Prepared for:Comic Relief

Prepared by:Alice Fenyoe, Mary Battley:Synovate

Job number:06-0047

Date:February 2006

PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS OF POVERTYQUALITATIVE RESEARCH FINDINGS: WAVE 3

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PRESENTATION STRUCTURE

Background and objectives

Research approach and sample

Defining the sample

A review of 2005 (and MPH’s position within it)

Campaigning and the general public

Comic Relief and Red Nose Day

The trade issue

The corruption issue

A note on the role of government

Conclusions

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BACKGROUND

‘Public Perceptions of Poverty’ (PPP) is a research programme designed to evaluate the progress of MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY in terms of both the ‘brand’ itself and its objectives

PPP designed to run over three years, and utilises a multi-faceted research approach including qualitative research, desk research, and an omnibus tracking survey

This debrief deals with Wave 3 of the qualitative research Wave 1 conducted in February 05 Wave 2 conducted in October 05

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RESEARCH OBJECTIVES: WAVE 3

Exploring …

Final reflections on 2005

Further actions people are likely to take and why (or why not)

Views on Comic Relief/Red Nose Day and longer–term campaigning

Messaging on corruption and trade

And building on understanding gained from earlier qualitative and

quantitative research

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RESEARCH APPROACH AND SAMPLE

Men and women aged 16-50

All concerned about poverty in poor countries, and aware of MPH

3 groups with MPH involved (mix of wristband, text, email)

3 groups with RND involved (mix of watched the show and donated, bought a red nose, organised or took part in a fund-raising event)

2 groups aged 16-24

2 groups aged 25-34

2 groups aged 35-50

6 x 2 hour group discussions conducted

in January 2006 in Borehamwood

(London), Manchester, Coventry

6 x 2 hour group discussions conducted

in January 2006 in Borehamwood

(London), Manchester, Coventry

Groups moderated by Alice Fenyoe and Mary Battley of Synovate

DEFINING THE SAMPLE

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SEGMENTING THE AUDIENCE: RESPONDENT TYPES IDENTIFIED IN WAVE 1

Attitudes towards poverty

Global poverty features highly on their political radar

Another part of the ‘political animal’ self identity

High knowledge of intricacies of trade, debt, and aid

Knowledge and the passion with which it is expressed can be a status symbol

Can patronise or denigrate people who are not as interested, not as knowledgeable

Active Engaged

Attitudes towards poverty

Tend to have ‘room’ for one or two issues that they are really interested in

Have read about, and are aware of poverty in the third world – some more interested than others

Know that they have knowledge gaps, and always mean to find out more

Often don’t realise how interested and aware they are until they start talking about it

Passive Engaged

Attitudes towards poverty Very cynical about poverty issues –

likely to espouse theory that the problem will never be solved

Feel very resigned about being able to do anything personally

Too busy to be able to learn, find out more – got lots of other things to worry about (like supporting their families)

Don’t believe that govts will be able to sort out problem – enjoy seeing them as fairly futile

Opinionated about poverty as an issue – and will confidently express opinions, and find it difficult to back down even when challenged

More interested in the scare stories than the facts

Active Disengaged

Attitudes towards poverty Aware that there is lots of poverty in

Africa – but knowledge stops here No interest in talking about it,

interest tends to stop at local issues, or issues with personal relevance to them

Believe that this is an issue ‘that other people are worrying about’ – no need for them to get involved

Passive Disengaged

Behaviour Talk with passion – lots of

gesticulating Express their feelings physically via

campaigning – marching, rallying, emailing, letters,

Aware of most campaigning tactics and how they work

Unlikely to be a make or break issue in terms of voting – these are probably not floating voters, but committed to either a particular party, or spoiling the ballot paper

These tend to be existing activists

Behaviour Likely to be supporting an

international charity By now, may have done MPH

campaigning (and likely to be proud of it)

For many this will be the first campaigning they have done (beyond ‘easy’ actions like Fair Trade, organic)

May have considered this issue when deciding who to vote for – likely to be floating voters

These tend to be younger, professional

Behaviour Some will be supporting

international charities as part of collection of regular support – and effort will end there

Others won’t support beyond RND Issue of poverty less likely to be a

driver to real support – than just having a portfolio that covers key issues (i.e. third world tick, cancer tick etc)

Will not have been consideration when deciding how to vote

These tend to be family dads

Behaviour Unlikely to be supporting

international charities beyond RND Will not have been a consideration

when deciding how/whether to vote These tend to be family mums

In Wave 3 all segment types except for the Active Engaged identified

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SEGMENTING THE AUDIENCE: RESPONDENT TYPES IDENTIFIED IN WAVE 3

Wave 2 identified anecdotal evidence that the Passive Disengaged had gained knowledge and interest in global poverty since Feb’05.

