Overall findings
The tagline immediately turned participants away from this concept as it did not encourage them to continue reading and it did not seem to be cohesive with the remainder of the message. Furthermore, the message did not have a broad enough reach among participants and therefore had low relevance to many, especially non-parents. Overall, the message being conveyed was not very clear and even misunderstood in a negative way by some.
Cohesiveness between elements of this message was also seen to be an issue.
Specific findings
Initial impressions:
Smokers were generally not drawn to this concept.
Ability of flap/top of the insert to get attention and motivate reading:
The general consensus was that the tag line “the sooner the better” did not mean much to most participants and did not make people want to read on.
The only thing that had some potential to draw people in were the three dots, which they said could be a good tool but perhaps with a different message.
Moreover, there was a strong sense among participants that it was not connected to the rest of the message.
© Decima Research Inc. | decima.com 173
Ability of the main message to motivate reading:
The main message about children with smoking parents was generally not one that drew people in to read on to the rest of the message.
Understanding of the message and meaning:
There was a lack of understanding about what this message was conveying overall and, more importantly, what was understood by most was seen as a negative message. Even if it was clear to participants from the first paragraph at the top that the message was about family and children, both paragraphs were not well understood. People were not clear what the connection was between the first and second paragraph.
Relevance:
Participants found the text only reached a very small niche audience. Non-parents did not feel this spoke to them very well but thought that maybe parents would like this.
However, parents in the groups also said this did not resonate particularly well with them. They often said they already knew it and had either made the decision to smoke or not to smoke around their kids.
« Ni le titre, ni la couleur, ni le message n’est très pertinent. »
Ability to inform and educate:
As people felt the message or messages were not clear, the education factor was generally small.
“Doesn’t really tell you anything – there’s no info, or stats, or anything.”
Credibility:
Although the message was not necessarily challenged in all groups, some felt the statements were quite strong but at the same time not backed up by any evidence.
Readability and Visibility:
The white text on the blue background was not easy to read for many participants.
Quality and effectiveness of text:
Young people especially, and non-parents in general, said the first paragraph talked to a different target group. Participants said the second paragraph did not to tie in to the first, since smokers, especially young ones and those who started smoking at a young age, believed the message was that they will have a difficult time quitting. They interpreted this as a negative message that tended to stir up some anger, and contrary to what they believe these types
© Decima Research Inc. | decima.com 174
of messages should convey. They saw themselves in “this person” and were offended by the suggestion they were more addicted and more dependent.
As the message is neither clear nor new, this was not informative to smokers in general.
Layout and Design:
Many participants had negative feedback on the layout and design:
“I think the picture of the kids should be clearer”
“The changing fonts and busyness doesn’t urge me to read it. The stuff on the clouds is ‘cloudy’.”
“Make the picture clearer. It’s pointless - I didn’t even see it.”
Cohesiveness of picture/visuals and text:
As was the case with all information messages in this series, there was no particularly strong link between the visuals and the text.
“The ideas are sort of linked, but it wasn’t really clear. Wasn’t connected too well.”
Ability to be memorable:
This message was not seen as being memorable.
Makes participants think about quitting?
This message did not encourage participants to quit or to start thinking about quitting.
Flip-Top vs. Slide-and-Shell:
Feedback on the flip-top and slide-and-shell packages was the same.
Suggestions:
• The idea of quitting because your children would be less likely to start smoking was not seen as a bad message overall, but participants felt it was not conveyed clearly enough through this concept. Since it did not typically speak to participants and was to a large extent not seen as very relevant, it was difficult for participants to suggest small changes that would make it work for them. There was generally too much confusion about the message and many suggested a complete overhaul of the text. The second paragraph in particular was too accusatory and negative for many participants.
• Some participants suggest the message should be about second-hand smoke instead, with the same tag line at the bottom (but moved up to the top and set in a different colour).
© Decima Research Inc. | decima.com 175
• The picture was generally not seen as relevant or attractive but instead quite unclear, especially in the inserts, with participants suggesting it could be changed or left out.
Concept Classification:
Best concepts (overall) - needs only minor adjustments Good opportunity - needs some improvements
Needs major improvement
Least effective - needs complete rethink/rework