Evaluation of National Skin Cancer Awareness Campaign - 2008-09

Unprompted TVC recall

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In order to measure unprompted TVC recall (a measure of advertising salience which is a function of media weight and executional impact), participants were first asked whether they had seen 'any TV advertising in the last three months about protecting yourself from the harmful effects of the sun'. The proportion who said 'yes' in each survey is shown in Figure 4.4.1. In February 2009, a greater proportion of 14-17 year olds reported having seen TV advertising about 'protecting yourself from the harmful effects of the sun' in the last three months than did so pre-campaign (83% in February 2009 compared to 41% pre-campaign). This was also the case for 18-24 year olds (from 34% at pre-campaign), although the proportion that reported seeing TV advertising in February 2009 (78%) was slightly lower than in February 2008 (84%).

If respondents reported having seen any TV advertising about protecting themselves from the harmful effects of the sun, they were asked to describe the first advertisement that they remember seeing. Although only those participants who said that they recalled any TV advertising on the subject were asked to describe the first ad that they remember seeing, the proportions shown in Figure 4.4.2 are based on the full sample, given that the reach of the TVC among each of the target audiences is the measure of interest.

In February 2009, 11% of 14-17 year olds and 8% of 18-24 year olds gave an unambiguous description of the campaign TVC. Unprompted recall was higher for 14-17 year olds in February 2009 than February 2007, maintaining improvement in February 2008. However, among 18-24 year olds, unprompted recall was lower in February 2009 than February 2007 and February 2008.

Figure 4.4.3 summarises the advertisements that participants described in the February 2009 survey⁶. It was found that 9% of 14-17 year olds and 11% of 18-24 year olds described a surgical procedure, but did not provide sufficient information in their descriptions to be certain that they were describing the National Skin Cancer Awareness Campaign. Nevertheless, it is likely that some of these surgical descriptions represent awareness of the campaign TVC. Hence, unprompted recall of the TVC was potentially as high as 20% among 14-17 year olds and 19% among 18-24 year olds. In addition, 7% of 14-17 year olds and 5% of 18-24 year olds described an advertisement relating to protecting oneself from the sun in between 1 and 5 ways. While these descriptions also did not include sufficient information to ascertain whether they represented the campaign TVC, this is a possibility.

The Dark Side of Tanning advertisement was described by the greatest proportion of 14-17 year olds and 18-24 year olds (each at 19%). Given that this ad was only aired in NSW and Queensland, this is a very strong result. The phrases 'There's nothing healthy about a tan' and 'Tanning is skin cells in trauma' appear to have been strongly retained in the minds of 14-17 year olds and 18-24 year olds.

A considerable proportion of respondents continues to mention the 'slip, slop, slap' advertisement, despite it not having been aired recently. It is not unusual for well-known, older campaigns to be mentioned when people are asked to describe an advertisement they have recently seen, demonstrating that 'slip, slop, slap' has been a memorable campaign. Furthermore, some outdoor advertising featuring 'slip, slop, slap' is still in use. When measuring advertising recall, it is usual for there to be a certain amount of incorrect attribution, where people believe they have seen an advertisement on television, when they actually have seen it via another medium.

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Figure 4.4.1 Proportion indicating they had seen any TV advertising in the last 3 months about 'protecting yourself from the harmful effects of the sun'

Text version of figure 4.4.1

Wave 1: 14-17 yrs, n=1,105; 18-24 yrs, n=1,120
Wave 2: 14-17 yrs, n=1,096; 18-24 yrs, n=1,123
Wave 3: 14-17 yrs, n=993; 18-24 yrs, n=1,006
Wave 4: 14-17 yrs, n=1,011; 18-24 yrs, n=1,010
Wave 5: 14-17 yrs, n=1,009; 18-24 yrs, n=1,004

Figure 4.4.2 Unprompted TVC recall

Text version of figure 4.4.2

Wave 2: 14-17 yrs, n=1,096; 18-24 yrs, n=1,123
Wave 3: 14-17 yrs, n=993; 18-24 yrs, n=1,006
Wave 4: 14-17 yrs, n=1,011; 18-24 yrs, n=1,010
Wave 5: 14-17 yrs, n=1,009; 18-24 yrs, n=1,004

Figure 4.4.3 Unprompted TVC recall

Text version of figure 4.4.3

Wave 5: 14-17 yrs, n=1,009; 18-24 yrs, n=1,004

⁶ Again, the base for this chart is the full sample, rather than just those who said that they could recall having seen some TV advertising about protection from the harmful effects of the sun. A small proportion, when asked to describe the last advertisement they saw, said that they could not remember.

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