However, in this wave of research, they appear to be reverting to type – both knowledge of, and interest in the issue is reducing as there is less feeding it.

Some (very) latent interest is available to be tapped, but indications are that this will not be the case for much longer.

Passive Engageds present a more positive story in that, although not actually ‘active’ in terms of behaviour, persuading them to take action may not be too difficult to achieve.

PASSIVE ENGAGED

PASSIVEDISENGAGED

(Oct’05)

(Jan’06)

(ACTIVE)

A REVIEW OF 2005, AND MPH’S POSITION WITHIN IT

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KEY EVENTS OF 2005

The Tsunami (the aftermath)

Pakistan earthquake

London bombings

England win the Ashes

Local or personal stories (i.e. West Ham to premiership)

Continuation of Iraq War

(G8 sometimes mentioned in relation to Live 8 or the London Bombings)

Under the surface

Top of mind

Live 8 is still fairly top of mind for 2005 – but Make Poverty History never mentioned spontaneouslyLive 8 is still fairly top of mind for 2005 – but Make Poverty History never mentioned spontaneously

Live 8

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2005 AND GLOBAL POVERTY

2005 already receded into history

2005 just like any other year (except it also had Live 8)

Now, almost new news that 2005 was supposed to be the year for Africa/global poverty

Asking people how they feel about 2005 in relation to global poverty/third world countries was almost a

redundant question

The only issue/event dealing with poverty was Live 8, an event which dominated June/early July, but not 2005

The only issue/event dealing with poverty was Live 8, an event which dominated June/early July, but not 2005

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LIVE 8 AND MAKE POVERTY HISTORY

“Live 8 was the event, and Make Poverty History was its slogan.”

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TOP OF MIND ASSOCIATIONS WITH LIVE 8/MPH

MostPeople

LeastPeople

Oct ‘05 Jan ‘06

Live 8/Aid

Bob Geldof/Bono

Wristbands Raisingmoney

Texting GordonBrown

MidgeUre

Debt

TonyBlair

Raisingawareness G8

Emailpetition

Politicalpressure

The march

Trade/aid

Live 8/Aid

Bob Geldof/Bono

Wristbands Raisingmoney

Debt

Raisingawareness(Poverty)

Something inEdinburgh (G8)

Political

Pressure(Prompted)

Live 8 dominates anti-poverty activity in 2005, and it’s difficult to hold a discourse about Make Poverty History without talking about Live 8 first

Live 8 dominates anti-poverty activity in 2005, and it’s difficult to hold a discourse about Make Poverty History without talking about Live 8 first

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WHAT IS THE LEGACY OF LIVE 8 (MPH) IN THE PUBLIC MEMORY?

Raising money for Africa (the third world)

Raising awareness about global poverty (it’s still there)

Telling governments to drop the debt

Trade and aid have dropped off the public consciousness

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WHAT IS THE LEGACY OF LIVE 8, MPH, G8 ON AFRICA/GLOBAL POVERTY?

MOST PEOPLE (Passive/Active Disengaged)

LEAST PEOPLE (Passive Engaged)

“ I don’t think anything’s any different tohow it was this time last year.”

“They didn’t do everything they wanted to do, but at least I think they dropped some

debt.”

RAISING MONEY … don’t know how much raised or where it went (-)

RAISING AWARENESS … lots more people know that there’s poverty in the world (+)

DROP THE DEBT … not sure, think some may have been dropped but not much (+ and -)

… wasn’t the core focus, so something of an aside (+ and -)

… had some impact on G8, and started a public dialogue (+)

… dropped some debt, so some countries better off (+)

Better than nothing, but barely impactful It could be the start …

Evidence that the more engaged people are, the warmer they feel towards ‘05 activity and its impact on poverty

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WHERE DO WE THINK THE PASSIVE ENGAGED/MPH INVOLVED ARE NOW?

