Nolan Schillerstrom Academic Advisor: Melissa Hughes, PhD Fall 2019/Spring 2020 Social Marketing as a Tool to Reduce Human Disturbance to Federally Threatened Rufa Red Knot (Calidris canatus rufa) Abstract This study will focus on the Federally Threatened Rufa Red Knot (Calidris canatus rufa) to evaluate existing conservation strategies used on an island in South Carolina and test social marketing as a new tool for changing human behaviors on the beach. Human disturbance is recognized as one of the greatest threats to resting migratory shorebirds such as Red Knot. Signage and education are the primary conservation strategies used to minimize human disturbance, but the species continues to decline. Community-based social marketing has potential to be a new and more effective tool for shorebird conservation. Statement of Interest Coastal birds are declining now more than ever, and despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent on coastal wildlife conservation in recent years, shorebirds and seabirds still face the same issues they have faced for decades. As the Coastal Program Coordinator for the South Carolina state office of the National Audubon Society, I have developed a deep understanding and love for coastal birds and the places they need. These are birds and places that, without our help, may disappear in our lifetimes. All issues that coastal birds face stem from negative human behaviors, as do many wildlife-related problems. Concentrated large-scale marketing campaigns aimed at changing behaviors have yet to be fully explored as a way to conserve wildlife. The same sociological tools that corporations employ to influence human behaviors should be applicable to conservation organizations trying to recover wildlife populations that need it most. For that reason, my research at the College of Charleston will continue to concentrate on developing scale-able and comprehensive best practices for marketing conservation. My proposed thesis project will contribute to an emerging field of research that has the potential to inform wildlife conservation practitioners not only in coastal South Carolina but across all US coastlines. I will be following methods outlined by Lee & Kotler (2015) and McKenzie-Mohr (2011) called “community-based social marketing,” that have yielded positive results in other disciplines like public health and anti-litter campaigns, for example. With the impressive mix of interdisciplinary classes that the College of Charleston has to offer, I plan to further my studies in biology and wildlife conservation while I continue taking courses in science communications and develop independent studies in marketing and community outreach. The skills that I learn during my time at the College of Charleston will directly and immediately translate back to my work with Audubon. I will also seek publication in journals like Human Dimensions of Wildlife and Environmental Management. The ability to influence human behavior through social marketing brings hope to the field of conservation biology. I will create a more sustainable future for people and birds on South Carolina’s coast. There is much untapped potential in blending social marketing and conservation biology, so much so that I believe it will soon become a fundamental component of the conservation toolbox in South Carolina and beyond.
Transcript
Nolan Schillerstrom
Academic Advisor: Melissa Hughes, PhD
Fall 2019/Spring 2020
Social Marketing as a Tool to Reduce Human Disturbance to Federally Threatened Rufa
Red Knot (Calidris canatus rufa)
Abstract
This study will focus on the Federally Threatened Rufa Red Knot (Calidris canatus rufa)
to evaluate existing conservation strategies used on an island in South Carolina and test social
marketing as a new tool for changing human behaviors on the beach. Human disturbance is
recognized as one of the greatest threats to resting migratory shorebirds such as Red Knot.
Signage and education are the primary conservation strategies used to minimize human
disturbance, but the species continues to decline. Community-based social marketing has
potential to be a new and more effective tool for shorebird conservation.
Statement of Interest
Coastal birds are declining now more than ever, and despite hundreds of millions of
dollars spent on coastal wildlife conservation in recent years, shorebirds and seabirds still face
the same issues they have faced for decades. As the Coastal Program Coordinator for the South
Carolina state office of the National Audubon Society, I have developed a deep understanding
and love for coastal birds and the places they need. These are birds and places that, without our
help, may disappear in our lifetimes.
All issues that coastal birds face stem from negative human behaviors, as do many
wildlife-related problems. Concentrated large-scale marketing campaigns aimed at changing
behaviors have yet to be fully explored as a way to conserve wildlife. The same sociological
tools that corporations employ to influence human behaviors should be applicable to
conservation organizations trying to recover wildlife populations that need it most. For that
reason, my research at the College of Charleston will continue to concentrate on developing
scale-able and comprehensive best practices for marketing conservation.
