palouse conservation district

Communication Campaign Plan

Zamzam Abdulgani, Renee Hausske, Megan Mischaikov, Alyssa Mayeda, Karlie Pfluger

THE GOAL

1) Increase student awareness of conservation districts

2) Increase student awareness of internship and job opportunities with conservation district

3) Increase student awareness and engagement with local conservation issues and needs

4) "Tell the story" of the conservation district

THESISOur team has built a conceptual framework around comparing the current communication platform of the Palouse Conservation District to our experimental pages, which we have manipulated using theories and models learned in class. Therefore, an understanding of the best communication techniques for outreach and awareness will be available for the Palouse Conservation District to implement.

CHALLENGES

Majority of students represented at Washington State University have no prior connection to the Palouse

Lack of social media presence

Website is hard to navigate

RESEARCH QUESTIONMeasured an experimental message to see which type of emotion - negative, positive, or controlled - would increase recall of information presented on a website and which emotion would affect attitudes towards the Palouse Conservation District and environmental issues related to the Palouse region.

EXEMPLIFICATION THEORY

Messages exemplify emotional recall to a message

Messages are commonly shown through illustrative form which are known as exemplars

Exemplars can influence judgment

Message is concrete rather than abstract, that message is more likely to be recalled

HEURISTICS

Availability heuristic is a mental shortcut

Judgements are made based on the ease of recalling information

Availability heuristic will show whether students can easily recall information about the Palouse Conservation District after seeing the new website

METHODS

Online survey to measure experimental message

Only WSU students to partake

Created consent forms

Control, positive, and negative messages

MEASUREMENT

Self-report method

Accurately label questions to adhere to construct validity

Operationalization independent and dependent variables

Convenience sampling offers threats to external validity

Self-selection

SURVEY

SURVEY

SURVEY

SURVEY

PARTICIPANTS

WHAT WE FOUNDIndividuals who felt the Palouse was their home and individuals who were aware of environmental issues affecting the Palouse

Individuals who feel they are aware of environmental issues affecting the Palouse and individuals thoughts that environmental conservation will benefit future generations

individuals who are aware of environmental issues affecting the Palouse and individuals who regularly seek information about environmental issue affecting the Palouse

WHAT WE FOUNDPositive Message:Planning on seeking more information about environmental issues affecting the Palouse

Planning on seeking more information about the Palouse Conservation District

Finding the message useful

WHAT WE FOUND

WHAT THIS MEANS

Positive message website had higher recall and positive emotional response

RECOMMENDATIONS

Modifying the current appearance of the Palouse Conservation District website:

• adding images of the Palouse

• making the website easier to navigate

• adding links to social media pages

• highlighting opportunities for community involvement

Improving Palouse Conservation District’s Facebook profile:

• updating the profile picture and cover picture

• creating a twitter profile

• implementing a brighter and uniform color scheme

Social Media Channels (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

Internship & Job Opportunities

Engagement with local conservation issues and needs

“Tel

l the

stor

y”

THE GOAL

1) Increase student awareness of conservation districts

2) Increase student awareness of internship and job opportunities with conservation district

3) Increase student awareness and engagement with local conservation issues and needs

4) "Tell the story" of the conservation district

THANK YOU