Information campaigns that enlighten and influence the public

There is a growing need for managers to recognize the recreation demands of a variety of user groups. In addition to the traditional groups that historically demanded specific recreation opportunities, recreation managers also must manage for an aging population, older clients who represent a diversity of cultures and a growing demand for recreation opportunities for individuals with physical and developmental disabilities. As a result of the diversity of potential user groups, managing recreation resources has become a complex undertaking, emphasizing the need for recreation managers to improve the variety of ways they communicate with the public.

For example, better communication with the public can help managers identify the recreation preferences of diverse groups, obtain support for plans and programs, enhance visitor enjoyment through interpretation, add to the educational experience of students in our school systems, reduce resource impact and visitor conflicts in recreation settings, inform the public about recreation program offerings, and manage vandalism and depreciative behavior in recreation settings.

A big question facing practitioners is, "What elements contribute to communication effectiveness?" This question has received a great deal of empirical and theoretical attention in psychology literature. For nearly four decades, researchers have examined how characteristics related to the source, channel, message, and receiver determine communication effectiveness. However, the dismal conclusion of this research has been that there are no broad, general rules relating these characteristics of effective communication. Beginning in the 1980s, researchers have developed new theoretical approaches for exploring the communication process. These approaches focused on how communication factors affect the way people think during the persuasion process.

Changing Attitudes and Behavior

A primary goal of a communication program is to change the behavior of the target audience. One approach for changing behavior is to focus on the attitudes underlying that behavior. There has been a significant amount of research in social psychology which examined this relationship between attitudes and behavior. Although the general view among attitude researchers is that there is such a relationship, it also is agreed that it sometimes is weak, requiring consideration of mediating factors which affect this relationship.

A review of this research regarding the attitude-behavior relationship highlights two general conclusions. First, it has been found that often the most important determinant of a person's behavior is his or her attitude about performing that behavior. Second, it has been found that the most enduring effect on an individual's attitude occurs when he or she has an opportunity to think about the content of a message. From these general findings, it follows that the most lasting way to affect the behavior of recreationists and/or the general public is to provide information which the audience actually reads and seriously considers.

How can recreation managers be sure that the public will pay attention to an information program? First, people will think about a message only if they have both the ability and motivation to do so. Second, information may elicit both favorable and/or unfavorable thoughts about an issue. Finally, there are a number of factors which determine an individual's ability and motivation to consider the information carefully and form either a favorable or unfavorable opinion about it. Prominent factors which have been addressed in the literature are message comprehension, message repetition, perceived relevance of the message, and prior knowledge about the issue addressed in the information program. Following is a discussion of how these factors can influence an information program.

Public Comprehension

Ensuring that the public can comprehend the information provided is a key factor in a successful information program. The ability of an audience to think about a message depends on people's ability to comprehend the message. Comprehension of the message may be affected by the extent to which the audience either is distracted from or misunderstands the information.

The first consideration is the extent to which the communicator has the attention of the audience. If information is presented in such a way that the audience is distracted easily, the audience will not think about and understand the information. This is problematic particularly for information that is presented on-site, while the visitor is in the process of recreating. For example, management appeals for "proper" visitor behavior that are made at the trailhead or in a brochure may not get the attention of the audience. Developing ways in which information can be provided in a setting in which the visitor is a captive audience partially may alleviate this problem.

If information is presented in a way that makes it impossible for the audience to understand its meaning, it is doubtful that the audience will be able to think about the information. Two considerations necessary alleviate the problem of misunderstanding information are the audience's frame of reference and education level. First, coding of a message should not be based on the frame of reference of recreation and park managers. Instead, the information should be developed using common, simple wording that the audience can understand.

Providing the public with information that easily is comprehended also requires an understanding of the target audience's education level. While providing information that is at too high a reading level impedes message comprehension, presenting information at a level that is too low may result in the audience losing interest in the message. Readability indices such as the Frey readability Graph and Harrison-Jacobsen Readability Formulas can assist managers in determining the reading level of information to be distributed.

Combining Verbal and Nonverbal

Combining verbal and nonverbal components of an information campaign will increase the public's ability to comprehend the message. An information campaign may contain a verbal component (written or spoken words), a nonverbal component (visual or audio), or both. Generally, inforamtion is comprehended more easily using a print medium, while behavior change is more likely to occur when audio-visual forms of media are used. Research has suggested that the greatest amount of message retention occurs when multiple media are used.

