Focus groups help shape APA campaign radio ad

By Saundra Halgrimson and Paul Herndon

'My son had barely spoken a civil word to me in months. He was staying out late, cutting classes and who knows what else.'

APA?s new public education campaign radio ad on family relations begins with a mother voicing concern that she may be 'losing her son.' The ad goes on to convey that psychological services can help parents and teens work through the difficult times and deal with the challenges of adolescence.

Building on the success of local radio advertising, the Practice Directorate recently had this radio spot produced as the latest in a series of APA Public Education Campaign ads. The association?s long-term public education initiative seeks to enhance public perception of the value of psychology and psychological services. Other campaign ads developed to date include two radio ads on work stress and breast cancer, a television spot on workplace stress and three print ads.

The new ad represents an addition to the educational vehicles available to psychologists and psychology organizations through APA?s campaign, not a new phase in message development and dissemination. 'This radio spot offers yet another mechanism for conveying the consumer messages we found to be effective during our benchmark campaign research,' said APA Executive Director for Professional Practice Russ Newman, PhD, JD.

APA?s early campaign research revealed that family relations was among the top three issues of interest and concern to consumers nationwide, according to Jan Peterson, director of public relations and special projects for the Practice Directorate. (The other two issues are workplace stress and the mind-body connection.) As when conducting that early public-opinion research, the directorate enlisted the help of focus groups to shape the content and tone of its latest addition to APA?s campaign materials for consumers.

Testing the ad concepts

The medium for the new ad reflects the relatively high use of radio spots by state psychological associations during the past year. In light of the substantial cost difference between radio and television advertising, radio campaigns offer a reasonably economical way of widespread message dissemination for organizations on a limited budget, according to APA staff.

Based in part on input from APA?s Div. 43 (Family), two preliminary radio concepts were developed for focus group testing. One was built around a mother-son relationship, while the other used a father-daughter scenario. Four focus groups were convened in Baltimore and San Diego to test 'rough cuts' of the ads and determine how well the public would receive them.

According to Newman, the focus group process helped APA appreciate the balance needed between specificity and generality in the ad. On the one hand, he said, it needed to be sufficiently focused to make listeners recognize a problem worthy of professional attention. At the same time, the ad needed to be general enough to engage a large audience through the use of a common situation to which most listeners could relate.

Two focus groups were made up of all women , the other two consisted entirely of men. The participant pool was ethnically diverse with individuals ranging in age from 25 to 55. Most had some college-level education (all had a high school diploma) and reported household incomes of at least $35,000.

Both men and women in the early round of focus groups agreed that tension in the mother-son relationship was more common and believable and that a greater number of problems may exist between mother and son, particularly in light of current demographics. Participant comments included, '[a] son is quicker to test . . . the waters with his mother than with his father,' and, 'there are so many single mothers raising children .' Further support for using the mother-son scenario came from several participants? observation that women make the health-care decisions in most families.

A review of preliminary focus-group findings suggested that stronger, more emotionally charged language would help substantiate the intensity of conflict that many parents and teenagers experience. For example, several individuals supported having the parent indicate that the child was 'going down the wrong path.'

Based on feedback from the first round of testing, the mother-son ad was refined and retested. Participants in the later two focus groups indicated that the revised ad would resonate well with a parent who perceives a very serious problem, as well as with someone dealing with the typical strains placed on family relationships during the teen years. There was general agreement that the ad helped affirm the value of professional mental health services.

As expected, the spot tested more favorably with women, a key target audience for APA?s campaign. Just after the proposed ad played, a couple of women remarked, 'That?s my life.' The majority agreed that when raising a family, there may be times when someone needs to talk to a person other than a close friend or relative. Many of the women indicated that the ad would prompt them to call the APA campaign line if they were in a similar situation. As with the other campaign ads, the new family relations radio spot gives consumers the option of calling the toll-free campaign line?(800) 964-2000?to receive the 'Talk to Someone Who Can Help' brochure about psychotherapy and the value of psychological services. Callers also may be connected to the appropriate state psychological association for referral to a psychologist in their area.

As for the men in the final round of focus groups, one observed that the problem between parent and child was presented so convincingly that 'it sounds like about a million stories I?ve heard.' The majority of male participants agreed that all parents who have teen-age children probably could relate to the ad, but that it would be particularly well received by mothers.

New ad airs in Idaho

The new ad is being made available to any state or local psychological association or APA division interested in placing campaign advertising. The Idaho Psychological Association (IPA) was the first to take advantage of this opportunity by using the radio spot as part of its consumer-oriented activities during National Mental Health Month in May.

APA?s new campaign tools are designed to serve as catalysts for such local activity, says APA?s Peterson. 'We want the grassroots momentum behind our public education campaign to continue growing,' she said. She added that paid advertising is but one major element of APA?s campaign, along with media relations and community outreach activities.

Saundra Halgrimson is senior account executive, Pacific Visions Communications, Inc., in Los Angeles, and Paul Herndon is director of communications for APA?s Practice Directorate.