University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October GRID Arendal, Norway Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information Measuring Impact, Effect and Efficiency of Environmental Information & Communication Frank Thevissen

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October General Goal n “Maximise the impact of environmental information” n Major concern of all communication (related) issues ( %) n Minor practice ( %)

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October How to achieve that objective...? n Systematic approach (check lists) n Providing Insights (mechanism, complicating factors,...) n Priority setting n Criteria setting (defining impact, measuring effects) n Legitimisation

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October Just before we start unpopular perspectives from the field of applied communication research

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October NR 1 4 Compared to rules, regulations, rewarding systems, social control, fines etc.; communication and information dissemination activities always have a weaker impact on changing people’s behaviour since this behaviour change largely depends on their free will;

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October NR 2 4 Behavioural change is most difficult to achieve by various types of information dissemination and communication efforts;

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October NR 3 4 Any question will most likely always generate an answer, independent from the quality and validity of the question;

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October NR 4 4 Using the outcomes of market research will not (any longer) guarantee the success of an applied strategy: to a large extent the effect and impact of a campaign will remain unpredictable;

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October NR 5 4 From all variables in action, the design and content of the survey itself often has the strongest impact on respondents knowledge and change in awareness;

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October NR 6 4 Never overestimate the capacity of respondents to express their wants, needs...;

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October NR 7 4 Although market research methods and techniques improve, the failure ratio in for example particular product categories (consumer goods) raise up to 90%;

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October NR 8 4 Always define clear, tangible indicators to measure the impact (effect) of communication actions since these variables are often intangible (awareness, memory, likeability...);

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October NR 9 4 Never mix up ‘information dissemination’ with ‘communication’ or ‘communications impact’. Remember that most information disseminated gets lost and therefore has no impact at all;

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October NR 10 4 Information overload has a tremendous negative effect on the potential communications impact;

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October NR 11 4 Communication effects change over time. Remember campaigns generally have a temporary and limited impact.

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October NR 12 4 To measure opinions, respondents first need to HAVE FORMED an opinion;

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October NR 13 4 To measure facts and figures via questionnaires, people largely depend on their memory: as a consequence the answers to these questions are often unreliable;

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October NR 14 4 People’s willingness to participate in surveys and to give reliable answers largely depends on their cultural, social, religious background etc., their motivation, knowledge and attitude towards the survey itself;

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October NR 15 4 The effectiveness of a campaign is not related to the level of exposure;

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October NR 16 4 Campaigns are more often designed to suit the interests of the sponsor rather than meet the objectives at target group level;

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October NR 17 4 Information most often reinforces people’s attitudes. Information not in accordance with their beliefs and values will most often be rejected or neglected by the receiver.

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October New ‘communication’ environment...? overload production consumption

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October AAAA hypodermic needle model

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October AAA B -A AAA A

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October u Selective Exposure u Selective Attention u Selective Memorisation u Selective Retention

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October Impact... ?

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October Stimulus and Response Patterns S/ R R(1)/S R(2)/S

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October X X t1t2 t1t2 communication brand ‘x’ tangible brand product ‘x’ effect 1 effect 2 effect 1 effect 3 effect 4 effect 5 exposure consumer behaviour X

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October Research Cycle Analysis (media consumption, objectives, benchmarks) Planning (media planning) Implementation (process analysis, monitoring) Evaluation (communication effect research)

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October Checklist

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October Communication Research Checklist (1) r Sender? r Channel? r Receiver? r Data? r Information? r Communication? r Ad hoc? r Permanent? r Ad hoc & Permanent r Analysis? r Planning? r Implementation? r Evaluation?

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October Communication Research Checklist (2) r Active information? r Passive Information? r focus on Media? r focus on Message? r focus on Corporate? r Effect r Impact r Efficiency r Cost-effectiveness r Cognitive (learn) r Affective (feel) r Conative (do)

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October Communication Research Checklist (3) r Immediate? r Short Term effects? r Medium Term effects? r Long Term effects? r communication effects? r non-communication effects? r direct impact? r indirect impact? r desired effects? r undesired effects?

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October Communication Research Checklist (4) r Response indicators? (impact followed by response) ‘ feedback to sender ‘ other direction r No response indicators?

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October Communications Functions: n Visibility, Reach (GRP) n Attention n Awareness (Agenda Setting) n Memorisation n Awareness n Involvement n Image n Associations (artificial) n Behaviour change

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October Examples & Illustrations Frank Thevissen

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October scores: si mi li me mc beh Cognitive Affective Connative

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October titles numbers issues contacts persons target groups universe (population)

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October F = 0F = 1- 2F = 3- 5F = F = > 10

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October number of inserts 1510 max. reach 60% 100% (accumulated reach) GRP

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October Effective Reach (ERP) 1310 Contacts overexposure ERP-zone minimal exposure frequency coverage target group (%)

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October  -values for different media n cinema (30’’) n television (30’’) n newspapers (full page) n magazines (full page)0.20 n billboards (20m2) contact 2 contacts 3 contacts 10%90% 10%9%81% 19%8.1%72.9%

University Brussels Frank Thevissen UNEP - GRID Arendal Workshop on Communication of Environmental Information October