My proposed thesis project will contribute to an emerging field of research that has the
potential to inform wildlife conservation practitioners not only in coastal South Carolina but
across all US coastlines. I will be following methods outlined by Lee & Kotler (2015) and
McKenzie-Mohr (2011) called “community-based social marketing,” that have yielded positive
results in other disciplines like public health and anti-litter campaigns, for example.
With the impressive mix of interdisciplinary classes that the College of Charleston has to
offer, I plan to further my studies in biology and wildlife conservation while I continue taking
courses in science communications and develop independent studies in marketing and
community outreach.
The skills that I learn during my time at the College of Charleston will directly and
immediately translate back to my work with Audubon. I will also seek publication in journals
like Human Dimensions of Wildlife and Environmental Management. The ability to influence
human behavior through social marketing brings hope to the field of conservation biology. I will
create a more sustainable future for people and birds on South Carolina’s coast. There is much
untapped potential in blending social marketing and conservation biology, so much so that I
believe it will soon become a fundamental component of the conservation toolbox in South
Carolina and beyond.
2
Project Proposal/Description
Introduction
Human disturbance to migrating coastal birds has contributed greatly to massive
population declines in recent decades (Ikuta & Blumstein, 2003; Lethlean et al. 2017; Carney &
Sydeman, 1999). Shorebird populations in North America have declined by 70% over the last 40
years (North American Bird Conservation Initiative, 2016) with human disturbance as one of the
principal causes. Current strategies used to minimize human disturbance to coastal birds have
proven effective on a small-scale, but with limited resources there is a need for effective larger-
scale solutions. Social marketing and other social sciences research demonstrate the possibility
for large-scale progress in changing human behaviors and are generally untested as a tool for
wildlife conservation. Ultimately, this study’s objective is to (a) develop a better understanding
of the effectiveness of existing shorebird conservation measures already in place in South
Carolina to combat human disturbance, and (b) develop messages using social marketing
principals and measure their effectiveness on changing beachgoer behavior. “Social marketing,”
a.k.a. traditional marketing that aims to create positive social change, has great potential in
changing human behaviors and will be tested as a strategy to decrease human disturbance to
shorebirds.
This case study will focus on the Rufa Red Knot (Calidris canatus rufa), a long-distance
migratory shorebird that spends its winters as far south as Brazil or Tierra Del Fuego and nests in
the Arctic Circle (Burger et al., 2012). To survive this massive almost ten-thousand-mile one-
way migration every spring and fall, they must stopover at various beaches along the way to rest
and refuel. A beach in South Carolina serves as a key stopover site for thousands of Red Knots
every spring. The pseudonym “Knotty Beach” will be used throughout this study to refer to this
beach in order to protect participant’s identity. By late March every year this flock of knots has
3,000 to 8,000 birds, the largest single concentration of Red Knots in the entire hemisphere
(Thibault & Sanders, 2017).
Context
As of 2008, only 20,000-30,000 knots remained in the Western Hemisphere compared to
over 100,000 in the late 1980s (Niles et al., 2007). Then, after more drastic drops in populations,
the Rufa Red Knot was Federally Listed in December 2014 under the Endangered Species Act of
1973. It was listed due to loss of both breeding and nonbreeding habitat, reduced prey
availability, and a suite of other associated threats (Fish and Wildlife Service, 2014a), but human
disturbance was identified as the most immediate and tangible threat to migrating Red Knot (Fish
and Wildlife Service, 2014b). In South Carolina, it is widely recognized by beach managers that
one of the leading threats facing Red Knots and other migratory shorebirds is human disturbance
including people and dogs running and walking through resting flocks. Beachgoers and dogs
recreating too close to stopover habitat causes migratory flocks to overextend energy reserves
that would otherwise be spent flying long distances between winter roosts and summer nesting
sites (Pfister et al., 1992; Kirby et al., 1993). Human recreational activities on the beach can
diminish beach habitat (Schlacher & Thompson, 2008; Anders & Leatherman, 1987), cause
shorebirds to abandon otherwise preferred habitats, negatively affect the birds’ energy balances,
and reduce the amount of available prey (USFWS, 2014b, pg. 228-230). Red Knot are
3
considered a flagship species, representative of other coastal wildlife and other shorebird species
that share a similar life history.
