Iowa State University


Inside Iowa State
December 21, 2000

Greenlee team assesses effectiveness of anti-drug ads

by Steve Sullivan
Iowans are taking notice of anti-drug public service ads, a new Iowa State study indicates.

The effectiveness of public service advertisements by the Partnership for a Drug-Free Iowa (PDFI) was evaluated by a team of graduate and undergraduate students led by Lulu Rodriguez, Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication. The evaluation was commissioned by PDFI.

The team conducted a statewide survey to measure the ads' impact on the public's knowledge and attitudes about illegal drugs, as well as their influence on behavior. The group also conducted focus groups with Iowa high school students.

The survey indicated that more than 90 percent of the 553 respondents recalled hearing or seeing a PDFI public service ad and could remember its message. More than 66 percent of the respondents agreed that drug prevention ads made them more aware of the risks of using drugs. And approximately 65 percent recalled the ads' message regarding the need to talk to children about the dangers of drugs.

The findings are interesting because most communication research indicates that these types of public service campaigns have little effect, Rodriquez said.


Change in behavior
The ads also had some influence on behavior, Rodriguez said. Nearly one-fourth of the respondents had taken action to assist in the statewide effort to curb drug use after exposure to the ads. Among actions cited were contacting legislators or talking to young people about drugs.

The survey also found that respondents think parents who have children under 18 are likely to think drugs are a problem and are willing to talk to their children about it. However, only about half of the parents with teenagers indicated that they had talked to their children about drugs in the six months prior to the survey.

The group plans to re-survey the respondents in February to determine if exposure to PDFI public service ads has had a lasting impact.


Central Iowa focus groups
To measure the impact of the ads on teenagers, the Iowa State research team did focus groups with high school students from Roland-Story City, Gilbert and Nevada high schools.

"The focus groups indicated that teens think drug use is one of Iowa's biggest problems, which is an indication that the ad campaign has been effective in getting messages about drug issues out to the public," Rodriguez said.

Other findings, based on input from the teen focus groups, include:

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