, detail the method used to address the research questions in section three and discuss the questions and findings in section four, with recommendations for campaign design and the work of the other WPA taskforces in section five.

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2. Binge Drinking In Scotland

2.1 Background Context

Binge drinking refers to heavy alcohol consumption by some of the population in Scotland (Scottish Government: 2006). It is an increasing problem in relation to health and disorder, amongst other issues. For some people in Scotland, excessive alcohol consumption is a problem which could be attributed to a ‘round culture’ (buying drinks in a group) (Scottish Government: 2006). At the same time, drinking heavily is seen as a right of passage and pressure is put on young people to drink by their peer group. This kind of pressure is very often strong enough to force people, especially those between 16 and 35 years old, to drink alcohol even though they don’t want to (Scottish Government: 2006)..

Taking into consideration the situation, the Scottish Executive, on behalf of the Government in Scotland, has launched a multi-action programme in order to tackle the causes and consequences of alcohol misuse. The various actions of this programme include the following:

Supporting an alcohol test purchase pilot in Fife to deal with underage sales

Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005: includes tough action on irresponsible promotions that encourage binge drinking

New powers in the Antisocial Behaviour (Scotland) Act 2004: helping police and other agencies deal with alcohol-related crime and disorder

Over £20 million in total over 2005/06 and 2006/07 for rehabilitation services, and over £1 million to educate the public about the dangers of binge drinking

Supporting the Serve Wise programme: training in responsible serving practice provided to over 7000 staff serving alcohol in public bars, clubs and restaurants since 2002

Work to update the Alcohol Action Plan, which was expected to be launched at the end of 2006

(Scottish Government: 2006).

The Scottish Executive has been helped substantially by the extensive strategic partnership formed with 22 teams around Scotland, which have responsibility to develop and implement alcohol strategies for their own regions. One of the best known is the Highland Drug & Alcohol Action Team (HDAAT). It is a multi-agency partnership which tries, through partnership, to promote positive changes in Scots’ attitudes by addressing all aspects of alcohol use in the Highlands (TNS: 2007).

2.2 Binge Drinking Campaign

Within the above strategic framework, the Scottish Executive has decided to support the effort through a communication programme. The first two components of this wide range communication programme have already implemented.

The first component comprises the “Don't let too much drink spoil a good night out” campaign. This is mainly a promotional campaign using advertising. It began in 2003 and aimed at addressing the issue of binge drinking especially within the 16-24 year old age group. The campaign had three specific objectives:

1. to encourage people to take responsibility for their actions and responsibility when drinking;

2. to raise awareness of the potential negative impacts of binge drinking and

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3. to encourage more moderate drinking.

(TNS: 2007)

The research conducted after the first wave of the campaign highlighted its effectiveness and so it was continued in 2004 using a new advertising campaign on the same theme (TNS: 2007). A general campaign was mainly using the media of posters and radio. Where poster sites were not available, in more remote parts of Scotland, a local press campaign was employed. This campaign took place during December 2004.

The strategy was expanded with the “Alcohol. Don’t Push It” campaign, which ran from 14 August 2006 to 25 December 2006 (TNS: 2007). It was the second component of the communication plan that was implemented by the Scottish Executive on alcohol misuse. The target audience was young people from 16 to 35 year old. The campaign objective was to bring about a ‘cultural change’ (a change of social norms) in Scotland in the way people think about alcohol. It aimed to encourage people to take personal responsibility so as to avoid the negative impacts of alcohol misuse on themselves and others when out drinking. This was part of the Scottish Executive’s long term goal to deal with excessive drinking behaviour. According to the findings of a survey commissioned on behalf of the Scottish Executive many people responded that they drink even though they don’t want to and others prefer to lie to avoid drinking. Thus, the government’s approach has been to motivate people to take responsibility for themselves and to think first before they encourage others to have another drink.

