Thank you for this cogent article about communications focused on raising awareness - and action. Among the noisy articles out there, this is clear, research-based and well written.
Your persuasive, evidence-based piece has such clarity and is so convincing that we at Valuing Voices are going back to the drawing board to be clear about our Theory of Change, Activist asks, and Communication! We want to avoid unintended results and encourage action, not threaten values (much 😊)
Sincere thanks!
I love this. I’d love to see some examples of organizations and grass roots organizers using the theory of change and what that looks like. We use one at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History but we may benefit from creating TOCs specific to action oriented or issue-driven projects or exhibitions. I’d love to see some examples from other folks!
I’m curious why you think the sector has so much trouble moving past awareness building campaigns. It feels like we have been having this conversation for a while. I would like to get to the other side.
Thank you this wake up article. It raises the question of what awareness really means. People may either know already, or don’t care…it’s actions that matter. I was always told in marketing/promotion, answer the question…so what?
Truly, as someone who works in marketing and doesn’t like campaigns centered entirely around awareness and has worked as a judge on such campaigns, it’s important to note that good campaigns are about a funnel. Awareness is meant to drive action, and that’s why it’s called a “campaign.” It’s rarely about just making people aware: there may be a portion of the campaign that is awareness-based, but most legitimate campaigns actually have SEVERAL pieces.
Also, I think it’s striking that you would take one study done on one campaign and allow the researcher to come up with sweeping generalizations about a tactic as a whole. Not to mention that you make GIANT leaps in logic on SEVERAL of these “cases.” It’s equally unfair for researchers to write as you have, forcing ends to fit together and bridging giant gaps to conclusion.
The research in the article is interesting, but still fairly weak for all the conclusions drawn.
Excellent article! You’ve made me rethink traditional activism (and the necessity of seriously considering potentially adverse effects before launching education/awareness campaigns).
I have always believed in giving people a clear alternative in order to change their existing behaviors. Like instead of just saying “Don’t do this”, rather say “This is better, why not do this.”
But I had never understood the concept with such clarity until now. Thank you for the really persuasive and research-backed article.
“Successful public interest campaigns need a narrowly defined audience, clear calls to action, and a theory of change. But they also need one more thing—the right messenger.”
The above lines summarize the message of this article for me.
Your opening made me laugh out loud because my current employer has a calendar of these “awareness” days/weeks/months for use on social media. And your example of seat belts was funny too. It wasn’t awareness that got me to wear a seat belt, it was getting two traffic tickets after moving to a state that tickets for that alone.
The misfires and backlash examples were interesting. I’d like to have seen more detail on what does work. Apparently we just have to be patient and wait for the teachable moment, as in the Montgomery bus boycott. But even when that moment arrives, it would be great to have more tested messages to bring forward.
When it comes to citizen behavior change, one of 2 options are usually relied on. 1) Information campaigns, the focus of concern expressed inthis article, targeting the Just Show Me segment of the population and 2) Laws/Increased Enforcement and/or Fines, targeting the You’ll Have to Make Me segment. The problem is, both of these groups are small AND return on investment is low. There’s a 3rd option (Social Marketing) which using traditional marketing principles and techniques to influence citizen behavior change that benefits society as well as the individual. This approach targets the “Help Mes”, those who don’t think the behavior is a bad idea. They just have barriers or don’t see/believe benefits will be realized. And it almost always takes more than words to reduce the barriers, and provide these benefits. If interested, can read more in a 2018 Routledge book “Policymaking for Citizen Behavior Change: A Social Marketing Approach” by Nancy R. Lee
“Awareness” is not enough. Remember the aggressive campaigns of Campus Crusade for Christ in the 1970s? If “awareness” was enough, we’d be 99% born again Christians by now.
I was floored that there is no mention of social marketing for attitude and behavior change which has been around since 1972 and is practiced around the world. I suggest you check out https://smana.org/ (Social Marketing Association of North America) and https://www.i-socialmarketing.org/ (International Social Marketing Association
Hi there,
I would love to hear what you think about "awareness" today given the political diabolic state we have in 2021. In a short period of time, we have got two schools of thought. Fact and Fake News. The media should be held accountable for much of this (side agnostic). Members of Congress, responsible for the other half of this mess. Also, to add my two cents. The "Just Say No" campaign is the backbone of many minorities doing life for "three times" and you are outstricken approach broadly applied in the ‘80s. The intent seemed reasonable to a degree but the lack of understanding of the outcome is devastating. It has an impact today. And, it has radical impacts on the population of American’s prison population that is greater per capita than anywhere else in the world. Add to this that it targetted lower-income minorities. Here in the US, we still struggle with the damage done in the ‘80s under Regan. It set off the racial disparity and drugs enabled this.