A balance must be found between human access to the beach and Red Knot survival in
order to recover populations. Decreasing human disturbances to Red Knots and other migratory
shorebirds is necessary to achieve this balance. Ultimately, human disturbance comes down to a
choice that every beachgoer makes as they approach a flock of birds. Beachgoers can either walk
through the flock, disturbing it, or walk around the flock and lessen their impact. The factors
involved in this decision are complex and numerous as they are for any human behavior
(Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002), and are not well understood as they relate to shorebirds and
human disturbance.
Many strategies are used by wildlife managers and conservation groups to attempt to
influence human behaviors on the beach in order to decrease the number of shorebird disturbance
events, but few studies have been done to measure their effectiveness (Ikuta & Blumstein, 2003),
especially focusing on human behavior. The most common strategies used on beaches with
public access include beachgoer education and signage. To develop a way to accurately measure
the effectiveness of existing strategies and test social marketing as an additional behavior change
strategy, factors influencing pro-environmental human behavior must first be understood.
Shaping Behaviors for the Environment
Many frameworks exist for analyzing pro-environmental behavior that could be applied
to changing human behaviors to help Red Knots. These frameworks are outlined clearly and
chronologically in a review by Kollmuss & Agyeman (2002). One of the most commonly used
frameworks dates back to the early 1970s. This model shows a simple linear progression from
“environmental knowledge” to “environmental attitude” to “pro-environmental behavior.” It
suggests that by increasing knowledge you then increase attitudes which ultimately leads to more
environmentally friendly behaviors. Research since then has shown there is a discrepancy
between attitude and behavior (Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002), yet this simple representation is
still predominantly used by wildlife conservation practitioners.
More complex and accurate behavior change frameworks include the theory of reasoned
action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980), model of ecological behavior (Fietkau & Kessel, 1981), models
of predictors of environmental behavior (Hines et al., 1986), barriers between environmental
concern and action (Blake, 1999), and finally the model of pro-environmental behavior
(Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002). The most recent model (2002) proposes that there is no direct
relationship between environmental knowledge and pro-environmental behavior, but that
behavior is instead shaped by many factors including environmental knowledge, personal values,
emotional involvement, and external social and cultural factors. This shows that many
conflicting and competing factors shape our daily behaviors. Choosing not to chase beach birds
like Red Knot and other migratory shorebirds is no exception to that rule.
The model of pro-environmental behavior (Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002) is the guiding
framework of this study because it includes barriers as limiting factors and effectively
summarizes the working parts of all previous behavior change models. The methods section of
4
this study will include measurements of beachgoer attitudes, values, and knowledge/awareness
levels and attempt to gain insight about the barriers that prevent beachgoers from walking around
flocks of shorebirds instead of walking through them. Some of these concepts that make up an
individual’s “environmental consciousness” have already been studied.
Model of Pro-Environmental Behaviour (Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002)
Surveys have been conducted to gauge the level of beachgoer education about shorebird
conservation issues, attitudes about shorebird conservation, and if beachgoers would act to
reverse population declines. Researchers found that 90% of people surveyed on a beach in
Queensland, Australia agreed that shorebirds and people can co-exist and 69% would take action
to protect shorebirds (Petel & Bunce, 2012). Maguire et al. (2013) in Australia and Jorgensen
and Brown (2015) in Nebraska, USA took this one step further and asked beachgoers about their
receptiveness to management on the beach they frequented and found that more frequent
beachgoers had greater awareness of shorebird species but reported greater inconvenience
associated with management. This paired with the Model of Pro-Environmental Behaviour points
out that knowledge and attitudes, while still part of the environmental behavior framework,
cannot change behaviors on their own (Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002).
The following sections will dive into the existing strategies used by beach managers to
combat human disturbance, education and signage, and then explore social marketing as a new
tool for conservation behavior change.