The campaign was broad in range and used a mix of media with a 9 week TV campaign, 4 weeks of cinema, 4 weeks of outdoor posters and leaflets and 4 weeks of radio (TNS: 2007). The whole initiative was launched and financed by the Scottish Executive. Prior to and following the campaign activity research was conducted in order to measure the effectiveness of the campaign in terms of spontaneous and prompted awareness and key communication take-out and to monitor attitudes towards the round culture of drinking in Scotland. The research was conducted by TNS System Three in two waves; the first wave conducted in August 2006 prior to the launch of the advertising campaign and the second carried out in December 2006 directly following the campaign (TNS: 2007).

The campaign was supported by a strategic partnership for alcohol misuse. In charge of the programme was the Deputy Health Minister and the campaign was supported by the Highland Drug & Alcohol Action Team (HDAAT). Alcohol information leaflets have been produced by the Scottish Executive in partnership with Alcohol Focus Scotland, (the national voluntary organisation for alcohol issues) and NHS Health Scotland (Scotland’s health improvement agency). Moreover, public relations (PR) support was commissioned to IAS Smarts (a well established regional advertising and PR network in the UK) which courted media coverage in both national and local media and also produced work to run in or on various editorial platforms that form part of the wider alcohol campaign editorial activity (TNS: 2007).

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3 Method and Data Sources

The data collection and analysis methods are in line with the case study methodology; documents and literature relating to the campaign was scrutinised and triangulated to provide answers to the questions posed in section one of this report. A wide range of data have been collected through an extensive internet search. The collected data have been found mainly on the Scottish Government’s webpage (http://www.scotland.gov.uk) Other web pages such as http://www.infoscotland.com/alcohol and http://www.scottishexecutive.gov.uk contain further useful information that has been used for the analysis of the case study.

To evaluate the campaign’s effectiveness an ad hoc survey was conducted by TNS System Three amongst the key target group of those aged 16-35 who drink alcohol away from home at least once a week. The selected method was interviews that were carried out using CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing) in halls of residence. The interviews were conducted in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Aberdeen. The more sensitive sections of the questionnaire were self completed by the respondents. The research by TNS is documented in an evaluation report published by the Scottish Executive entitled: “Alcohol misuse 2006. Campaign evaluation”. The data found in this report has been used in this case study as a basis for investigation (TNS: 2007).

There have not been any interviews conducted for this TF1 case study.

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4. Discussion of findings

4.1 What are the elements of the Binge Drinking campaign in Scotland and how do they relate to each other?

4.1.1 Message

The advertisement’s design was guided by the perception that providing people with information about the harm that excessive drinking can cause allows them to make an informed choice to cut down on drinking. There was a TV commercial entitled “Friends Don't Make Friends Drink” featuring a group of friends in a busy city pub after work (infoscotland.com: 2007). After several drinks one of the group (named Alan) attempts to decline another drink but eventually changes his mind after pressure from the rest of the group. The second scene takes place at a bus station where Alan, now drunk, tries to force a woman to drink when another man (a bystander) intervenes. The last scene, in an office, depicts Alan, arriving at work, looking hungover and with a cut above his eye whereas his friend (one of the original group who persuaded him to drink) remarks that he ‘doesn’t know when to stop’. The scene ends with the logo of the campaign: ‘Alcohol. Don’t Push It’.

Two radio commercials were aired to complement the main TV campaign (infoscotland.com: 2007). One features a group of girls who go out drinking. For one of the group the morning after means an inability to recall how she got home. The second commercial is targeted at male drinkers. In this commercial, a man is encouraged to drink to excess by his group of friends. The commercial ends up in a casualty department where his "friends" have to explain to his wife how things got out of hand.

In each of these examples, the message is based around demonstrating the negative outcomes which can result from binge drinking which are aimed at putting the target audience (message receivers) off the idea of drinking irresponsibly.

There have also been several posters including the one shown in Figure 1, which convey the message that it is up to the individualand not their peers to decide how much to drink and when to stop,emphasising the need for people to drink responsibly(infoscotland.com: 2007).

