MEASURING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF AN OVERSEAS INFORMATION CAMPAIGN: A CASE HISTORY

In: Public opinion quarterly: journal of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, Band 21, Heft 4, S. 475-498

Abstract

A series of advertisements (ads) dealing with the UN's declaration of human rights was placed in the newspapers of Salonica, Greece, in 1952 by the US Information Agency. The effects of this advertising campaign were measured by means of interviews before & after with a panel of R's representing a cross-section of the city's pop. In addition, interviews were conducted after the campaign with a parallel cross-section in the test city & similar interviews both before & after in a control city where the ads did not appear. The evidence supports the theory of self-selection in exposure to a communication: people whose views on the subject were already favorable were most apt to read the ads. However, regardless of prior opinion or awareness, exposure to the campaign resulted in a noticeable increase in information on the subject. The campaign seems to have confirmed already favorable opinion by providing supporting arguments for people whose att's were already formed. AA.