Education as a Conservation Behavior Change Tool
Education is at the root of most wildlife management strategies that aim to decrease
negative impacts from humans. Beachgoer education is a commonly used strategy to decrease
human disturbance of coastal birds because lack of knowledge is commonly seen as a barrier to
meaningful behavioral change (Costello et al., 2009), but has been shown to ineffective at
changing actual behavior change. The effectiveness of existing educational efforts on Knotty
Beach will be evaluated as part of this study.
5
While environmental education is effective in some circumstances and certainly
necessary (Miller et al., 2010), there is an increasing amount of evidence that education alone
does not result in long-term behavioral change and that strategies that increase motivation to
change behaviors are also necessary (Kruse & Card, 2004; Adelman et al., 2000; Bates, 2010;
Storrier & McGlashan, 2006). Something more needs to be done to change behaviors on the
beach in order to enhance motivations to walk around flocks, instead of through them.
Guidelines for increasing motivation may be borrowed from research on elementary
school students. Intrinsic motivation - the motivation to engage in an activity simply because it is
enjoyable - could apply to a small subset of beachgoers. Elementary school students motivation
to exercise was enhanced by a variety of strategies: associating positive experiences with the
action (Weiss, 2000), offering actions with varying levels of difficulty, the authority to choose
from a variety of actions, receiving recognition for completing the action, and encouraging
groups to participate together (Ames, 1992). For beachgoers that find intrinsic value in
shorebirds and beach wildlife, their motivation to walk around flocks instead of through them
could be enhanced by the same things that increase young students’ motivation to exercise.
Beachgoers who do not intrinsically value beach birds and other wildlife may not respond
as well to strategies born out of intrinsic motivation research and may not be reached effectively
with education. However, there are other, more creative ways of educating people and increasing
motivations to change.
Instead of straight-forward environmental education, strategic outreach has shown to be
more effective in changing human behaviors. Different types of information may be more
effective in certain situations (Ardoin et al., 2013). For example, action-related information is
more likely to motivate action, while systems knowledge and broad background information is
least likely to be motivating (Schultz, 2002). Other actions such as identifying the barriers that
exist between beachgoers and the desired behaviors and then reducing or removing those barriers
has been effective (McKenzie-Mohr, 2011).
Many of these concepts are already being used to benefit the environment in various
ways. A well-studied form of environmental education is ecotourism, which is defined by
tourism experiences with an emphasis on environmental education and a responsible use of
natural resources. Ecotourism is often touted as a socially and environmentally responsible
solution to negative anthropogenic effects and has been shown to enhance environmental
knowledge and pro-environmental attitudes in participants (Ballantyne et al., 2007). For these
reasons, ecotourism should be explored as a strategy to increase conservation-related behaviors.
However, it is not perfect. While educational interactions via ecotourism have been found to
increase conservation intent (Powell & Ham, 2008), it also introduces more people and therefore
more risks to nesting birds and other wildlife. Also, conservation intent does not necessarily
translate to actual behavior change (Ballantyne & Packer, 2011; Kruse & Card, 2004).
Education is a valuable strategy for conservation, but other tools must be explored in
order to combat the rapid decline of shorebird species like Red Knot that are threatened by
human disturbance. While education has shown to be effective in increasing knowledge and
attitudes, it has failed to influence actual behavior change. The following section will explore
6
signage, the other most common tool for combatting human disturbance on the beach, as a
conservation behavior change tool.
Signage as a Conservation Behavior Change Tool
Signage as a protective measure for beach nesting species has been strongly correlated to
increased nest success (Medeiros et al., 2007) and can be an effective way of changing human
behavior (Meis and Kashima, 2017). Signs create a symbolic barrier around shorebird nesting
areas and make the public aware of rules that impact resting flock health like no dog areas.
Shorebird nest protection signs are usually placed along the high tide line and at beach access
paths to encourage beachgoers to keep their distance from nesting areas or limit access to entire
islands or areas of the beach. Among practitioners, this is considered the front line of defense for
shorebird habitat protection because it requires relatively minimal oversight compared to other
strategies like education and enforcement. For these reasons, signage is usually the first strategy
employed to minimize human disturbance and will also be evaluated for its effectiveness in
changing beachgoer behaviors as part of this study.
