Mobile:Engaged Compendium 2021 | Page 80

RELEVANT - Information should be relevant to the individuals targeted to ensure that they do not deem the information ‘ important for others , but not themselves ’. This is where it can be important to clarify what we mean by ‘ use ’ of a phone . If people don ’ t think what they do is ‘ use ’ they are unlikely to think our message is aimed at them .
ATTRACTIVE - Particularly where individuals are expected to make an effort to engage with educational information , it is essential that the information is attractive . Within online approaches , images and ( short ) videos do this best ¹, so long as they are in a mobilefriendly format . Always put captions or subtitles on videos as evidence suggests that up to 85 % of people listen in silence ². Make non-use of a mobile phone appear more attractive by communicating the benefits an individual may experience as a result of changing their behaviour in the way we would like them to ³. This includes getting home safely , or avoiding higher insurance premiums , for example .
Another aspect of ‘ attractiveness ’ we can make the most of is people ’ s desire to be part of the ‘ in-crowd ’ ( as we suggested on p65 ). People naturally and instinctively want to be part of the majority ( this is called the ‘ social norms ’ approach from the behaviour change literature ) and we can use this to our advantage . So whilst it might be tempting to start your education with some impactive statements about levels of offending , resist the implication that this is normal . This won ’ t detract from your statistics and examples about the harm that is caused by the behaviour when it does occur .
Likewise , most drivers think they are better than average at driving 4 so may ignore safety messages as being relevant for others but not themselves . resources like the OU ’ s ‘ Are you a focused driver ?’ exercise , available at https :// www . open . edu / openlearn / health-sportspsychology / psychology / are-you-focused-driver , are really effective at getting drivers to experience distraction and the way it affects them . Not other people . Them specifically .
We can also try to make sure that our audience sees our activities as relevant to them . Rather than justify what we do we should show pride , and ( where possible ) be clear that the responses we talk about are endorsed by the public , and often demanded by them . This approach makes the enforcement of the law relevant to the audience in terms of the protection it offers them , rather than being framed as a threat they need to look out for . So if we change the terms of reference and imagine our audience as allies , not as potential targets , then we should find that they begin to mirror that .
A A famous face can be be an an attractive feature of message of message - just - make just make sure sure you you check check out out that person that person ’ s profile ’ s profile to make to make sure they sure they are an are appropriate an role-model appropriate . role-model .
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¹ Hubspot ( nd ). 45 visual content marketing statistics you should know in 2018 . Available from : https :// blog . hubspot . com / marketing / visual-contentmarketing-strategy ² UScreen ( nd ). 7 reasons your videos need subtitles . Available from : https :// www . uscreen . tv / blog / 7-reasons-videos-need-subtitles-infographic / ³ Lewis , I ., Watson , B . and White , K . M ., 2008 . An examination of message-relevant affect in road safety messages : Should road safety advertisements aim to make us feel good or bad ?. Transportation research part F : traffic psychology and behaviour , 11 ( 6 ), pp . 403-417 .
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Harré , N ., Foster , S . and O ’ neill , M . ( 2005 ). Self-enhancement , crash-risk optimism and the impact of safety advertisements on young drivers . British journal of psychology , 96 ( 2 ), pp . 215-230