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EVALUATION OF THE DRUGS DRIVING TV ADVERT
Executive summary
1. This report presents the findings of research evaluating a recent TV advert aimed at discouraging people from driving under the influence of drugs ('drug driving'). The evaluation was carried out by NFO Social Research on behalf of the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Road Safety Campaign between July and September 2002. The research consisted of three elements. Firstly, questions were included in the
Scottish Opinion Survey (SOS) in June 2002 to establish baseline levels of awareness and understanding of the advert. Secondly, a separate
survey of Scottish drivers was carried out between late July and early September 2002 to provide more detailed data on reactions to the advert and on individual experiences of drug driving. Finally, a series
of qualitative interviews, including both paired depth interviews and peer focus groups, were carried out with 17-24 year-olds in September 2002 to explore attitudes towards the advert in more detail.
Views and experiences of drug driving
2. The research found that drug driving appears to be less common than drink driving. While 4% of respondents to the survey of drivers admitted ever having driven within a few hours of using cannabis, 30% admitted having driven when they thought they might have been over the legal limit for alcohol.
3. Drug driving occurs in a variety of circumstances. These included: after taking drugs (usually cannabis) in cars, particularly for younger drivers where the car plays a key role in their social life; after taking drugs at a friend's house or party; and driving home from clubs after taking drugs.
4. In general, participants in the qualitative research did not view the impact of drugs on people's driving capacity as being great, particularly by comparison with the effects of alcohol. Drink driving was seen as both more dangerous, and more likely to lead to prosecution than drug driving (a finding backed by the quantitative survey of drivers). However, it was recognised that the effects of drugs on a person's driving would vary depending on the type of drug used, the amount taken and the individual concerned.
Awareness and understanding of the Drug Driving TV advert
5. Awareness of advertising and publicity on drugs and driving in general, and of the drug driving TV advert in particular, was high. The SOS, carried out immediately after the advert had been shown on Scottish TV, found that 76% of respondents remembered seeing some advertising or publicity on drugs and driving. The survey of drivers carried out 6-10 weeks later found 70% of drivers were aware of some such publicity. Prompted awareness of the particular TV advert was highest amongst 17-24 year-olds in both surveys.
6. Participants in the qualitative research clearly thought the advert was informative - it told viewers about the new tests for drug driving of which many participants were previously unaware. The informative role of the advert is supported by the fact that a sizeable minority of respondents to the survey of drivers (23%) agreed or strongly agreed with the statement "It told me something I didn't know before".
7. However, although participants in the qualitative research found the advert informative, there is some evidence that its overall impact is undermined by doubts about the credibility of the enforcement message. Many participants expressed doubt that drivers in Scotland would actually be stopped by the police, or that the tests would detect many drug users.
Views on the content and style
8. There was a widespread perception in the qualitative research that the characters shown in the advert were 'middle aged' and appeared to be drunk rather than on drugs. This made it difficult for many participants to identify with them as young drug users/drug drivers.
Most participants found the first half of the advert funny. However, there was debate over the use of humour in the advert, both in terms of its appropriateness in an advert about a serious issue, and in terms of whether or not the serious second half of the advert had as much impact on people as the comic first half.
9. Comparisons were often made between the drug driving advert and other road safety adverts that were perceived as 'harder hitting', usually because of their inclusion of footage of accidents (whether real or staged). However, it was not clear that participants' own behaviour was affected more by the latter kind of campaign. In relation to drug driving, the fact that many participants did not perceive drug driving to be particularly dangerous may mean that this kind of approach would have a limited impact.
10. Many participants in the qualitative interviews were confused about the legal consequences of being caught for drug driving. The lack of information about the actual consequences of failing the tests shown in the advert was seen as an important weakness by some participants.
Conclusions
11. The evaluation found that levels of awareness of the advert were high, and that understanding appeared to be good - the advert succeeded in informing at least some people about the new tests and the possibility of being prosecuted. However, it also identified various factors limiting its impact, particularly on young drivers. These included a perceived lack of credibility of the enforcement message; a lack of clarity over the precise legal consequences of drug driving; and difficulty identifying with the characters and situations shown in the advert.
12. Implications for future work in this area include: the need to increase the credibility of the enforcement message (both through education and actual police activity); the need to provide evidence of the actual effects of drug misuse on driving ability and to highlight the social and legal consequences of drug driving; and the importance of using characters and situations that young people can identify with, and of distinguishing clearly between drug driving and drink driving.
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