A Social Marketing Approach to Promoting Literacy-Related

Behaviors Among Low-Income Families

Margarita Hurtado, Ph.D., Principal Research ScientistJulia Galdo, M.A., Managing Director, Communication

Lori Agin, Principal Communications SpecialistSusan Heil, Ph.D., Principal Research Scientist

American Institutes for Research

May 3, 2010

2

Contents

• AIR’s Role• Social Marketing• Formative Research• Message and Materials Testing• Appeal and Demand• Outreach Assessment• Lessons Learned

3

AIR’s Role

• Apply the principles of social marketing to reach Ready to Learn (RTL) families

• Conduct audience, market, message, and materials research

• Plan and implement RTL-RR marketing and community engagement activities

• Conduct process and outreach evaluation on specific aspects of the campaign

4

Social Marketing

5

Effective Social Marketing Is Based On Understanding the Audience

• Messages that are relevant to them • Delivered where they live, work, play, eat, shop

and pray• By messengers and channels they trust• Asking them to take a clear action (that they can

take and believe they can take)

6

Formative Research

7

Goals

• Identify and understand:– RTL families (target audience) – Marketplace of literacy initiatives and services

available to RTL families – Current brand and position of RTL– Resources and potential partnerships– Distribution and communication infrastructure

8

Findings

• RTL families are focused on basic needs. Most parents have little time to be involved in their children’s activities.

• Some parents don’t see themselves as their children’s first teacher.

• Parents don’t have much faith in school system but they do want better opportunities for their children.

• Most didn’t know that simple behaviors (rhyming and letter recognition games) can help their children get ready to read.

• Many don’t read to their kids but are willing to try new activities with their kids if they can easily fit them in their schedules.

• PRIZM-NE segmentation software is useful for localizing and characterizing RTL families

9

Implications:Messages to Parents

• “Anytime is Learning Time.”

• Do simple, fun and easy things with your kids anywhere

• Have your children watch PBS shows that are not only fun but can help them get ready to read

• Have your children go to ReadyToLearnReading.org

• Overall: Emphasize the benefits to parents related to having their children succeed in life rather than putting the emphasis on succeeding in school.

10

Implications: Benefits of New Behaviors for Parents

• Children can be entertained and educated at the same time.

• Requires little time and effort.• Can make them feel better as parents.• They are giving their children “a leg up in life”—

helping them build a foundation for success and reach their potential.

11

Messages and Materials Testing

12

Goals

• Test concepts, messages, and materials developed by PBS with target audience

• Understand RTL parents’ perceptions of concepts, messages and materials

• Collect information that will be used to revise messages and materials so that they are attractive, understandable, and actionable

13

Findings

• “Anytime is learning time” message was well understood and motivating across groups tested.

• TV and radio ads that took place in one location and in the present only were more easily understood.

• Ads that addressed parents directly were more easily identified by the target audience.

• PBS was a “trusted brand”; familiarity with shows varied.

• Computer and Internet use was sometimes lower than expected.

14

Implications

• Keep it simple and direct

• Model desired behaviors

• RTL parents tend to be very “literal” so elements should be concrete

• Maintain unity of time and space

• Use humor, but make sure you test it with target audience

• All characters should interact with each other

• Call to go to ReadytoLearnReading.org may go unheeded due to access limitations

15

Appeal and Demand

16

PBS KIDS Raising Readers DVD

Very much91.5%

Somewhat8.2%

Not at all0.3%

Children who enjoyed the DVD more, were also more likely to have watched it more often

Younger children (3-5 yrs) tended to watch and enjoythe DVD more than older children (6-8 yrs)

Three or more58%Twice

22%

Once16%

Never watched4%

ENJOYED DVD

FREQUENCY WATCHED DVD

(Response cards = 4,201)

Most children highly enjoyed the DVD and watched it often

17

Outreach Assessment

18

Goals

• Obtain information on parental attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors related to the campaign

• Assess the implementation of the campaign at the local level

• Identify success factors and lessons learned

19

Findings and Implications

• The “Anytime is learning time” message is reaching parents—60% had heard it. – Parents understand and internalize it, but need concrete

examples or modeling of the message.

• Awareness of the “Anytime is learning time” message is associated with behaviors encouraged by PBS KIDS Raising Readers– Viewership of PBS KIDS shows & playing word games

• Engaging with children in word games play increased significantly from 2008 to 2009

• Pre-literacy opportunities may be different in English-speaking and Spanish-speaking RTL households

20

Lessons From Social Marketing

• Invest the time up front to get to know your target audience and learn how to reach them.

• Design communication products based on your audience’s needs and wants.

• Test all concepts and materials with the target audience.

• Campaign messages, ad content, outreach activities, and other campaign elements will probably be modified based on the above.

• Apply multiple channels and approaches to delivering information to target audience and reinforce messages.

21

Thank You!

Margarita Hurtado, Ph.D.mhurtado@air.org(301) 592-2215

www.air.org/health