Some best practices have been compiled by the Atlantic Flyway Shorebird Initiative
(AFSI) that recommend different signs work better for different types of people. Regulatory
signs that explain possible sanctions can be more effective for people with high social
responsibility (Gramann et al., 1995). But these same regulatory signs with descriptions of fines
and authoritative language were rated as the least effective by a study conducted in Australia on
Hooded Plovers (Rimmer et al., 2013). AFSI recommends using regulatory signs paired with
colorful and clearly messaged educational outreach signs. The emphasis on variability among
different people suggests that individual results should not be assumed to hold true on other
beaches around the world.
The beachgoing population can vary wildly between beaches even within the same
County. Signage has its limitations and, as Ballantyne & Hughes (2006) point out, the design and
effectiveness of wildlife management signs in recreational areas varies considerably and is rarely
the product of theory or research. More research is necessary to determine signage impact on
beachgoers’ awareness of shorebirds, intention to change behaviors, and actual behavior change.
But much research has been done on the other impacts of signage.
In a study on the effectiveness of ‘don’t feed wildlife’ signage at a park in Australia, most
people who read the signage reported that it simply reinforced their pre-existing opinions about
feeding (84.6% of respondents) and only a small number of people who had seen the signage
reported that it formed their opinion about feeding (3.9% of respondents) (Mallick & Driessen,
2003). These results suggest that a new strategy needs to be created to maximize the
effectiveness of beach signs and no research has been conducted evaluating the influence of
beach signage on motivation and behavior change. It is not yet known if similar research on
beach nesting bird signs would yield the same results. While beach signs are a necessary first
line of defense against human disturbance and should be further studied for their effectiveness in
application for Red Knots, there are also potentially better options available for wildlife
managers to accompany traditional signage.
7
Both education and signage have yet to show that they are truly effective at changing
behaviors. Social marketing, the use of traditional marketing techniques to impact social issues,
could be the answer to changing human behaviors and benefiting Red Knot and other migratory
shorebirds. Research into community-based social marketing (CBSM) shows its promise as a
tool for creating social change. There have been a few examples of outreach campaigns
attempting to raise awareness of shorebird areas during migration and nesting seasons, but this is
the first time that any form of marketing has been explored and evaluated as a tool for changing
beachgoer behaviors for the benefit of shorebirds.
Social Marketing as a New Conservation Behavior Change Tool
CBSM is a form of social marketing based in social science theory that closely involves a
community to create social change. CBSM takes some strategies from the for-profit business
sector and applies it to social or environmental issues. CBSM could lead to more long-term
behavior change and is an emerging strategy in wildlife conservation (Michie et al., 2008).
According to one of the inventors and practitioners of CBSM, Dr. McKenzie-Mohr, it
involves the following steps: (1) carefully selecting an activity to be promoted, i.e. walking
around flocks of resting shorebirds instead of through them, (2) identifying the barriers to the
activity by interviewing the target human population, i.e. beachgoers, (3) designing a strategy to
overcome those barriers, and (4) piloting the strategy with a small segment of a community and
evaluating its impact (McKenzie-Mohr, 2000). While CBSM has never been done in the specific
setting of shorebird conservation, research in public health, plastic pollution, and recycling can
help lead to a better understanding of social marketing’s potential for impacting long-term
behavior change in wildlife conservation (Vallis et al., 2018; Eagle et al., 2016; Haldeman &
Turner, 2009).
Although CBSM is an emerging field for conservation scientists, this concept is well
studied and successful in public health. For example, after implementation of a CBSM campaign
targeting doctors, potential lung cancer patients in a hospital were referred to get more accurate
tests done 20% more often (Athey et al., 2012). Anti-smoking CBSM campaigns targeting young
people have also seen success. Anti-smoking campaigns were deemed to be a significant reason
the US saw a 7.3% decrease in young people smoking over a few years (Farrelly et al., 2005).
These successes show promise for CBSM’s use in shorebird conservation.
