Executive Summary
Background
1. In November 2005, the Scottish Executive's Office of Chief Researcher commissioned BMRB research on behalf of the Marketing Unit to measure awareness and understanding of the second phase of Know The Score: Cocaine advertising campaign among the target audience, namely those aged between 16 and 26, who go out socialising once a week or more often. Specifically the research aimed to:
- assess spontaneous and prompted awareness of the campaign.
- evaluate knowledge of core cocaine campaign messages.
- examine attitudes towards cocaine use among those who had seen the campaign.
An additional aim of the research was to evaluate whether the aims of the wider drug campaign ( Know The Score) are being met, that is, to establish whether the campaign is effective in raising public awareness of drugs and in signposting where to obtain help and advice.
2. A total of 466 interviews were conducted over the period 15th to 24th December 2005. Interviews were conducted in Aberdeen, East Kilbride, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Glasgow, Penicuik and Paisley.
3. Three waves of quantitative research have been conducted to evaluate the campaign:
- Wave 1 - pre-campaign evaluation was conducted in February 2005 before the launch of the Know The Score: Cocaine campaign.
- Wave 2 - post-campaign evaluation was conducted in April 2005 after the initial phase of campaign advertising to assess awareness of the campaign and examine attitudes around cocaine use.
- Wave 3 - this is the current wave of post-campaign evaluation, which was conducted in December 2005 after the second phase of the campaign.
These terms will be used throughout to refer to the different waves of research. Where possible results for Wave 3 are compared with Wave 2.
Advertising awareness
4. Overall, three quarters (73%) of respondents said that they were aware of some form of advertising or publicity about cocaine. Most had seen this advertising or publicity on television (58% of respondents). Seventeen per cent also recalled seeing advertising or publicity in posters, 14% in newspapers, and 14% on radio.
5. Half of respondents spontaneously described the Scottish Executive advertising. Although it was not asked in the same way in Wave 2, spontaneous awareness appears to have increased from 41%. 1
6. After prompting, 91% of respondents were aware of at least one strand of the Know The Score: Cocaine campaign. This has increased from 68% in Wave 2 although this may be in part due to the use of multimedia CAPI in Wave 3. Multimedia CAPI gives a more accurate picture of prompted recognition compared with the still images used in Wave 2 to prompt memory of the TV advert.
7. Eighty-five per cent of respondents recognised the Scottish Executive TV advert. This has increased from 68% in Wave 2. Forty-five per cent recognised the radio advertising. There was no radio advertising in Waves 1 or 2.
8. Fifty-one per cent of respondents recognised one of the two posters shown. This has increased from 45% in Wave 2. Forty-one per cent of respondents specifically recognised the poster showing a man's heart and arteries. A quarter (25%) of respondents specifically recognised the poster showing a heart being gripped by cocaine fingers. The difference in levels of recognition between the two posters could be linked to the higher coverage the 'man poster' received, particularly in urban areas. It could also be that attention was drawn to the design of the man poster because it used similar imagery to the television advert.
Message of advertising
9. Respondents were shown the campaign material and asked to describe the main message of the advertising. Almost half of respondents (49%) said that the main message was that cocaine could affect the heart or arteries. A third (34%) said the message was that cocaine was bad for your health in general.
Attitude towards the advertising
10. The majority of respondents felt that the campaign was relevant to people like them (58%). A similar proportion agreed that the advert was the sort that they would talk about to other people (56%).
11. Almost two thirds (65%) agreed that the adverts told them things that they did not already know. Three quarters (77%) said that the advertising made them think about the dangers involved in taking cocaine.
12. Two thirds (69%) agreed that the campaign made them more aware of where to get further information. Just under half of respondents (45%) said that it made them more likely to find out more about cocaine.
13. When asked where they would seek additional information about cocaine, the most common answer was "on the internet" (35%). A further three in ten (31%) said that they would use the Know The Score website or helpline.
14. When asked if they thought that the risks of drugs are greatly exaggerated in general, a quarter (25%) of respondents agreed. However, when asked if they thought that the Know The Score: Cocaine campaign exaggerated the risks, fewer respondents agreed (18%). There are therefore some respondents who, even though they believe that drugs messages are exaggerated, do not believe that the Know The Score: Cocaine campaign message is exaggerated.
Knowledge about the risks involved in taking Cocaine
15. Before being shown the advertising respondents were asked if taking cocaine increased the chance of having a heart attack. Eighty-one per cent of respondents agreed with this. Those who recognised the campaign were significantly more likely to agree with this statement. Eighty-five per cent of campaign recognisers agreed whereas only 42% of respondents who had not seen the campaign thought that taking cocaine increased the chance of having a heart attack. This suggests that the campaign has been successful at improving knowledge in this area.
16. Secondly, respondents were asked if they agreed that you only have to take cocaine once to be at risk. Seven in ten of respondents (70%) agreed with this. There was no difference between those who had seen the campaign and those who had not.
Attitudes towards taking Cocaine
17. Around one in ten (11%) agreed that "taking drugs is part of a good night out". Attitude data from Wave 2 was not available however this proportion is lower than in Wave 1 (22%).
18. When asked if cocaine has more of a health risk compared with other drugs, 29% agreed in Wave 1 compared to 21% in Wave 3.
19. In Wave 3 18% agreed that cocaine leaves someone in more control than other drugs such as ecstasy or speed. This has decreased from 26% in Wave 1.
Impact of advertising
20. Respondents were asked whether they were more or less likely to take cocaine after seeing the campaign. The majority (56%) said that the campaign had not altered their likelihood of taking cocaine. Almost a third said they were less likely to take cocaine (30%) whereas 11% said they were more likely to take cocaine.
21. The impact of the campaign appears to differ among subgroups. For analytical purposes, it was useful to divide respondents into four groups, according to the level of risk of encountering the harmful effects of cocaine (see 2.11 for more details). 2 More respondents in the high cocaine exposure group (an important target group for the campaign) said that they were less likely to take cocaine after seeing the advert. Thirty-seven per cent of those in the high cocaine exposure group said the advert made them less likely to take cocaine compared with 19% of cocaine users and 22% of those in the 'other drugs exposure' group. The advert appears to have had more impact on females, with over a third (35%) saying they were less likely to take cocaine after seeing the advert compared with only a quarter (26%) of males.
22. Those that said the advert made them more likely to take cocaine (11% overall) were slightly more likely than the sample as a whole to be: not working (20% of unemployed), in lower social grades (15% of C2DEs), and younger (13% of 16-19 year olds said 'more likely' compared with 7% of 24-26 year olds).
23. The percentage of respondents saying they were less likely to take cocaine after watching the adverts has increased by 11% since Wave 2. However, the proportion of respondents saying that they were more likely to take cocaine as a result of seeing the advertising has increased by 7% since Wave 2. In Wave 3 BMRB used a self-completion method. In Wave 2 questionnaires were administered by interviewers. It is possible that a change in method has led to more honest answers being given in Wave 3.