I applaud you for emphasizing that raising awareness without motivating action is not helpful and can, indeed, be counterproductive. The "awareness" mantra implicitly blames the victims of a problem for failing to achieve "awareness," which may not even be a problem for them, compared to barriers to action such as time and money. When I was a professor at the American University in Cairo, I was frustrated by students’ embrace of "increasing awareness" as the solution for every problem imaginable. If you can solve the problem by raising awareness, you don’t need to address the intractable barriers to problem-solving that people may face. One student came to me (as chair of the public policy master’s program) because she had gotten a bad grade on paper and hoped I would ask the professor to raise it. One section of her paper described an elderly woman living in poverty in Upper Egypt in a home with a dirt floor, rather than the tile my elite student considered essential. She attributed the woman’s choice of flooring to "lack of awareness," rather than poverty. I told her she was lucky I didn’t tell her professor to lower her grade rather than raising it.
I stumbled upon this gem while researching what I’m calling awareness fatigue" and looking for inspiration to carve out effective messaging when there are so many messengers and compelling messages vying for peoples attention, and fundraising dollars.
I would love to see a revised version considered through the lens of the last 5 years, the impact of the "Me Too", BLM and push for universal COVID Vaccinations/mandates.
COMMENTS
BY Terri (Pincus) Forman
ON February 23, 2017 02:06 PM
Thank you for this cogent article about communications focused on raising awareness - and action. Among the noisy articles out there, this is clear, research-based and well written.
- From a former Florida Alligator writer.
BY Christopher Dake
ON February 24, 2017 10:14 AM
Fantastic piece. Thanks for the hard work, this will be a valuable research asset.
BY Parker
ON March 1, 2017 11:53 AM
Great Ape-Snake War movement?
BY Greg
ON March 1, 2017 12:40 PM
Thank you for writing this. I wrote a short blog article a few years ago about the nonsensical awareness months that have little meaning. https://digitalpio.wordpress.com/2014/04/07/do-we-need-a-national-timeout-from-declaring-things-month/
BY Jindra Cekan, PhD
ON April 11, 2017 03:30 PM
Your persuasive, evidence-based piece has such clarity and is so convincing that we at Valuing Voices are going back to the drawing board to be clear about our Theory of Change, Activist asks, and Communication! We want to avoid unintended results and encourage action, not threaten values (much 😊)
Sincere thanks!
BY Claude Giroux
ON April 12, 2017 11:32 AM
Your paper made my day !
Thanks for this interesting contribution . Well-written, inspired and well-documented.
I work with many teams involved in public health campaigns and I intend to relay this to my colleagues and friends.
BY Stacey M Garcia
ON April 21, 2017 11:25 AM
I love this. I’d love to see some examples of organizations and grass roots organizers using the theory of change and what that looks like. We use one at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History but we may benefit from creating TOCs specific to action oriented or issue-driven projects or exhibitions. I’d love to see some examples from other folks!
BY Brian Reich
ON April 24, 2017 04:46 PM
Strong article. Enjoyed it a lot. I brought up some of the same issues/challenges in a book a few years back: https://www.amazon.com/Shift-Reset-Strategies-Addressing-Connected/dp/0470942673
I’m curious why you think the sector has so much trouble moving past awareness building campaigns. It feels like we have been having this conversation for a while. I would like to get to the other side.
Thoughts?
BY Parker
ON April 25, 2017 10:54 AM
Seriously, though… why is Occupy Wall Street called the Great Ape-Snake War movement?? Print edition says Occupy Wall Street. I am so confused.
(Great article, BTW)
BY Connie
ON May 1, 2017 08:00 AM
Thank you this wake up article. It raises the question of what awareness really means. People may either know already, or don’t care…it’s actions that matter. I was always told in marketing/promotion, answer the question…so what?
BY Danielle
ON June 12, 2017 06:59 AM
Truly, as someone who works in marketing and doesn’t like campaigns centered entirely around awareness and has worked as a judge on such campaigns, it’s important to note that good campaigns are about a funnel. Awareness is meant to drive action, and that’s why it’s called a “campaign.” It’s rarely about just making people aware: there may be a portion of the campaign that is awareness-based, but most legitimate campaigns actually have SEVERAL pieces.
Also, I think it’s striking that you would take one study done on one campaign and allow the researcher to come up with sweeping generalizations about a tactic as a whole. Not to mention that you make GIANT leaps in logic on SEVERAL of these “cases.” It’s equally unfair for researchers to write as you have, forcing ends to fit together and bridging giant gaps to conclusion.
The research in the article is interesting, but still fairly weak for all the conclusions drawn.
BY Annah
ON June 16, 2017 11:59 AM
Excellent article! You’ve made me rethink traditional activism (and the necessity of seriously considering potentially adverse effects before launching education/awareness campaigns).
BY Sovit Poudel
ON December 14, 2017 04:27 PM
I have always believed in giving people a clear alternative in order to change their existing behaviors. Like instead of just saying “Don’t do this”, rather say “This is better, why not do this.”