Figure 1 – Poster used for the campaign conveying a message for individuals to drink responsibly

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4.1.2 Medium

As mentioned above, the campaign used a mix of media – TV, radio and poster advertisements. At the same time, two communication leaflets were in circulation with the titles “What’s in a drink” and “Sensible drinking” (infoscotland.com: 2007) with a purely informative content. These leaflets were produced in partnership with AFS and Health Scotland and developed from independent research insights and they have been well received by the public. Additionally, internet advertising had been developed. This activity sought to target, in particular, younger drinkers who are frequent users of Microsoft Hotmail and Microsoft MSN. Page dominant adverts targeted women and men, using separate creative executions, inviting them to the Alcohol website Drinking Time Machine. This allowed them to examine their drinking, either immediately prior to a night of drinking or after the event whilst suffering a hang over. This medium matches the audience lifestyle and, as a web-based activity, uptake and usage were easily measured.

4.1.3 Marketing Approach and the message receiver

The campaign is aimed at the population of Scotland, with certain messages on posters and other adverts aimed at either women or men (infoscotland.com: 2007). Whilst the campaign is aimed at people who drink excessively, with the intention of reducing their intake and drinking responsibly, it is also aimed at preventing individuals from encouraging others to drink. As there are several mediums used (internet, posters, TV) it appears as though it intends not to exclude any segments of the adult population – making sure it reaches as many people as possible.

4.1.4 Feedback

Feedback was recorded in the form of an evaluation conducted by TNS System Three (detailed in section two).

The main objectives of the advertising research were to measure the effectiveness of the campaign in terms of advertising awareness and key communication take-out and to monitor attitudes towards the “round culture” of excessive drinking in Scotland (TNS: 2007). The research focuses on the changes between the pre and the post evaluation conducted in August and December 2006. There are some references to the post wave research conducted in December 2005 (which evaluated the 2005 “Don't let too much drink spoil a good night out” campaign). In total, 342 interviews were conducted over the period 28th July - 5th August 2006 prior to the advertising activity, and 300 interviews were achieved at the post advertising wave over the period 15th - 22nd December 2006 (TNS: 2007).

In order to ensure a representative sample, quotas were set on age, sex and social class. To be eligible for interview, all respondents had to be permanent residents of Scotland and drink alcohol at least once a week away from home. To ensure comparability across the waves of research, results were weighted to matched profiles in the analysis. Weighting is often used in surveys to adjust samples so that the people interviewed are a truly representative sample of the population or to correct biases that can occur during a survey. This removes any possibility that the variation in profile might be influencing any changes in findings between waves. The sample profile was both unweighted (pre and post waves) and weighted. Throughout the report, the figures referred to for pre and post waves are weighted figures. Where significant results are referred to within the report, these are significant at the 95% confidence level or above. All other differences noted are not statistically significant (TNS: 2007).

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4.1.5 Physical / Fiscal Interventions

There does not appear to be any specific fiscal or physical interventions associated with the campaign (i.e. harder measures to reduce drinking). However as mentioned in section two of this report there were a number of initiatives implemented by the Scottish Executive which were running at the time of the campaign:

Supporting an alcohol test purchase pilot in Fife to deal with underage sales

Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005: includes tough action on irresponsible promotions that encourage binge drinking

New powers in the Antisocial Behaviour (Scotland) Act 2004: helping police and other agencies deal with alcohol-related crime and disorder

Over £20 million in total over 2005/06 and 2006/07 for rehabilitation services, and over £1 million to educate the public about the dangers of binge drinking

Supporting the Serve Wise programme: training in responsible serving practice provided to over 7000 staff serving alcohol in public bars, clubs and restaurants since 2002

Work to update the Alcohol Action Plan, which was expected to be launched at the end of 2006

(Scottish Government: 2006)

4.1.6 Partnerships

The campaign was implemented by the Scottish Executive and supported by the strategic partnership developed for the particular reason.

4.1.7 Relationship between the elements of the project

It is worthwhile to describe the general framework of the campaign. The “Alcohol. Don’t Push It” campaign was launched as a wide ranging campaign that formed part of a strategic long term plan for the alcohol misuse. The design of the campaign follows that commonly found in any campaign – a sender (with partners) transmitting a message through multiple media (the message is similar for each type of media) to the message receivers (target population).