In recreation areas, the two most heavily used media are written and audio-visual communications. When developing an information campaign, recreation managers should consider how nonverbal components of the information presentation can compliment verbal components. For example, a list of rules and regulations regarding the "proper" visitor behavior may be more effective if visual components (e.g., still pictures) or audio-visual components (e.g., an interpretive station using a short film clip) are used in conjunction with the written message.

Repeating the Message

The number of times a message is repeated affects the ability of the audience to think about the message's content. Research in social and consumer psychology has found that attitudes formed based on repeated exposure to a message are more likely to influence behavior than those formed with limited exposure. This suggests that if an individual hears a message several times, the message will have more impact than if the message is heard just once or twice. Other related research has suggested a multiple source effect, i.e., information presented by several sources will be subject to more careful consideration by the audience than information provided by a single source.

For recreation managers, providing information through several different media may increase the number of exposures to a message or increase the number of sources of that message, both of which increase the audience's ability to think about the message's content. For example, managers may distribute brochures with information about recreation behavior that promotes protection of the resources. They may increase the number of sources used by providing this information using interpretive displays at the visitor center or trailhead and/or through public service announcements using mass media such as radio, television, or newspapers. This will increase the number of times and sources from which a recreationist is exposed to this information.

There are two important factors to consider when providing multiple exposures to information. First, repeating the information may increase the audience's opportunities to consider the message's content up to a point. Beyond that point, the audience may grow tired of hearing or seeing the message, which decreases their ability or desire to think about its content. Second, the effect of repetition may depend on the manner of information presentation. Presentations that are distinctive, soothing and pleasant, or complex have been found to maintain the positive effects of repetition for a longer period of time. In planning an information campaign, it is important to consider not only the repetition of the message and number of sources used but also the type of message presentation to be used.

Providing Relevant Information

If an issue is relevant to the audience, they more likely will think about information regarding the issue at hand. Research in social psychology has found that people are more motivated to think about a message if the information is personally relevant. In considering the relevance of an issue to the public, two considerations are pertinent.

Information often is based on what managers want people to know. However, whenever possible, it is important to consider the relevance of the information to its intended audience. For example, using an open-ended format, an agency may ask members of the public what they feel are the most important advantages and disadvantages to increased recreation development in a natural area. The responses given by the public should be used in an information program about increasing recreation development.

Is it possible for managers to raise the relevance of an issue? The most obvious way is to present information that emphasizes how that issue actually may affect the audience. For example, information to the local public that describes increased recreation opportunities for tourists as a result of recreation development also should identify direct benefits to the local public, such as increased tourism revenues.

In addition, the wording of a message may raise personal relevance. For example, the relevance of an issue to an audience has been found to increase simply by changing the pronouns in a message from third person, (i.e., he, she, or they) to second person (i.e., you).

Considering Prior Knowledge

An individual's prior knowledge and direct experience will affect to what extent that he or she thinks about information. While research in social psychology has recognized the importance of prior knowledge, pinpointing its specific effects on attitude and behavior change is not an easy task. High levels of prior knowledge about an issue have been found to increase motivation and the ability to think about a message. However, people with high levels of prior knowledge are less likely to be influenced by a message.

It also is important to consider how prior knowledge was obtained. People with knowledge obtained through direct experience are less affected by persuasion attempts than people who received knowledge through reading or being told about an issue.

When developing an information program, the complexity of the message should be geared toward the knowledge and experience levels of the target audience. For example, knowledgeable and experienced target audiences may be familiar with basic information and therefore may be less motivated to read it. These individuals may be more motivated to think about complex messages that provide information that is new to them. On the other hand, individuals with low levels of knowledge and experience may not be able to comprehend complex messages.

Affecting Persuasiveness

The nature of the thoughts brought about by an information program will affect its persuasiveness. While variables can influence the person's motivation and ability to think about the content of a message, they also may affect the nature of thoughts generated by the information. For example, some features of the information may elicit favorable thoughts, while others lead to unfavorable thoughts. Two factors that may affect how people react to an information program are the argument's quality and tone.

