A Social Marketing Approach to
Promoting Literacy-Related
Behaviors Among Low-Income Families
Margarita Hurtado, Ph.D., Principal Research Scientist
Julia Galdo, M.A., Managing Director, Communication
Lori Agin, Principal Communications Specialist
Susan Heil, Ph.D., Principal Research Scientist
American Institutes for Research
May 3, 2010
Contents
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AIR’s Role
Social Marketing
Formative Research
Message and Materials Testing
Appeal and Demand
Outreach Assessment
Lessons Learned
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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
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Social Marketing
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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)
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Formative
Research
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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Messages and Materials Testing
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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
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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.
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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
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Appeal and
Demand
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PBS KIDS Raising Readers DVD
Most children highly enjoyed the DVD and watched it often
Children who enjoyed the DVD more, were also
more likely to have watched it more often
Somewhat
8.2%
Not at all
0.3%
ENJOYED DVD
Never watched
4%
FREQUENCY
WATCHED DVD
Once
16%
Very much
91.5%
(Response cards = 4,201)
Twice
22%
Three or more
58%
Younger children (3-5 yrs) tended to watch and enjoy
the DVD more than older children (6-8 yrs)
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Outreach
Assessment
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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
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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 Englishspeaking and Spanish-speaking RTL households
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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.
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Thank You!
Margarita Hurtado, Ph.D.
[email protected]
(301) 592-2215
www.air.org/health
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