4.2 Do the elements of the conceptual framework of campaign design match up with elements found in the Binge Drinking campaign in Scotland?

In general, all the components of this campaign are present in the initial draft conceptual framework for TF1 (figure 2). There is an emphasis here on different types of media, which are found to have had a bearing on the effectiveness of the campaign (see later sections).

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Figure 2 – Travel Awareness Conceptual Framework

4.2 Does the Binge Drinking campaign in Scotland offer any additional elements which can be added to the conceptual framework?

There was a substantial evaluation programme used for this campaign (TNS: 2007) which is possibly not reflected in the conceptual framework. The other aspect of this campaign which is not visible in the framework is the way in which this campaign has been implemented in two stages (‘Don't let too much drink spoil a good night out’ followed by ‘Alcohol, don’t push it’). If represented in a revised conceptual framework, the presence of a loop to represent the campaign repeating with a different message or combination of mediums may be required.4.3 Are there particular success factors or barriers to success evident in the

campaign?

4.3.1Success Factors

It was found that the use of certain brands assisted the success of the campaign. All the advertisements used were sponsored by the Scottish Executive and bear the “Healthier Scotland” and “Healthy Living” logos with the footnote “Scottish Government”, so as to highlight the fact that the whole effort was supported by a credible and reliable organisation (infoscotland.com: 2007).

In the case of this campaign, it appears that the type of media used to convey the message caused a varied response. Among people who claimed to have seen the TV advertising (sample size 247) an overall 39% described some aspect of the “Don’t Push It” advert. However, it does appear that most of them tended to refer more to the shame of the individual rather than the influences of friends (TNS: 2007).

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Marketing Plan - Input on consumers and behavioural change Travel Awareness campaign: ‘sender’

Physical or fiscal intervention Social marketing: targeted to stakeholders Social marketing: targeted to the general public

Core ‘message’ or different messages or market segments

Message : focuses on the intervention: inspirational but with a rational underpinning

Message : focuses on benefits to stakeholders -political go odwill, societal benefit -rational

Message : fine tuning message to segments -needs input from WP B. Emotional

Medium : public relations, briefings and meetings , on-line

Marketing approach : adoption of travel plans, for example, events such as car free cities

Recei vers may wish to modify message, to slow progress or to endorse

Receiver s respond , reject or ignore message. Unlikely to generate feedback unless a major issue

Marketing approach : personali sed marketing or targeted campaigns

Medium : integrated marketing package including print, television and public relations , on-line

Receivers respond or generate new messages relating to wants or desires

Marketing approach : service marketing reflecting on quality, price, etcetera

Medium : print, television, advertisements, public relations , on-line

‘Receivers’: the two way flow - media and other ‘noise’, feedback and word of mouth referral

In the research by TNS (2007), respondents were also prompted with the two poster adverts used in the campaign. Almost half of respondents (47%) recognised at least one of the adverts at this latest wave. This level was higher than in the post wave of December 2005 (43%) and is, in the experience of TNS System Three, a very high rating for poster advertising. Of the two posters (shown on page 18), the “Woman in toilet” poster achieved an exceptionally high level of recognition, with 41% of respondents claiming to have seen it before. “Man at bus stop” was recognised by around one in seven respondents (14%). This also indicates that the shock factor of the toilet advert may have proved stronger in terms of the impact of the imagery.

The results from the advertising-related measures are shown in the tables and figures that follow separated into subsections. Comparisons are made between the pre wave in August 2006 and post wave in December 2006.

TV awareness

Figure 3: Where saw or heard advertising (spontaneous) (TNS: 2007)

The success of the campaign is related to the nature of the message conveyed. It is important to make the target audience feel individual responsibility for the type of behaviour change a campaign is intending to affect. The “Don’t Push It” campaign mainly focuses on Scottish attitude to put pressure on their friends to drink. In order to measure changes in this behaviour people were asked how much they agreed or disagreed on certain attitudinal statements related to the campaign. A positive message that results from the survey is that the level of those agreeing strongly with the statement “If someone I was out with refused a drink I would question why” dropped significantly from 8% at the pre wave to 4% at the post wave. The same decrease is observed in those that agree strongly with the third statement “When out with friends I would encourage them to drink even if they say they don’t want to”, which is a positive movement. Although not significant, there has been a strengthening in agreement with “I would feel partly responsible if a friend I was out drinking with got drunk and ended up in trouble” from 70% to 74% (TNS: 2007).

