SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

1. The newspaper advertisements reached a large section of the public, but it is doubtful whether people looked at them or read them very carefully. Many more remembered seeing the advertisements when copies were shown to them than mentioned them spontaneously when asked how they had heard about export, and only a few people were able to describe any of them clearly from memory.

2. The sections of the public that were most aware of newspaper publicity were in general those sections which are in any case better informed about public matters and which read newspapers most. It is doubtful whether this form of publicity is as successful with the lower economic groups and with housewives as some other forms might be. In general the lower economic groups read newspapers less than the higher groups.

3. It appears that relatively larger proportions of some of the less well informed sections of the population could be reached by films. However those who had seen films about export did not appear to be very much better informed on the subject than those who had not. Longer and more interesting films might achieve more with these sections of the population.

4. Radio publicity reached 39% and most of those who had heard about export on the radio remembered this without being prompted. Although the radio was not very much used in this campaign such radio publicity as there was seems to have made a fairly strong impression.

5. It is quite clear, that more could have been done to publicise export policy in factories. It appears that managements were not very forward in informing their employees that goods were being made for export, and only 2% of factory workers had seen posters displayed at their places of work.

6. In comparing this campaign with the Road Safety campaign it appears that the latter was on the whole more successful. This might of course be due to the fact that the danger to the public from road accidents is more obvious than the danger of a low level of exports. Appreciation of the importance of exports requires some understanding of economics, whereas the importance of taking care on the roads is obvious to everyone. Also the fact the posters were used widely in the Road Safety campaign may have enhanced the effect of the newspaper advertisements.

The pictorial quality and personal appeal of the Road Safety advertisements also seems to have been responsible for more people noticing and remembering these than noticed and remembered the more abstract Export advertisements which were shown in the first stage of the campaign.