Food Safety Education Campaign Concept Refinement Research

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number: 0583-0151)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: FOOD SAFETY EDUCATION CAMPAIGN CONCEPT REFINEMENT RESEARCH

PURPOSE:

FSIS, in partnership with the Ad Council, is developing a new national public service advertising campaign to educate the public about the importance of safe food handling and how to reduce the risks associated with foodborne illness. As part of the ongoing campaign development process, the Ad Council, on behalf of the Agency, proposes conducting information collections to gauge reactions to creative concepts that will eventually be produced as public service advertisements. Soliciting consumer feedback is an essential part of the creative development process and will help ensure that the campaign resonates with and motivates the target audience to adopt safer food handling behaviors.

FSIS is requesting approval for collecting information through the use of triad discussions with members of the campaign’s target audience. Such discussions with consumers are an important information gathering technique because they provide insights that can be used to test and refine creative concepts before production. Triads facilitate discussion between peers about the advertising and can help introduce a range of perspectives and reactions.

Findings will be used to revise and refine the creative concepts prior to production and distribution. Once developed, the campaign advertisements will appear across a range of donated media platforms including TV, radio, print, out of home, and online, with the goal of communicating the message and inspiring behavior change in the target audience.

The methodology for the research being proposed is qualitative and is meant to help refine the creative concepts based on consumer insights. The results of this study will not be generalizable to the overall population and will not produce statistically significant data. However, this study will allow the advertising agency to hear respondents speak candidly about their reactions to the advertising, which is an invaluable part of the creative development process.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

The campaign will target parents/guardians, aged 20 to 45. Parents/guardians have been identified as the target audience because they are most likely to be preparing food for themselves and others, and they have an incentive to listen to food safety messages and adopt or change their behaviors as a result. Respondents will be exposed to creative concepts developed by the volunteer advertising agency, Partners + Napier that include draft TV and radio scripts, print, out of home, and online advertisements. The goal of this research is to gauge the clarity, appeal, and relevance of the advertising, as well as the extent to which they motivate the target audience to change their food-handling behaviors.

The Ad Council, working with a third-party research vendor and Partners + Napier, will conduct 12 triads in three separate but key markets. The triads will consist of 36 total respondents. Six triads (3 respondents each) will be conducted in Spanish with Hispanic respondents, for a total of 18 respondents participating in Spanish.

Market	English	Spanish
1	Group 1 (3 participants)	Group 1 (3 participants)
1	Group 2 (3 participants)	Group 2 (3 participants)
2	Group 3 (3 participants)	Group 3 (3 participants)
2	Group 4 (3 participants)	Group 4 (3 participants)
3	Group 5 (3 participants)	Group 5 (3 participants)
3	Group 6 (3 participants)	Group 6 (3 participants)

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [X] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group [ ] Other: ______________________

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name:___Lee Puricelli_____________________________________________

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [x ] No

2. If Yes, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [X ] Yes [ ] No

The 36 respondents in the creative concept refinement research will receive a payment of approximately $75 for their interview following their participation in the in-person focus group session.

This amount is in line with the industry standard, relative to participation by people in the target market. These industry-standard stipends help to ensure that respondents can be recruited efficiently and ensure their arrival and participation in the groups. These standards exist to provide fair compensation for costs incurred by participants while attending groups, based on the location of and expenses in each market.

BURDEN HOURS

Type of Respondent	No. of Respondents	No. of Responses per Respondent	Total Annual Responses	Time for Response in Min.	Total annual time in hours
Screening – non-respondents	327	1	327	5	30.25
Interviews – Respondents	36	1	36	90	54
Total	363		363	95	84.25

Total burden hours: 84.25

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $35,000

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [ x] Yes [ ] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

Please see recruitment screener attached.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[X] Telephone

[x] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ X ] Yes [ ] No

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

Instructions for completing Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback”

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Provide the name of the collection that is the subject of the request. (e.g. Comment card for soliciting feedback on xxxx)

PURPOSE: Provide a brief description of the purpose of this collection and how it will be used. If this is part of a larger study or effort, please include this in your explanation.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Provide a brief description of the targeted group or groups for this collection of information. These groups must have experience with the program.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: Check one box. If you are requesting approval of other instruments under the generic, you must complete a form for each instrument.

CERTIFICATION: Please read the certification carefully. If you incorrectly certify, the collection will be returned as improperly submitted or it will be disapproved.

Personally Identifiable Information: Provide answers to the questions.

Gifts or Payments: If you answer yes to the question, please describe the incentive and provide a justification for the amount.

BURDEN HOURS:

Category of Respondents: Identify who you expect the respondents to be in terms of the following categories: (1) Individuals or Households;(2) Private Sector; (3) State, local, or tribal governments; or (4) Federal Government. Only one type of respondent can be selected.

No. of Respondents: Provide an estimate of the Number of respondents.

Participation Time: Provide an estimate of the amount of time required for a respondent to participate (e.g. fill out a survey or participate in a focus group)

Burden: Provide the Annual burden hours: Multiply the Number of responses and the participation time and divide by 60.

FEDERAL COST: Provide an estimate of the annual cost to the Federal government.

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents. Please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them. If the answer is yes, to the first question, you may provide the sampling plan in an attachment.

Administration of the Instrument: Identify how the information will be collected. More than one box may be checked. Indicate whether there will be interviewers (e.g. for surveys) or facilitators (e.g., for focus groups) used.

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

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