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Figure 4 - Change in attitudinal and behavioural statements

Influences from the wider campaign to reduced binge drinking have added to the success of this campaign. Although people’s behavioural change in relation to drinking is a long-term goal, there appears to be a positive tendency towards the reduction of the consumption of alcohol. People seem to recognise the harm that excessive drinking can cause to themselves and to their relationships with friends and family although this probably results not only from the specific campaign but from the overall effort of the Scottish Executive to deal with drinking behavioural patterns. The timescales of the results show short-term behavioural change but there would need to be a longer-term assessment to determine the overall effectiveness of the campaign.

4.3.2Barriers to Success

Perhaps not a barrier to success, but it appears that certain media were not as successful as others. From the poster and radio campaigns there was a decrease in the awareness from the pre to the post wave. However, according to TNS System Three (2007), on a spontaneous level, posters and radio are less likely to be recalled, particularly when running alongside TV. Respondents to the evaluation survey only mention a certain number of sources and thus, the increase in TV awareness is likely to be the reason for the decrease on poster and radio recall.

All those respondents who did not mention radio when asked to state where they had seen/heard advertisements and were asked whether they recalled radio advertising specifically. By adding together those who mentioned radio spontaneously as a source of advertising (9%) and those who did not recall radio spontaneously but did so when directly asked, the level of awareness increased to 16%. As would be expected, the level of total radio recall amongst those identified as listeners to the relevant commercial radio stations was higher at 24% (TNS: 2007).

The respondents who did not mention posters spontaneously (as a source of advertising awareness) were asked directly whether they had seen any advertising on posters recently. When asked spontaneously the level was 18% and when the results from the prompted measure are taken into account this level rises to 35% overall who claimed to have seen poster advertising, which compares to 41% at the post wave in December 2005. Although recall has decreased, it is important to highlight that in the December 2005 campaign, TV was not used and posters therefore played a more prominent role in the campaign activity (TNS: 2007)..

Making an overall evaluation it could be pointed that there are problems in assessing the effectiveness of this campaign. The survey seeks to examine the changes in the behaviour concerning a “round culture” in Scotland and thus it is difficult to achieve a high level of success. Another concern stems from the fact that the research

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was conducted during the Christmas season when people tend to drink more than the usual. Additionally, the survey detected more about the changes in drinking behaviour than the habit of encouraging others to have another drink, which was the subject-matter of the specific campaign.

4.4 What are the cumulative effects of media overpressure?

The campaign was intensively launched for a limited time period (i.e. middle of August to December), based on the hypothesis that this would be more effective than launching the same activities over a longer time period. Combining the results that were analysed in the TNS evaluation (2007) a “total campaign reach” figure can be derived. A significantly high percentage of 94% had seen or heard some aspect of the advertising campaign. Demographically, the differences were insignificant. Compared to the results of previous campaigns of the same programme it could be mentioned that there is a substantial increase in the levels of recognition and recall; this is an outcome of the fact that TV was used as a media channel for the first time in 2006 on the “Don’t Push It” campaign.

Table 1: Total campaign reach (TNS: 2007)

A key characteristic of the campaign was the test of the media overpressure, i.e. the use of a multitude of actions and media for a specific and rather short time period. Considering the evaluation results, it seems that this technique worked effectively. Of course, it should be mentioned that in order for such a technique to be applied, a substantial budget is required. In addition, the implementation of a multi-dimensional campaign requires an experienced lead partner, in this case the Scottish Executive.