Similarly, in an example from Maryland, a government agency turned to CBSM when
ads, PR, direct mail, and county school outreach did not work to increase recycling rates
(Haldeman & Turner, 2009). CBSM research guided them to identify the barriers keeping
households from recycling more. They were then able to use that information to eliminate those
barriers and yield successful results by tapping in to competitive relationships with neighbors
(Shrum et al., 1995) and encouragement from significant others (Bandura, 2002) and family
members (Kruse & Card, 2004).
In recent years, plastic pollution campaigns have provided more relevant insight for
wildlife conservationists. With anti-single-use plastics campaigns, organizations that focus on
8
sea turtle conservation have seen moderate success in response from local legislature to ban
plastic grocery bags, straws, Styrofoam containers, etc. Eagle et al. (2016) suggests that sea turtle
imagery should be used in marketing materials to influence people to decrease their single-use
plastic consumption. More broadly, this suggests that the use of charismatic megafauna umbrella
species could be a viable strategy for changing human behaviors.
There is potential for CBSM to change human behaviors in shorebird habitat. Campaigns
that focus on social science theory could be a crucial aspect of wildlife management. Similar to
how this strategy has improved other social and environmental issues in the past, a CBSM
campaign could be formed to benefit shorebirds. This concept is worth exploring and testing
further, especially in the context of shorebird conservation where educational and regulatory
solutions don’t yet yield the desired results. As stated by Wright et al. (2015), “without the
ability to influence human behavior, a conservationists’ role will likely be limited to that of
describing the loss of biodiversity and decline of the environment.” This is precisely why this
emerging field of conservation marketing needs to be pursued further and perfected for use in
wildlife conservation.
Little is known about what motivates human disturbances to shorebirds and, conversely,
what deters the action of chasing birds on the beach. The purpose of this study will be to develop
and test CBSM as a behavior change strategy alongside traditional awareness-raising and signage
efforts. This will be a two-year study using beachgoer intercept surveys and participant
observation to link conservation awareness and attitudes with actual behavior. This will allow me
to gauge the effectiveness of existing shorebird conservation strategies in place on Knotty Beach
and provide the information needed to create a social marketing campaign with the goal of
decreasing the number of people that flush beach birds.
Specific Research Questions
1. How do existing Red Knot protection strategies impact beachgoer awareness, attitudes, and
behavior near resting flocks?
2. How does additional outreach crafted using social marketing techniques affect human
awareness, attitudes, and behavior near resting shorebird flocks?
Hypotheses
H1 = A social marketing campaign for Red Knot will create heightened awareness and promote
conservation-friendly attitudes toward Red Knot and other shorebirds.
H2 = A social marketing campaign for Red Knot will lead to more conservation-oriented
behaviors, specifically walking around flocks of Red Knot and other resting beach birds and
avoiding flushing shorebirds from their roosting or feeding grounds.
Research Design
This study aims to evaluate the current state of shorebird conservation efforts on Knotty
Beach, implement a social marketing campaign, and evaluate the implementation and
effectiveness of the campaign. A combination of beachgoer intercept surveys and participant
9
observation using observational checklists will be used in this study. Survey methods were
adjusted from Jorgensen & Brown (2015) and Comber et al. (unpublished, in review)
observational checklist methods were adjusted from Lee & Kotler (2015). Research design and
survey question creation was also guided by coastal bird biologists and conservation practitioners
in South Carolina from SCDNR and USFWS. The CBSM process outlined by Lee and Kotler
(2015) and McKenzie-Mohr (2011) will be used in this study. Observations and questions are all
crafted with the goal of learning key information about this study’s target population: Knotty
Beach beachgoers.
During the spring and fall of 2019 initial baseline data will be collected and used to
evaluate existing conservation strategies. During the winter between 2019 and 2020, a social
marketing strategy will be crafted using data collected in 2019. The resulting messages and
media types will be used as treatments during the spring and fall of 2020 and surveys will be
repeated to measure for any changes in behavior.
