Reactions to the Shared Values Initiative

1
Reactions to theShared Values Initiative

• Alice Kendrick, Ph.D.
• Southern Methodist University
• and
• Jami A. Fullerton, Ph.D.
• Oklahoma State University

2
Overview

• In the fall of 2001, the State Dept., led by
  Undersecretary of State and former ad executive
  Charlotte Beers, launched a first-of-its kind
  television ad campaign in the Middle East
  featuring the happy lives of American Muslims.
  The ads were part of the U.S. governments
  Shared Values Initiative.

3
Shared Values Initiative

• Post 9/11 public diplomacy campaign
• Targeted predominantly Muslim countries
• Attempts to convince the Muslim world not to
  hate us
• Consists of numerous communication elements
  including TV spots
• 15 million budget

4
The Spots

• 5 spots in the campaign
• Termed mini documentaries by DOS
• Produced by McCann-Erickson Ad Agency
• Testimonial-style commercials featuring
  slice-of-life treatments of prosperous Muslim
  Americans in various professional and personal
  roles

5
Shared Values Initiative

• First time that the U.S. purchased international
  broadcast time to run a public diplomacy message
• Used TV to reach the people
• The media plan was cut short
• Spots ran only in Pakistan, Malaysia,Indonesia
  and Kuwait. Some satellite spill-out in Jordan,
  Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE

6
Show the Spots

• Baker
• Doctor
• School Teacher
• Journalist
• Firefighter

7
Timeline

• Oct. 29, 2002
• television ad campaign launches in Indonesia to
  coincide with Ramadan
• Al-Jazeera and other Arab countries refuse to run
  the spots
• Jan. 16, 2003
• Washington Post reports that the campaign was
  suspended because it failed
• Beers tells CNN that campaign would continue

8
Timeline

• Feb. 3, 2003
• DOS reports that ads stopped running in Dec. and
  were being revised
• March 2003
• Beers resigns for health reasons
• Since March 2003
• Media, Congress and administration criticize
  Beers and distance themselves from the ad campaign

9
Target Audience

• The People in countries with high Muslim
  populations
• Beers cited the importance of reaching women -
  mothers and teachers

10
Effects Evaluation

• Media reports at home and abroad generally
  negative
• considered a propaganda tool
• Beers said it was successful because it started
  a dialogue
• CNN and WSJ said it failed to register with
  Muslim audience and was prevented from airing in
  most countries
• Criticized for not explaining U.S. policy

11
Effects Evaluation

• No formal quantitative evaluation made public

12
Research Questions

• Attitudes toward the U.S. government
• Attitudes toward U.S. people
• Attitudes toward how Muslims are treated in
  America
• Believability of commercials
• Appropriateness and helpfulness the U.S. to run
  the commercials
• Perceived effectiveness of the commercials
• Main message, first impressions, likes and
  dislikes
• Subgroup analyses

13
Method

• Pre/post experimental design
• Traditional advertising copy test

14
Method

• Paper and pencil questionnaire (including
  pre-test)
• Viewing of Shared Values Initiative commercials
• Remainder of the questionnaire (including
  post-test)

15
Sample

• 105 international students
• Regents College
• London, England
• July 2003

16
Questionnaire

• Dependent variables
• attitude toward U.S. government
• attitude toward U.S. people
• treatment of Muslims

17
Questionnaire

• Copy test questions
• first impression
• main message
• liked most/least
• believability
• effectiveness
• appropriateness
• confusing elements
• persuasion

18
Findings

• Respondent Profile
• 54 female 46 male
• average age 22
• English was native language of 7
• 58 spoke English fluently

19
Findings

• Respondent Profile
• 25 different countries
• 70 European
• 2/3 know someone in the U.S.
• Half have regular email contact with the U.S.
• 97 said they would like to visit the U.S.

20
Findings

• Pre- v. Post-Attitudes toward the
• U.S. Government and U.S. People
• Favorability scale of 1-4
• 4 most favorable

21
Pre/Post Attitudes

• U.S. Government
• more positive after the videos
• mean 1.86 v. 2.05
• Christians and not religious remained negative
• Muslims and other religions improved

22
Pre/Post Attitudes

• U.S. People
• not statistically significant
• women more favorable than men
• Europeans less favorable

23
Pre/Post Attitudes

• Attitudes Toward Treatment of Muslims
• Stronger agreement after videos
• Mean 2.82 v. 3.14
• Primary communication objective was met

24
First Impressions

• Most frequent first reactions disbelief and
  skepticism
• Focus on aspects of U.S. image America on its
  best behavior
• Intended main message registered among 12

25
Main Message

• Most (59.8) involved U.S. image
• One-third Muslims living freely and happily in
  the U.S.
• One-half of main message registrations were
  Muslim-related

26
Believability of Commercials

• Fewer than half considered them believable
• Doubt that the videos would be considered
  credible among target
• 64 found elements confusing or hard to believe
• One-sided nature objectionable
• Europeans judged less believable
• Christians and not religious judged less
  believable

27
Appropriateness of Commercials

• Students divided on appropriateness of strategy
• One-third agreed appropriate and helpful
• Europeans less appropriate and helpful
• Muslims and other more appropriate and helpful
  

28
Perceived Effectiveness of Commercials

• Half said videos an effective tool for Muslim
  countries
• Women agreed more strongly
• Those who had visited U.S. or fluent in English
  less likely to agree

29
Elements Liked and Disliked

• One-fourth said they liked nothing
• Likes overall objective and friendly style
  and tone
• Likes information content (15.6) specific
  information about Muslims (15.6).
• Dislikes lack of believability (70.4)
• Few comments about specific executional elements

30
Implications/Recommendations

• SVI approach achieved its objectives
• Mass media may be an appropriate method to
  communicate with audiences in the Middle East
• Need to address erosion of attitude toward
  America in Westernized countries

31
Implications/Recommendations

• Concept testing and pre-testing should be used
  before spots are aired
• Message strategy should be altered
• Avoid travel video appeal

32
Implications/Recommendations

• Messages should be less one-sided
• May not be perceived as propaganda
• More likely to persuade and inoculate

33
Implications/Recommendations

• Using two-step flow theory of mass communication
• Mass media messages are filtered through friends,
  family church
• Target communication to opinion leaders in the
  community, especially clerics

34
First Impression Table 1
35
Main Message Table 2
36
Most Liked Elements Table 3
37
Most Disliked Elements Table 4