See Live 8/MPH as the start of a journey

No sense of being under any illusion that poverty would be made history in a year (very pragmatic)

2005 has seen some (small) achievements raised awareness (including theirs) dropped some debt

These people do not see 2005 as a failure – but rather as a step in the right direction

Feb 05 The future

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WHY WASN’T MORE ACHIEVED?

“ … because they didn’t ask people to buy tickets for Live 8 …”

“ … because Live 8 didn’t raise as much money as Live Aid …”

“ … because the public only really care about taxes …”

“ … because politicians won’t lose elections over poverty in third world countries …”

“ … because the London bombings took over …”

Not enough money

Politicians don’t care

Live 8 takes most of the blame for a lack of achievement – because people don’t understand why it didn’t aim to raise money

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TALKING ABOUT LIVE 8/MPH AND 2005

“Everyone knows about it (global poverty), but it’s become even more clear that no one cares”

16-24 MPH involved

“I don’t really remember the Make Poverty History campaign. I can’t remember who set it up or who supported it, so you don’t remember who communicated the message back to say

whether it was a success ”25-34 MPH involved

“I think it fell flat because Bob Geldof couldn’t pull it off a second time. A lot of people thought it was going to

be like Live Aid but it wasn’t”35-50 MPH involved

“At the end of the day, I don’t see the point of doing something just to make people aware of it, you want to make

people aware of it to raise money”35-50 MPH involved

“What difference have I made to making poverty history just by listening to

the message?” 25-34 RND involved

“You’ve lost me, the interest, the debt, I just thought they were

raising money for the Third World countries and that was it”

16-24 RND involved

CAMPAIGNING AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC

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LIVE 8/MPH AND CAMPAIGNING (1)

Worn as demonstration of support, because other people wore them, because they were pretty!

About raising awareness (of poverty)

By making people aware of poverty, more people might do something about it in the future (i.e. give money)

Emailed because they were asked to (by friends, colleagues,unions)

Demonstration of support

Read about it in magazines, saw it on Live 8

Demonstration of support

Wristbands dominate memory of Live 8/MPH actions, and even people who did text/email have almost forgotten that they did it

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TEXTING/EMAILING

Emailing and texting actions were taken as part of the ‘event’ of Live 8/MPH

People were asked to take action by familiar sources (this can include the media – one 17yr old read about it in Bliss)

… and within a context where they had many related reference points (friends’ wristbands, Live 8 in the papers, Bob Geldof on the news, etc.)

Probably – but only in the context of another ‘event’ that penetrates their world (RND mentioned spontaneously)

… and as a passive act of support (for the event/organisation/ issue) rather than as a proactive political action

Why did they do it? Will they do it again?

These actions are taken as part of a ‘collective’ and the point of the actions is rarely interrogated

When people start exploring the reasons behind taking these actions, confusion and defeatism quickly set in (in the absence of a real understanding of how campaigning actions work and no evidence that they work)

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TAKING ACTION FOR MPH: IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE ACTIVITY

RND, CIN, ‘another Live 8’ could provide the opportunities for more campaigning

everyone knows about it, water cooler, can see it on TV, can see results

Less requirement to explain campaigning (and in fact this may over politicise)

Much more difficult to achieve with these audiences

don’t understand campaigning (what’s the point of sending an email?)

less sense of mass involvement less engaged because issue rather

than event led

Cancer and kids currently have the best opportunities (highest engagement at the moment), but point of actions need to be explained first

‘Event’ actions ‘Ongoing’ actions

These are the campaigning entry points for the mass public

Mass public still a long way from this type of campaigning at the moment

Anecdotal evidence suggests that campaigning actions DO have future potential with the mass public … although currently only in a specific context

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A CAMPAIGNING STRATEGY

Get people used to physically taking the actions

Results and feedback subtly educate re political pressure

Something else you can do as well as giving money

Dependent on engagement with issue (hygiene factor)

Requires education around why and how actions work (i.e. MPs have to log every single email)

Require evidence it works

Active and Passive Disengaged

Active and Passive Engaged

How can we get the public engaged in campaigning in the future?