Knotty Beach is part of a private barrier island that is attached to the mainland by a
bridge. Knotty Beach describes a section of the island that was recently renourished with sand in
2015. The renourishment created approximately 52 acres of designated critical habitat for
shorebirds that is legally off-limits to dogs on or off leash but people are allowed to access. The
critical habitat area is what is referred to as “Knotty Beach.” This area consists of a main beach
with an eyelet pond and multiple sandbars that become exposed and connect to the main beach at
low tide. The entire island is a private community where most of the population is middle to
upper class. This island has full-time residents, part-time residents, and short-term vacation
renters that use the beach. The human population of the island is approximately 1,858 people and
varies based on the season. To get on the island, one must either be a verified renter, a
homeowner, or a guest of a homeowner.
Participants will include any beachgoer that walks near a flock of Red Knot or a mixed
migratory flock of shorebirds on Knotty Beach. Each data point will be collected on a
disturbance event, not necessarily an individual. Observations will be made of all age groups but
only people that appear they are over 18 will be surveyed. Two surveys will be conducted during
the week and one over each weekend during the survey periods in the mornings before noon.
Occasional afternoon surveys will be conducted to obtain a small snapshot of afternoon activity
as well.
Beachgoer intercept surveys and observational checklists will be implemented at Knotty
Beach from March 1 to May 31 and September 1 to October 31 in 2019 and 2020, a period that
corresponds to the peak Red Knot migration season when thousands of shorebirds stopover there.
March 2019 will not be included in the data because it was spent refining survey questions and
conducting preliminary observations to refine the exact methodologies to be used. Surveys will
be conducted during daylight hours before noon on all days of the week to ensure thorough
sampling of local and visiting beachgoers.
Participants will be observed from a distance through a spotting scope as they approach a
flock of Red Knots resting or feeding in the sand. If Red Knot are not present, other mixed
species flocks can be used to observe human behavior because most beachgoers cannot
10
distinguish between shorebird species. The subject’s apparent age, gender, and behavior will be
recorded following the observational checklist. Behavior refers specifically to a subject’s
reaction to roosting shorebird flocks. Both the subject and the flock must be in the researcher’s
viewable range. Behavioral observations include “stopped,” “turned around,” “walked around,”
and “birds flushed” (walked through). The only exclusive observations are “walked around” and
“birds flushed.” For example, a subject could flush the birds, stop, and turn around all in the
same observation, but they could not be recorded as walked around and then flushed the birds.
Because the participant flushed the birds, they no longer qualify as having walked around.
Lastly, flock size and species count of the flock the subject interacts with.
After subjects interact with a flock, they will be approached as they are leaving the area
and conduct a survey with questions crafted to determine their demographic attributes, awareness
and attitudes toward Red Knots, other shorebirds, and the current recreational restrictions
intended to protect shorebirds. Questions will also be asked to gain insight in crafting a targeted
social marketing campaign in 2020. Interviewing the target audience is a defining step in CBSM
campaigns (Lee & Kotler, 2015; Mckenzie-Mohr, 2011). Every person or group that is moving
near a flock of Red Knot will be asked to participate in the study. If a participant is part of a
group, The surveyor will focus on one person in the group, and record group number because
their answers may be influenced by others in the group.
Basic demographic attributes describing the respondents will include gender,
approximate age, on-island resident status (full-time, part-time, or vacationing on the island),
number of annual visits to Knotty Beach, preferred beach activities, and if they are dog owners
and walk their dog(s) on the beach. These and other demographic attributes have been associated
with differing values and attitudes about natural resources (Vaske et al., 2011a; Vaske et al.,
2011b). People will be coded by what they are wearing and what they look like so their
observational checklist survey responses can be matched. No other identifiable information will
be recorded or stored on participants.
Awareness will be assessed by asking respondents (a) if they had noticed any birds on the
beach during their walk, (b) if they had heard of Red Knot before today, (c) if they knew that
making beach birds fly off is harmful to them, and (d) for dog owners, if they knew that
unleashed dogs pose a threat to beach birds. Attitudes will be examined by reading a series of
statements to which respondents can answer yes, he or she agrees, or no, he or she disagrees.
