The Scottish Government

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Campaign overview

• Since 1998, the Scottish Government has been conducting annual advertising campaigns to strengthen the view that domestic abuse is totally unacceptable, using the strapline 'Domestic Abuse: there's no excuse'.
• The overarching objective of the latest phase of the campaign was to maintain a high level of public awareness of the issue and raise awareness of the support available via the Scottish domestic abuse helpline and web address. Specifically the 2007/08 campaign sought to underline the effects that domestic abuse has on children in the families where it is present.
• The primary target audience for the campaign was women experiencing domestic abuse as they are usually best placed to help themselves and their children. The secondary audience was the wider Scottish population.
• The core proposition for this latest phase of advertising was Domestic abuse effects children too.
• This research follows the tenth phase of advertising which took place between 26 ^th December 2007 and 28 ^th January 2008. This latest phase comprised a five week television campaign using the 40 second commercial Doll's House which initially launched in 2002, a brand new 20 second TV commercial Teddy, and a three week radio campaign, using E is for Enough and Miss Moffatt. In addition, online advertising was used to target women in the evening (between 6-9pm) when they are most likely to be using the internet on their own. The editorial platforms used to further communicate the message were The Big Issue, Daily Record, Life Matters radio, local press, Fresh, Real Radio and outdoor posters.
• This research project has been conducted to track and monitor changes in attitudes towards domestic abuse amongst adults in Scotland and also evaluate the latest phase of advertising in terms of awareness as well as campaign effectiveness (including clarity of message, relevance and ability to change behaviour/attitudes). Fieldwork took place after the advertising campaign between 30 ^th January and 9 ^th February 2008 with 1,012 interviews in 42 constituencies across Scotland.

Highlights

• Wave 11 recorded the highest level of combined campaign reach on domestic abuse to date - 85% compared to 79% in wave 10 (combined reach being the total figure of those claiming to have seen the TV ad and heard the radio advert.)
• The proportion of people spontaneously aware of advertising/publicity on domestic abuse has been consistently high at more than seven in ten over the last four waves and was at 72% at wave 11 (70% at wave 10).
• The level of TV reach (recognition of both Doll's House and Teddy) was 83% - much higher than levels reached over the last four waves. 58% of those who had seen the adverts thought the advert sought to communicate the effects on children/family which was the core campaign objective.
• Attitudinally findings indicate few significant changes over recent waves with the public continuing to agree that domestic abuse is unacceptable. Attitudes to domestic abuse seem to be firmly held which leads to little year on year change although advertising does play a role in maintaining these beliefs.

Implications

• The reach of the domestic abuse campaign was particularly high, with TV (especially Doll's House). This reflects the higher proportion of money spent on TV compared with radio. In addition, Doll's House first aired in 2002 and will therefore have high resonance amongst the general public. However, this may have contributed to the lower number of people spontaneously recalling having seen this ad. Familiarity perhaps reduces standout and retention.
• This perhaps raises a question mark over replaying previous advertising which has had reasonable exposure over the years as it appears that using familiar adverts does not have the same impact as a fresh new campaign.
• However, attitudes remain firmly held and it is likely that the campaign has played a role in sustaining these.

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