‘Event’ led campaigning

‘Issue’ led campaigningOver the

next few years

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POTENTIAL FOR SPECIFIC ACTIONS

More likely

Less likely

Older Younger

Postcards

Letter

Emailing

Texting

Demo

Texting

Emailing

Demo

PostcardLetter

Likelihood of taking these actions entirely dependent on levels of

engagement and focus within personal worlds

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OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO TAKING ACTION

BARRIERS

Lack of understanding around conceptof campaigning

Ubiquitous sense of cynicism in relationto politicians

No sense of real democracy working (from me to my local MP)

General actions

Email/text: security and privacyconcerns (for older). Why do I have to give my name, address, email, phone number?

Postcard/letter: an anathema to younger people who rarely visit a post box

Specific actions

SOLUTIONS

Evidence that governments do listen to their backbench MPs, general public

The mechanics of campaigning

Reassure people why you want the information you’re asking for

Reassure over privacy/selling information

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THE MECHANICS OF CAMPAIGNING: WHAT DO PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW?

I receive a request to send an email/text … I want to know:

Who reads it? (Tony Blair, his minions, or no one?)

What happens to it after its been read? (Deleted, stored, counted or ignored?)

When has this worked before? (Am I wasting my time?)

What was the outcome? (Did Tony Blair take any notice? Did it have any effect?)

Take first action Continue to take action

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THE MECHANICS OF CAMPAIGNING: WHO DO THEY NEED TO HEAR IT FROM?

Mostimpact

Least impact

Friends, colleagues (depending on friend and how often they send junk/jokes)

Celebrities (depending on relevance and credibility)

Magazines, TV programmes, newspapers (Bliss, T4)

RND, CIN

Charities (sense that charities continually ‘badgering’ and therefore people more closed to further requests)

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TALKING ABOUT TAKING ACTION

“I only wore the band because I didn’t want to be the only one

who didn’t” 16-24 MPH involved

“I think we’ve tried the money route and it doesn’t seem to work – there’s still debt and there’s still poverty, so

if I text my name, what’s the hardship? I’m willing to give it a go”

35-50 MPH involved

“Emailing is pointless because at the end of the day the email is only going to go to his (Tony’s) administrators, and he’s not going

to see them so everyone is just wasting their time”

16-24 MPH involved

THE TRADE ISSUE

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TALKING ABOUT TRADE

An organisation that provides fair wage for producers

Coffee, tea, chocolate (stuff I buy)

In my supermarket/school (my world)

Trade rules

Embargoes, subsidies

For everyone AND for some

The term Fair Trade has been claimed by the public to talk about all issues relating to trade

Trade Justice does not appear to have broken into the public lexicon

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TRADE MESSAGING

As we have found in previous research, people are easily thrown by anything that looks as though

it requires time, concentration, or effort might be complicated or confusing

What people are drawn to are messages that talk about trade in a personal context simplify the trade issue (rich and poor, right and wrong)

It is difficult to talk about trade with this audience (except the most MPH engaged), and they are fairly resistant to trade

messaging. Few of the articles/posters/DM we put in front of them really cut through.

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IMPACTFUL TRADE MESSAGING (1)

Use of coffee has a dual benefit Immediate connection to Fair Trade which people know

and understand A common product that connects our behaviour to hard

working poor people in the third world

Hints at possibilities and implies that making poverty history is possible

Sets out a list of what could be done in simple language, with a hopeful tone of voice

A direct connection to our behaviour and consumption

Talking about something that we can easily change/do

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IMPACTFUL TRADE MESSAGING (2)

Clear contrast between the rich and the poor (and not us and them)

Here, we feel more empathy with a poor, rural boy than we do with the ‘corporate millionaires’

Clearly explains the impact of world trade rules on the individual

Places trade in a personal context

Connection between ‘business’ and the third world surprising!

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TALKING ABOUT TRADE

“It’s just like murder. If the only thing they’re growing is being charged at 200% tax, then

they’re not going to sell anything, then they’re all going to die!”