But I had never understood the concept with such clarity until now. Thank you for the really persuasive and research-backed article.
“Successful public interest campaigns need a narrowly defined audience, clear calls to action, and a theory of change. But they also need one more thing—the right messenger.”
The above lines summarize the message of this article for me.
BY Susan Fitzgerald
ON January 11, 2018 08:37 AM
Your opening made me laugh out loud because my current employer has a calendar of these “awareness” days/weeks/months for use on social media. And your example of seat belts was funny too. It wasn’t awareness that got me to wear a seat belt, it was getting two traffic tickets after moving to a state that tickets for that alone.
The misfires and backlash examples were interesting. I’d like to have seen more detail on what does work. Apparently we just have to be patient and wait for the teachable moment, as in the Montgomery bus boycott. But even when that moment arrives, it would be great to have more tested messages to bring forward.
BY Nancy Lee
ON January 11, 2018 12:36 PM
When it comes to citizen behavior change, one of 2 options are usually relied on. 1) Information campaigns, the focus of concern expressed inthis article, targeting the Just Show Me segment of the population and 2) Laws/Increased Enforcement and/or Fines, targeting the You’ll Have to Make Me segment. The problem is, both of these groups are small AND return on investment is low. There’s a 3rd option (Social Marketing) which using traditional marketing principles and techniques to influence citizen behavior change that benefits society as well as the individual. This approach targets the “Help Mes”, those who don’t think the behavior is a bad idea. They just have barriers or don’t see/believe benefits will be realized. And it almost always takes more than words to reduce the barriers, and provide these benefits. If interested, can read more in a 2018 Routledge book “Policymaking for Citizen Behavior Change: A Social Marketing Approach” by Nancy R. Lee
BY Hcat
ON March 12, 2018 11:23 PM
“Awareness” is not enough. Remember the aggressive campaigns of Campus Crusade for Christ in the 1970s? If “awareness” was enough, we’d be 99% born again Christians by now.
BY happy wheels
ON June 20, 2018 07:41 PM
I think this is an informative post and it is very useful and knowledgeable. I really enjoyed reading this post. big fan, thank you!
BY elabela
ON October 29, 2018 11:02 PM
dude all you said is true that awareness leads to no action but it doesn’t mean we should just stop raising awareness.
Elabela Andree REVERSADE
BY Jim Mintz
ON November 23, 2018 09:30 AM
I was floored that there is no mention of social marketing for attitude and behavior change which has been around since 1972 and is practiced around the world. I suggest you check out https://smana.org/ (Social Marketing Association of North America) and https://www.i-socialmarketing.org/ (International Social Marketing Association
BY Nikola Webster
ON January 17, 2021 10:27 PM
Hi there,
I would love to hear what you think about "awareness" today given the political diabolic state we have in 2021. In a short period of time, we have got two schools of thought. Fact and Fake News. The media should be held accountable for much of this (side agnostic). Members of Congress, responsible for the other half of this mess. Also, to add my two cents. The "Just Say No" campaign is the backbone of many minorities doing life for "three times" and you are outstricken approach broadly applied in the ‘80s. The intent seemed reasonable to a degree but the lack of understanding of the outcome is devastating. It has an impact today. And, it has radical impacts on the population of American’s prison population that is greater per capita than anywhere else in the world. Add to this that it targetted lower-income minorities. Here in the US, we still struggle with the damage done in the ‘80s under Regan. It set off the racial disparity and drugs enabled this.
BY Jennifer A Bremer
ON February 4, 2021 06:30 PM
I applaud you for emphasizing that raising awareness without motivating action is not helpful and can, indeed, be counterproductive. The "awareness" mantra implicitly blames the victims of a problem for failing to achieve "awareness," which may not even be a problem for them, compared to barriers to action such as time and money. When I was a professor at the American University in Cairo, I was frustrated by students’ embrace of "increasing awareness" as the solution for every problem imaginable. If you can solve the problem by raising awareness, you don’t need to address the intractable barriers to problem-solving that people may face. One student came to me (as chair of the public policy master’s program) because she had gotten a bad grade on paper and hoped I would ask the professor to raise it. One section of her paper described an elderly woman living in poverty in Upper Egypt in a home with a dirt floor, rather than the tile my elite student considered essential. She attributed the woman’s choice of flooring to "lack of awareness," rather than poverty. I told her she was lucky I didn’t tell her professor to lower her grade rather than raising it.
BY Stefanie Dziedzic
ON November 23, 2021 01:48 PM
I stumbled upon this gem while researching what I’m calling awareness fatigue" and looking for inspiration to carve out effective messaging when there are so many messengers and compelling messages vying for peoples attention, and fundraising dollars.
I would love to see a revised version considered through the lens of the last 5 years, the impact of the "Me Too", BLM and push for universal COVID Vaccinations/mandates.