In order to examine the impact of the campaign on behaviour change the respondents were initially asked to complete questions on their frequency of drinking both away from and at home. In terms of the frequency of drinking away from home, there were no real differences across the waves. Slightly fewer people claimed to drink at least 4-5 days a week in the post wave December 2006 compared to August 2006. The level of those drinking at home between August 2006 and December 2006 did not change significantly. There was, however, a gradual decline among those claiming to drink at home at least once a week from 75% in December 2005, to 73% in August 2006 and 71% in December 2006 (TNS: 2007). These statistics represent the effects of the intense periods of media advertising – and indicate that this approach worked, at least in the short term.

4.5 Is the use of a mix of media really efficient?

The campaign simultaneously used the media of TV, cinema, radio, posters, leaflets and internet advertising and as mentioned earlier, certain media types were more effective. The level of spontaneous awareness with reference to alcohol misuse advertisements appeared to be significantly high. Awareness increased from 78% in August 2006 to 87% in December 2006 (TNS: 2007). The increase was higher amongst males. With reference to various media, television was the most widely recalled medium. It is important to mention that the level achieved for TV recall was higher than many other campaigns monitored by TNS System Three. However, when focusing on the content of the advertisement, awareness of TV comprises not only the specific campaign but other adverts with similar messages running at the same time.

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With regard to the media channels, the campaign used simultaneously TV, cinema, radio and poster advertisements as well as information leaflets and internet advertising. Comparing the total awareness of this second stage of the campaign with that of the first one, which did not use TV advertisement, it is obvious that the utilization of TV increased substantially the total campaign reach from 64% to 94% (TNS: 2007). The fact that a high percentage of interviewees (84%) recalled the TV advert places the television on the top of the most effective media for such kind of a campaign. The second most effective media was poster advertisements and this is evident not only from the results of the specific campaign but of other surveys conducted in February 2004, January 2005 and December 2005, after the launching of other related alcohol campaigns (TNS: 2007). Although poster awareness reaches the satisfactory percentage of 47% in this second stage of the campaign, it is significantly lower than TV recall. However, the utilization of television reduces the awareness of the other media, mainly of radio, which recall percentage dropped from 41% (post evaluation of the first stage of the campaign) to 24% (post evaluation of the second stage of the campaign) (TNS: 2007).

4.6 How can a wide range campaign be split into different components to address different segments?

As the target group of the campaign was broad enough to include young people from 16 to 35, it was further segmented in different sub-groups and addressed by different medium and/or customised messages. Respondents to the evaluation survey were prompted with the TV advert used in the “Don't Push It” campaign. Over 8 in 10 respondents (84%) recalled having seen the TV advert. Males were slightly more likely to recognise the TV advert (87%) compared to females (81%). Among age groups, those aged 26-35 were also slightly more likely to recall it (86%) than those aged 16-25 (82%) (TNS: 2007). For the radio and poster campaigns, there was very little difference in awareness of the two adverts by gender, despite the fact that they were targeted at either males or females specifically. These results indicate that different combinations of messages and media have different responses related to gender and age.

As perceptions and convictions differ among young people aged between 16-35 years old, the campaign planning took these differences into consideration and further segmented the target audience according to their gender or marital status. As a result, two kinds of posters were produced, considering each gender, and two different radio advertisements, designed to address single and married people (infoscotland.com: 2007). All of the advertisements promoted the same message and had the same implications but referred to people with different social characteristics. However, according to the survey there was very little difference in acknowledgement of the poster and radio adverts between the genders. Similarly, there were no particular differences between the social classes.

There may be merit, in this case, in segmenting the target audience by drink consumption and tailoring the campaign accordingly. Respondents were also asked the number of drinks they had consumed over the last 7 days. They were categorised into 3 groups devised by TNS for analysis purposes - Light, Moderate and Heavy drinkers - depending on the amount of alcohol drunk in the last 7 days. The proportion of “Light drinkers” (who had consumed 1-5 drinks over the last 7 days) decreased slightly at the latest wave (32% compared to 36% at the August pre wave). The proportion of “Moderate drinkers” (6-15 drinks over the last 7 days) also decreased in December 2006 (42%) compared to August 2006 (45%) (TNS: 2007). However, the number of those falling into the “Heavy drinkers” category (16+ drinks over the last 7 days) rose at the latest wave of the researchfrom 19% in August 2006 to 26% in December 2006. This increase could be attributed to the second round of fieldwork taking place in the season of Christmas parties when drinking patterns usually change. Indeed, when asked how this compared to their average behaviour, over half of “Heavy drinkers” (56%) claimed this was above average. Seasonality is clearly an issue in this measure.