If arguments about an issue are convincing, the audience is more likely to have favorable thoughts about the issue at hand. As for tone, allowing the audience an opportunity to evaluate information and decide for themselves how they feel about the information is more likely to motivate them to consider the arguments put forth.

Both of these conclusions have significant implications for recreation managers. It stands to reason that strong, convincing arguments should be used when providing information about a specific issue to the public. However, providing information in a condescending or patronizing way, assuming the public automatically will view the situation in the same way as the manager, may have the opposite effect than originally was intended. For example, if a land management agency wants to develop a roadless area for motorized recreation, well thought out reasons for providing motorized recreation should be included in the information program. While the information should be presented in a way as to indicate why the agency believes opportunities for motorized recreation should be provided and how it might affect the public, the public should be encouraged to evaluate the arguments presented and to make their own decision.

Changing Behavior

While the most effective and enduring method of changing attitudes and behaviors is to provide information the target audience carefully considers, there are times when the audience is not motivated or able to think about a message, times when only neutral thoughts result, or times when managers are interested in changing only short-term behaviors. In such cases, there are other factors managers should take into account when developing an information program. These include source credibility, the public's feelings toward the situation surrounding the behavior.

Perceived Credibility

If an audience views the information source as credible, it is more likely to do what the communicator wants. Expertise and trustworthiness are two top traits that inspire credibility. If an audience sees the communicator as credible, it more likely will see the message as credible without thinking much about it.

The Audience and the Method

The extent to which the audience likes the method of information presentation will have an effect on the information program's success. People form beliefs about the way information is presented. These beliefs about presentation can have an effect on the evaluation of the information presented. As individuals become less motivated and able to consider the content of a message, their feelings toward the message itself should become more important in determining its effectiveness.

Implications for recreation managers lie in the way they develop information campaigns. In addition to developing information programs that consider the beliefs and images that people have about the issue in question, such campaigns also should keep in mind that the quality of the presentation also will evoke positive or negative evaluations about the issue.

Influence of Others' Behaviors

The behavior of people in various situations is influenced by what they see other people doing in similar situations.

Another factor that guides an individual's behavior without influencing attitudes is his or her perception of a specific situation. An important type of information relevant to this perception is the knowledge of what behaviors are or are not normatively appropriate. For example, if an individual is in a large campground where other campers generally make noise and/or leave litter lying around, this individual may assume this is appropriate behavior. However, if in a different campground, this person sees others tying up their food as protection from bears or having quiet conversations around the campfire, the oberving individual more likely will conform to this behavior.

Knowledge that norms affect the behavior of individuals in a recreation setting is not enough for managers. Managers should understand in what situations norms have the most effect on people's behavior and how management can effect the norms people hold regarding certain behaviors. There are three basic routes to establish public compliance to social norms, short of direct coercion.

The moral obligation route potentially is most effective in influencing the norms a person holds about appropriate behavior. This involves instilling in a recreationist a moral obligation to engage in proper behavior by letting that person know what that behavior is and why other depreciative behavior is considered bad. The goal of this route is to impose a sense of guilt on the public for engaging in behavior not consistent with social norms.

Managers may take steps to get individuals to identify with groups who, in fact, do behave properly. Most individuals want others to perceive them as holding correct attitudes. Therefore, when an individual encounters a group which behaves differently than he or she does, that person is pressured to conform to the norms of that group. Recreation managers may encourage people to identify with management by making the public a more integral part of the decision-making process.

The third norm compliance route involves the administering of rewards and/or punishments for certain behaviors. The main problem with this strategy is that behavior change is not lasting, i.e., when the reward/punishment system is removed, behavior often returns to pre-program behavior.

Two additional points merit consideration. First, the factors discussed in this article are not mutually exclusive. They all should be considered when developing an information program.

Although source credibility is an important consideration for an audience which is not motivated or able to think about a message, this variable also may play a role in increasing thought about a message in those people who have the motivation and ability. Also, there may be several audiences with different levels of knowledge and experience concerning a management issue, motivation and ability to consider a message, and different perceptions of the agency providing information. To reach as broad an audience as possible, all these factors should be taken into consideration in developing an information program.

COPYRIGHT 1994 National Recreation and Park Association
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group