ADVERTISING MESSAGE RECALL/IMPACT AMONG ALL RESIDENTS
Messages related to pollution of runoff water affecting the ocean remain the most memorable; nearly half of those who recall storm water advertising (46%) play back this message unaided.
- This is followed by general awareness of messages about problems with ocean water and beaches.
- Residents are less likely this year to have heard messages related to pollutants washing into storm drains and clogging them and are somewhat less likely to connect pollution to effects on marine life and public health.
- This represents anticipated erosion in these messages due to a more targeted focus for the campaign this year.
- There is some indication that residents are starting to associate runoff pollution with contamination of their own neighborhoods.
Residents who have heard storm water advertising are most likely to recall motor oil and litter/trash being the specific pollutants causing problems.
- Relative to the baseline period, there is significantly higher awareness of the dangers of dog droppings and coffee cups to the quality of the runoff water.
- There has been a corresponding drop in recall of leaves as a problem since that focus was eliminated from the campaign.
In 2000, it was determined that the new public education campaign was less “intrusive” and personally relevant to Los Angeles County residents than the 1998 “If I Only Knew” campaign. Efforts were made to retain the simplicity and clarity of the 2000 campaign while selecting creative that would motivate residents.
- Current indications are that these efforts paid off in terms of the 2001 campaign teaching residents something they didn’t know and making them think about their behaviors.
- The 2001 campaign’s effect on behaviors is the same as the initial campaign in 1998.
- The 1998 campaign, however, remains the most “meaningful” of the three sets of creative used to date.