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Table 2: Frequency of drinking alcohol (TNS: 2007)

Figure 5 - Types of drinker (TNS: 2007)

4.7 Does the Binge Drinking Campaign in Scotland demonstrate a balance of emotional and rational approaches within it’s message? Is the rational approach effective? Are the rational arguments receivable?

The radio commercials place the questions “Why people don’t let anyone refuse a drink?” and “Who is responsible for excessive drinking”. They highlight a Scottish drinking culture that allows people to press drink on unwilling drinkers but ignore their share of responsibility for any negative consequences. They demonstrate the fact that friends shouldn’t make friends drink, by pointing out the harmful effects of excessive drinking. Additionally, a rational approach is attempted in order to make people understand that drinking should be the result of their own desire and not of peer pressure and that encouraging others to drink make them responsible for the consequences.

Regarding the posters, two 48 sheet posters used in the August campaign were posted on 118 outdoor sites across Scotland. Two of the posters depict an ordinary person (one male, one female) drunk and in really bad condition after excessive drinking with friends (infoscotland.com: 2007). The male poster shows a man holding a bottle, almost unconsciousness, with the message “His mate bought the last round. But he’s paying for it” and the female poster depicts a woman in a bar toilet throwing up, with the message “She thought turning down a drink would make her look bad”. Both posters aim to change the “round behaviour” of drinking by shocking people and highlighting the social unacceptable condition that excessive drinking can lead to.

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Figures 6 & 7 Male (top) and Female (Bottom) directed posters

The other two posters picture an almost empty glass with the message “Looking after a mate doesn’t always mean buying them more drink” aimed at males, and “Who decides when you’ve had enough? You or your friends?” targeting females (infoscotland.com: 2007). These two posters use a logical pleading and a rational question in order to make people understand that encouraging excessive drinking is a bad habit and that everyone has the right to miss out on a round or deny having another alcoholic drink. These posters were also available on request for local use.

Figures 8 & 9 Rational messages to prevent binge drinking

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5 Conclusions

5.1 Recommendations for Campaign Design

The campaign’s philosophy was based on a rational approach to the alcohol misuse problem in Scotland. All of the advertisements depict realistic situations that aim not only to provide information regarding the specific theme but also to shock people and make them consider themselves in a similar situation.

The implicit message was that no matter to whom the responsibility lies (i.e. if it is personal or team), the consequences of alcohol misuse should be burdened by each individual. Therefore, it is explicit that the campaign focus was the personal relevance of the target-group regarding the campaign message. In other words, if the target group does not see the personal interest/relevance to a described situation, it is highly unlike to proceed with an attitutional/behavioural change. According to our opinion, this is a key point that can be adapted in transport-related campaigns.

Considering the results of the survey, this seems to be a successful approach to a campaign even though it is difficult to achieve a total shift in people’s attitude against such an ingrained behaviour. However, it should be mentioned that the organisation in charge has the right mentality: a behavioural change is a time consuming procedure with long-term benefits.

5.2 Recommendations for Task Forces 2-5

It should also be mentioned that advert awareness varies according to the message giver. The poster that depicted the young woman was recalled to a greater extent (41%) that the poster with the man at the bus stop (14%). The difference is diverse and much less between radio commercials.

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6 References

Infoscotland.com (2007) Campaign Latest available @ http://www.infoscotland.com/alcohol/displaypage.jsp;jsessionid=F79CA1B2F40461A26F9B213E89102113?pContentID=144&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show& accessed Dec 3, 2007

The Scottish Government (2006) Campaign to encourage responsible drinking (Aug 14, 2006) available @ http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2006/08/14120436 accessed Dec 4, 2007

TNS System Three (2007) Alcohol misuse Campaign evaluation 2006 available @ http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/08/03114725/0 accessed Dec 6, 2007

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