Scottish Government

ISBN 0 7559 1164 4 (Web only publication)

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Campaign overview

• The Scottish Executive first launched an environment campaign in September 2001 to encourage the Scottish population to become more environmentally aware in their attitudes and behaviour.
• This wave of research (Wave 4) followed the burst of advertising in February/March 2004 which used press and outdoor posters only. This was the first time the environment campaign did not use TV advertising.
• There were four executions. 'Blue Bag' and 'Bottle Bank (also used as part of the campaign in August 2003) encouraged people to reuse and recycle. 'Kettle' and 'Thermostat' gave an energy saving message.

Highlights

• There has been an increase in the percentage of respondents who regard the environment and environmental issues as personally very important (41%, compared with 38% in Wave 3).
• Fewer respondents think that they cannot do anything personally to help the environment (30%, compared with 33% in Wave 3 and 35% in Wave 2). Fewer also think that industry is mainly to blame for environmental damage (43%, compared with 45% in Wave 3 and 50% in Wave 2). This may indicate and increase in perceived personal responsibility to the environment.
• The survey suggested that people are generally more aware of the changes they can make to their lifestyles to 'help the environment' (38%, compared with 35% in Wave 3). This is supported by the finding that significantly more people claimed to recycle at this latest wave of research (78%), compared to previous waves (71% in Wave 3, 66% in Wave 2, and 63% in Wave 1). This could be attributed to better provision of recycling facilities; at this wave more respondents claimed to have recycling facilities nearby (74%, compared with 71% in Wave 3).
• Fewer people think they should do more to protect the environment (71%, compared with 77% in Wave 3). As already shown, a greater percentage of respondents are making environmentally conscious changes to their lifestyles, and taking personal responsibility for the environment, which could explain why there was a drop in respondents feeling they should do more - they perhaps feel they are already 'doing their bit'.

Implications

• More people agreed with the statement I never really think about the effect my own lifestyle is having on the environment (46%, compared with 45% in Wave 3) . This finding sits awkwardly alongside the figures showing increased recycling and willingness to make changes to help the environment, perhaps suggesting that whilst people are aware of the steps they can take, there is a lack of awareness of how these small changes relate to the bigger picture. In planning a new environment campaign, it may be important to communicate how these choices impact on Scotland's environmental future.
• While TV communicates to the widest audience of any other advertising medium, the lack of TV in this campaign may explain the drop in awareness of the advertising/publicity. To address this, a new TV campaign was launched in November 2004.