Evaluation of Female Driver Responses
to Impaired Driving Messages
Final Report -- December 2000
Recent data show that women constituted a larger percentage of alcohol-involved and intoxicated drivers in fatal crashes in 1998 than 10 to 15 years ago. Thus, it is increasingly important to provide interventions, including public service announcements (PSAs), to prevent impaired driving among these women. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) contracted with the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE) to see if impaired driving messages are adequately tailored for women.
PIRE conducted six focus groups in the Washington, DC, area and six groups in Madison, Wisconsin, during September and October 1999. The 94 participants averaged 26 years of age, drove regularly, and had drunk alcohol in the past month. Three-fourths of the participants worked outside the home; virtually all had white-collar jobs. Half the women were married or lived with a partner, and 30% had dependents living with them. Almost 60% of the participants had annual household incomes between $15,000 and $50,000. Slightly over half of the women identified themselves as White and about one-third identified themselves as African American.
Women completed a Participant Information Form before the focus group. A guided discussion covered their driving and drinking behaviors and attitudes, plus their general views on the media. They then saw or heard thirteen existing PSAs from three mediums: video, radio, and print. Participants completed a rating form after each media presentation. After a cluster of presentations (e.g., videos), they completed a ranking form. Participants discussed their ratings and preferences only after all forms were completed for the cluster.
The study was designed to answer three related questions dealing with young women and their perceptions of impaired driving messages. First, "Should impaired driving messages be targeted differently for female drivers than male drivers?" The participants found that emotional approaches in anti-DWI messages were the most effective. Data from our study and similar research indicate that women, more than men, are affected by PSAs using emotional appeals. Thus, it is worthwhile to design PSAs with emotional appeals specifically for women.
Second, "Which type of approach (media and venue) is best for targeting female drivers?" By far, television was preferred over other mediums by the focus group members. Radio clearly was viewed as the least effective medium. Print PSAs had intermediate appeal. Vivid images were most likely to be remembered. The women thought billboards and magazines were the most effective venues for print PSAs. Additionally, the Internet is a potential venue for PSAs, through either news sources or other web sites.
Third, "How do women respond to different persuasive techniques (e.g., emotional, authoritative, informational)?" Our study and others clearly indicate that emotional approaches are the most effective with women. The participants, especially the youngest members, rejected authoritative messages. Underage women were particularly "turned off" to PSA messages that seemed to dictate their behavior or were "preachy."
The assessment of informational approaches is less clear cut. The women appreciated the information included in some of the PSAs. However, the PSAs rated as most informative were not ranked highly for overall effectiveness. Therefore, an informational approach does not appear to be useful by itself. Participants thought it was more important for messages to come from "real life." Also, the information in a PSA needs to be accurate and credible.
Several techniques would make PSAs more effective with the young women in our focus groups. The first is using emotional appeals, by depicting children as victims or by showing the impact of drinking and driving on families. Second, it is worthwhile to design PSAs that have "shock value" and that contain graphic images of the negative consequences of drinking and driving. Third, PSAs in which women could identify with the characters were seen as more effective. Additionally, many women believed that giving the messages a local flavor would enhance their ability to identify with the PSA.
Some approaches were not well accepted by the participants. Using celebrities as spokespersons for impaired driving messages was not seen as effective. Women were skeptical of the celebrities' motives and had a hard time relating to them. The use of humor in the messages also was problematic. While several young women mentioned that humorous PSAs grabbed their attention, others were put off by the use of humor. We suggest avoiding humorous PSAs, especially those that might be interpreted as trivializing the message.
Focus group participants believed that it is very difficult to compete with the tremendous volume of daily advertisements they see and hear. Therefore, it appears one key to an effective PSA campaign is breaking through the media clutter with an attention-getting, visual PSA. We recommend pursuing multiple approaches for reducing impaired driving, in conjunction with PSAs.