This article was downloaded by: [FHI 360], [Michael Williams] On: 15 September 2011, At: 13:26 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK
Social Marketing Quarterly Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/usmq20
Social marketing as a tool to stop child abuse a
b
Sue Stannard , Susie Hall & Joan Young
c
a
CYPFS Communications Officer
b
National Manager of Public Awareness Services, CYPFS
c
Managing Director of Social Research in New Zealand and Australia for Colmar Brunton Research Available online: 28 Apr 2010
To cite this article: Sue Stannard, Susie Hall & Joan Young (1998): Social marketing as a tool to stop child abuse, Social Marketing Quarterly, 4:4, 64-68 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15245004.1998.9961021
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
64
ADOLESCENT ISSUES
Social Marketing Quarterly / Summer 1998
SOCIAL MARKETING AS A TOOL TO STOP CHILD ABUSE By Sue Stannard, Susie Hall and Joan Young
Downloaded by [FHI 360], [Michael Williams] at 13:26 15 September 2011
Introduction In New Zealand, as in many countries, government agencies are seeking new and creative approaches to resolve long-standing social problems. As the public sector focuses on increasing the effectiveness, efficiency and accountability of taxpayerfunded programs and services there becomes increasing interest in preventative strategies and methods which encourage voluntary compliance. For these reasons, social marketing as the application of private sector marketing concepts to influence the voluntary behavior of target audiences is now being applied to a wide variety of social issues including child abuse prevention. This article briefly outlines how the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Service, in partnership with Colmar Brunton Research, has applied social marketing to its child abuse prevention strategy.
Background In 1995, Colmar Brunton Research (a New Zealand market research company) was contacted to undertake qualitative and then quantitative research to determine the general publics' levels of child abuse awareness and attitudes for the New Zealand Children, Young Persons and Their Families Service (CYPFS). In May 1995, the first two stages of the campaign were publicly launched amid debate on the value of such an expensive program. These stages focused on emotional/verbal abuse (witnessing family violence) and physical abuse. Spearheading the campaign were two hard-hitting and confrontational TV ads, which shocked New Zealanders into debating the issues of child abuse and which have subsequently been proved to have been successful in raising awareness. As well as television advertising, the first stage also used print and radio ads, parenting booklets (in Maori, English and Samoan) and was underpinned by a toll-free phone counselling, information and referral service. In late 1996, Colmar Brunton introduced CYPFS to the concept of social marketing. Its primary objective was to change behavior and clearly went beyond just raising awareness. The new tool was integrated into the on-going campaign development beginning with stage three of Breaking the Cycle.
Social Marketing and Child Abuse The long-term goal of the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Service (CYPFS) is to eventually eliminate abusive behavior towards children. Colmar Brunton and CYPFS followed Alan Andreasen's approach to social marketing (Andreasen, 1995) which employed the transtheoretical model of behavior change (Prochaska, Di Clemente & Norcross, 1992). When applied to the "Breaking the Cycle" campaign the goal is, over a period and within funding constraints, to move the target audiences through four behavior stages (pre-contemplation, contemplation
Social Marketing Quarterly / Summer 1998
ADOLESCENT ISSUES
65
and preparation, action and maintenance) using the communication tasks shown in the table below. Behavior stages 1. Pre-Conteraplation
Communication task 1. Educate
2. Contemplation & Preparation
2. Increase the benefits of nonabusive behavior
Downloaded by [FHI 360], [Michael Williams] at 13:26 15 September 2011
3. Decrease the costs of nonabusive behavior
3. Action
4. Increase social pressure for non-abusive behavior
5. Increase behavioral control
6. Improve ability to act
4. Maintenance
7. Reward/remind non-abusive behavior
Breaking the cycle Increase awareness of the option of non-abusive parenting. Show benefits of not abusing children (eg happy, healthy children, feeling like a good parent, not feeling guilty, enjoying life). Decrease the costs of not abusing children (eg as parents fear losing control, help them understand they do not always have to be in control and show them positive disciplinary techniques). Build on the high awareness and condemnation of child abuse, for more active reporting of suspected abuse from those most likely to detect it (eg teachers, neighbours, relatives, friends). Make abusers realise that if they abuse children in any way, they are likely to be caught. Help people to recognise signs of abuse and to act upon them, feel comfortable asking for advice or help from friends or family, or contacting an organisation. Help overcome barriers to changing behaviors. Improve awareness of services available to help abusers and victims. Reward people for not abusing their children and reinforce the social benefits of non-abusive behavior to the community.
In addition to the use of communications, CYPFS' interagency child abuse reporting protocols and community liaison social work activity make a significant contribution to implementing this model.
Stage Three of the Campaign Using the social marketing model, the third stage of the campaign aimed to build on increased public awareness of emotional/verbal abuse gained in the first stage by encouraging the target audience to make appropriate changes in its behavior. Stage three was launched in May, 1997. It focused on two aspects of emotional/verbal abuse:
Downloaded by [FHI 360], [Michael Williams] at 13:26 15 September 2011
66
ADOLESCENT ISSUES
Social Marketing Quarterly / Summer 1998
arguing and fighting in front of children, and putting children down by yelling, swearing, etc. at them. The primary audience was parents of dependent young children caught in the cycle of emotional/verbal abuse with a secondary audience of close family/whanau or other influencers of the main target group. The primary audience was therefore not current CYPFS clients, but adults capable of self-correcting their behavior. Central to this approach was preliminary qualitative research to understand how the target audience perceived the barriers to and benefits of changing their behavior. It had been assumed that in terms of behavior change, parents were primarily concerned about benefits to their children. The research results highlighted the fact that parents in the target group were primarily concerned about benefits to themselves. Consequently, the key theme for the stage three advertising was, a change in your behavior can change the behavior of your child and make your lives a lot more enjoyable. Like previous campaigns, the latest stage was underpinned by community consultation, internal and external communications, parenting booklets (English, Maori, Samoan, Tongan and Cook Island Maori), a toll-free information line with a counselling and referral service, a Pacific Islands public relations strategy and a media strategy.