16-24 MPH involved

“Fair Trade also affects the fact that British farmers have surpluses that they

sell to third world countries, which means they can’t sell as much as they

would normally”16-24 RND involved

“It annoys me but there’s nothing you can do about it”

16-24 MPH involved

THE CORRUPTION ISSUE

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UNPICKING CORRUPTION

Running costs, overpaid staff, social events

Charity overheads

Mugabe, palaces, arms, feeding soldiers, lots of wives

… and also a sense “that everyone is out for themselves” and therefore no-one can really be trusted

More of an issue for older (16-24 yr olds often never even contemplated it)

Political corruption

Corruption (specifically in relation to donating) is often a default word used to describe an uncertainty or lack of knowledge about what happens to aid once it leaves my hands

Money for the Tsunami still unspent, one woman in Pakistan being given 12 cooking pots etc.

Aid agency disorganisation

It has three key strands:

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FROM ME TO THE POOR: PERCEPTIONS OF THE DONATION JOURNEY

Charity Third world The people

Charity overheadsHigh salariesBig luxurious officesSocial events Inefficiency/wastage (aid agency disorganisation)

How does it travel? Who receives it? Who administers it?

Political corruptionPaying off officials/ warlords/anyone

Can talk about this with confidence

All guesswork/media driven perceptions of third world countries/no change

Have difficulty talking about this as no real knowledge about how money gets into

corrupt hands

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RESPONDING TO THE CORRUPTION ISSUE

Choose a smaller charity

Choose a charity that shows the results

Choose a local (domestic) charity

This is happening already because people have choice and control

Charity overheads

Stop giving to international charities

Indications that this is beginning to happen, but it’s a slower process as there is no choice or control, and stopping altogether too much for most people

Political corruption

The public’s lack of agency in relation to political corruption is making it harder for them to opt out (at the moment)

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RAISING THE ISSUE OF CORRUPTION IN COMMUNICATIONS

Showing information and articles about corruption raise awareness, but feed negativity and defeatism (even for the most issue engaged)

However, there were a couple of surprises (from what people were shown) …

Ghana has a democratic government and improved human rights

Africa does not have all the most corrupt countries in the world

Africa is a continent not a country

African countries are not necessarily more corrupt than other countries

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TALKING ABOUT CORRUPTION

“As the years go by I get more and more cynical in that I think that you do drop the debt and then the governments will just

rearm themselves, it will go on their internal wars”

35-50 MPH involved

“If the message was that your money is not getting through,

then I think it might have a detrimental affect on charities”

35-50 MPH involved

“My problem with phoning up and giving your £20 to the

tsunami or whatever is that I think ‘how much of my money is actually getting to that kiddy on

the telly’ ”35-50 MPH involved

“I think Comic Relief should be more honest about corruption. I think they

should tell us what’s getting through. I think the reason that people are

suspicious is because it’s dripped into the media and no one knows exactly

what’s happening” 25-34 RND involved

“I like it because it said ‘you’re pissed off because your money’s not getting there, and they’re pissed off because your money’s not

getting there’. It’s putting you on a level with the people that you’re donating to, and it’s saying that your common enemy is the small

group of corrupt people so let’s stamp it out ”25-34 RND involved

ROLE OF GOVERNMENT

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THE GOVERNMENT AND GLOBAL POVERTY

People are still very unsure about the government’s role in either contributing to, or alleviating global poverty beyond

Providing aid after disasters Being third world creditors

There is very little sense of ongoing aid

There is a resistance to believing that the government might be involved in a positive sense

tax my charity donations tax me in bed with multi-nationals

Only help third world countries if something in it for them

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS (1)

Passive Disengaged are reverting to type both in terms of knowledge and interest. However, opportunity still remains to mobilise Passive Engageds.

Live 8 dominates perceptions of Make Poverty History, and perceptions of anti-poverty activity in 2005. Indications are that recall of Make Poverty History is on the decline, and it is now seen as the slogan for Live 8’s ‘event’.

People took action for Make Poverty History as part of a national event, rather than because they were particularly engaged in the issues.

Event based campaigning such as this appears to be the easiest way to mobilise Active and Passive Disengageds into campaigning. Active and Passive Engageds by their very nature are more open to campaigning around salient issues per se.

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