Executive Summary of the Report on household emergency preparedness in Canada

Introduction

Public Safety Canada’s “72 Hour…Is Your Family Prepared?” advertising campaign is designed to improve Canada’s preparedness for, and ability to respond to, an emergency by mobilizing target audiences to take practical steps to prepare for emergencies. The primary goal is to encourage Canadians to get an emergency kit to sustain themselves and their families for a minimum of 72 hours in the event of an emergency.

In March 2009, Public Safety Canada (PS) commissioned Phoenix SPI to conduct a telephone survey of Canadian households in order to evaluate the “72 Hours” advertising and social marketing campaign.

The objectives of the evaluation were as follows:

• To measure the recall of advertising by the general population, as well as the target audience of the campaign; and,
• To obtain measurements of social marketing indicators in order to assess the impact of the advertising campaign on knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours of the target audience and the general population of Canada on the issue of emergency preparedness.

Key Findings

The key findings of the post-campaign evaluation survey are as follows:

• The number of Canadians who have seen, heard or read advertising related to emergency preparedness (EP) has increased over the course of the three years of the campaign. In 2009, 44% of Canadians overall (up 14 points since 2007), and nearly one in two (47% - up 9 points since 2007) members of the target audience registered awareness of EP advertising.
• Of the Canadians who have been exposed to EP advertising, more people each year have recalled, unprompted, the ’72 Hours’ brand. In 2009, when those who were aware of EP advertising were asked for details on what they remembered, 36% of Canadians overall and the same proportion of the target audience recalled the “72 Hours” message.
• When prompted with a specific description of the ’72 Hours’ ads, one in four (25%) Canadians and the same proportion of the target audience said that they saw the television ad, the online banner, or both.
• Every year, about a quarter of those who have seen the campaign take action to better prepare themselves for an emergency. In 2009, among those who reported awareness of the ’72 Hours’ campaign, 24% of Canadians overall, and 23% of the target audience took action to better prepare themselves as the result of seeing the ads.
• A strong majority believes that it is important for the government to run campaigns urging Canadians to prepare for an emergency.
• With every year of the campaign, more Canadians believe that they would know what to do and where to go for help in an emergency. In 2009, 68% of Canadians (an increase of 11 points from 2005) and 61% of the target audience (an increase of 9 points from 2005) said that they would know what to do in case of an emergency.
• The majority of both Canadians overall (72%) and the target audience (78%) understand that they carry at least some the responsibility for their own safety in an emergency.
• Roughly one-third of Canadian households (35%) have looked for information on what to do in an emergency – an increase of 7 percentage points from 2005.
• Approximately four out of five Canadians (78%) and a slightly higher proportion of the target audience (82%) agree that having an emergency kit is necessary to their safety. Moreover, almost two out of five Canadians households (38%) have followed through and either prepared or bought an emergency kit.

Methodology

Post-campaign evaluation data was collected via a telephone survey, conducted between March 18 and 30, 2009. With the exception of minor changes and additions, the survey questionnaire was designed to replicate that of the 2007-08 evaluation. The survey averaged 15 minutes in length. Findings for the general population are based on a sample of 1,000 interviews and are accurate within +/-3.1%, 19 times out of 20. Findings for the target audience are based on a sample of 686 interviews and are accurate within +/-3.7%, 19 times out of 20.