These statements include (a) you would feel guilty if you made a group of beach birds fly off, (b)
people’s access to the beach should be limited for the protection of beach birds, (c) your access
to the beach should be limited for the protection of beach birds, and (d) for dog owners, do
walking on beaches should be controlled for the protection of beach birds. Effectiveness of both
educational and regulatory signage on the beach and on the way to the beach will be measured
by asking (a) which beach signs did he or she notice on the beach or on the way to the beach, and
(b) if respondents have heard of Red Knot before, where they got that information. Finally,
questions that will aid in the creation of a social marketing plan include questions that attempt to
illuminate the barriers or benefits to the desired behavior (Lee & Kotler, 2015). Questions will
include (a) have you avoided making beach birds fly off in the past, (b) how and why did you
avoid it or how did making them fly off benefit you, (c) what do you currently do to avoid
making beach birds fly off, and (d) for dog owners, in what circumstances do you leash your
11
dog? All demographic information will help identify trends to help target messaging during the
social marketing campaign
Other environmental variables will be recorded every survey in the form of a “daily log”
to ensure that data is comparable across all environmental conditions that might influence the
results. Covariates will include the date, first low tide and nearest high tide, presence of an in-
person “steward” educator, time entered and left site, start and end wind speed, start and end
temperature, and lastly a count of all people and on/off leash dogs in the designated critical area
will be recorded during the duration of each stay.
Data collected using the observational checklist and intercept survey will all be
categorical. When a participant elaborates on a response, the surveyor will also record key
phrases and sentences that may help inform message development and identify emergent themes.
Analysis
The analysis will use a mixed method approach that will require multiple forms of
analysis, since data will be qualitative. Responses to awareness and attitude questions will be
summarized by demographic attribute using descriptive statistics. Demographic attributes will
also be used to model binary responses (yes or no) using logistic regression in a generalized
linear model (Hilbe, 2009).
Additionally, qualitative survey responses will be analyzed to look for emergent themes
to create a codebook. As defined by Wutich and Gravlee (2010), the codebook provides a
conceptual and operational definition of each theme to indicate what it means and when it should
be applied to segments of text. The full codebook also specifies what units of analysis will be
coded, whether themes can overlap or not, and whether to code for presence or degree in themes.
This codebook will help analyze qualitative data.
Expected Results
The results of this study will help preserve a Federally Listed species through increased
knowledge, education, and research. Red Knots are considered a bioindicator species due to their
wide range and unique natural history (Burger et al., 2013). By learning more about the
effectiveness of various conservation strategies aimed at increasing public knowledge and
changing human behavior on the beach, I aim to better protect Red Knots and the environment
they represent, which ultimately will benefit society at large.
The findings will also inform beach managers on how people use this beach as well as
best practices on how to reach them with conservation messages aimed at changing behaviors.
This information could greatly improve relations among stakeholders and management agencies
allowing the public’s needs to be better met. Any insights gained from this study will be
applicable to all South Carolina beaches, but are only truly representative of this particular
beach.
12
Faculty Letter
13
Works Cited
Adelman, L. M., Falk, J. H., James, S. (2000). Impact of National Aquarium in Baltimore on
Visitors’ Conservation Attitudes, Behavior, and Knowledge. Curator. 43(1): 33-61.
Ajzen, I. & Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior.
(Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice Hall).
Ames, C. (1992). Achievement goals, motivational climate, and motivational processes. In G. C.
Roberts (Ed.), Motivation in sport and exercise. 161-176. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Anders, F. & Leatherman, S. (1987). Effects of off-road vehicles on coastal vegetation at Fire
Island, New York, USA. Environmental Management. 11(1), 45–52.
Ardoin, N., Heimlich, J., Braus J., and Merrick, C. (2013). Influencing Conservation Action:
What Research Says About Environmental Literacy, Behavior, and Conservation Results.
National Audubon Society, Environmental Education and Training Partnerships, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, TogetherGreen, and North American Association for Environmental Education.
Athey, V. L., Suckling, R. J., Tod, A. M., Walters, S. J., Rogers, T. K. (2012). Early diagnosis of
lung cancer: evaluation of a community-based social marketing intervention. Thorax 67: 412-
417.
Ballantyne, R. & Hughes, K. (2006) Using front-end and formative evaluation to design and test