Research Results CYPFS has tracked public awareness of child abuse over the last three years using the 1995 benchmark study and subsequent campaign monitors (sampling 611 New Zealanders aged 15+). Results were measured across the general population with breakdowns of four categories: NZ/European; Maori; Pacific Islands people; and other ethnic groups. The latest research monitor (September, 1997) measured responses to the June/July 1997 advertising activity. Since 1995, the significant trends for unprompted awareness of emotional abuse show: • An 8 % general increase, with 12 % more mention of yelling, shouting, screaming, swearing at a child and a 7 % increase in mention of putting a child down; • A 22 % increase among Maori; • A 30 % increase among other ethnic groups. There have also been significant increases in the recognition of two key behaviors as child abuse (both highlighted by the campaign): • Fighting or arguing in front of a child (+ 10 %). • Yelling at, swearing at or putting down a child (+10 %). Particularly for Pacific Islands people, there were significant increases in their recognition of fighting and arguing in front of a child (+ 45 %) as abuse and verbally putting down a child (+ 20 %). It must be acknowledged that other events, such as high profile media stories, can influence public awareness and recognition of child abuse. While the increased awareness cannot be attributed solely to the Breaking the Cycle campaigns, the latest monitor results on the advertising awareness and new self-reported behavior change questions are very exciting. Awareness of the television commercials was very high with 79 % of New Zealanders being aware of the "Backwards/Forwards" commercial after just five weeks airtime and 91 % aware of "Vicious Cycle" (which built on earlier exposure in stage one). Around two-fifths (39 %) of the 15 + population were aware of the stage three radio advertising and it had strong message recall.
Social Marketing Quarterly / Summer 1998
ADOLESCENT ISSUES
67
With the adoption of the social marketing model, the latest campaign monitored self-reported contemplation of behavior change and actual perceived behavior change in line with CYPFS objectives. Advertisement
Downloaded by [FHI 360], [Michael Williams] at 13:26 15 September 2011
Backwards/Forwards TVC Vicious Cycle TVC Parenting radio ads
Contemplated behavior change % Aware of % of total population ad 56% 44% 47% 43% 48% 19%
Reported actual behavior change % Aware of ad % of total population 20% 16% 18% 16% 12% 5%
The table above shows that 1 9 - 4 4 % of the population has thought about changing their behavior as a result of the campaign and 5 -16 % of the population stated they had actually changed their behavior as a result of the campaign. Specifically, 8 % of the total population stated that in response to the Backward/Forwards TVC, they have tried to stop yelling at, swearing at or putting the child down and 8 % have tried to stop fighting or arguing in front of the child. Compared with the overall results, Maori and Pacific Islands audience showed a significantly higher incidence of self-reported contemplation of behavior change and actual change for both television and radio advertising (see table below).
Advertisement Backwards/Forwards TVC Vicious Cycle TVC Parenting radio ads
Reported actual behavior change for % of total population Overall Maori Pacific Island People 32% 44% 16% 38% 16% 51% 5% 11% 15%
This is a very exciting result, as it indicates the campaign has been even more effective amongst traditionally hard to reach minority groups than it has been amongst the majority group.
Conclusion Breaking the Cycle is an evolving campaign continually breaking new ground. As far as we are aware it has been unique internationally in applying social marketing as a social work intervention to change abusive behaviors. Results from the research to date show that the campaign has made a solid start and considerable progress with increasing awareness and self-reported behavior change, especially with Maori and Pacific Islands people. To sustain this momentum and achieve lasting change we must maintain and build on the positive community response measured so far. Sustained change will need a long-term strategy, carefully monitored at each stage.
68
ADOLESCENT ISSUES
Social Marketing Quarterly / Summer 1998
About The Authors Sue Stannard is a CYPFS Communications Officer. She has been Project Manager for the Breaking the Cycle campaign for the past two years and has been involved since its inception.
Downloaded by [FHI 360], [Michael Williams] at 13:26 15 September 2011
Susie Hall is National Manager of Public Awareness Services at CYPFS. She has worked in journalism, communications and public relations fields for more than 11 years and has a particular interest in preventing child abuse, improving parenting skills through social marketing techniques and in applying marketing principles to the business of child protection. Joan Young is Managing Director of Social Research in New Zealand and Australia for Colmar Brunton Research, a privately owned marketing research company. She has presented internationally on the application of market research to successful social marketing campaigns and is currently involved in applying social marketing to areas such as taxation, child support benefit fraud, employment, criminal re-offending and the environment.
References Andreasen, A. R. (1995). Marketing social change: Changing behavior to promote health, social development, and the environment. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass. Prochaska, J. O., Di Clemente, C. O., & Norcross, J. C., (1992). In search of how people change: Application to addictive behaviors. American Psychologist, 47, 1102-1114.
