TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION:
Anchor It! Campaign Perception and Message Testing Among
PARENT FOCUS GROUPS
The general objective of this project will be to provide the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission with qualitative data regarding its Anchor It! campaign. The Anchor It! campaign was launched in June of 2015 to alert parents and caregivers of young children (and expectant parents) about the dangers of having untethered furniture, televisions, and appliances around young children and to educate those parents about quick, inexpensive solutions – namely, anchoring those items to a wall. The focus groups will seek to assess what parents in three separate locations nationwide have heard about anchoring over the past two years, in light of the CPSC’s campaign, if and how that has affected their habits, and which channels were most effective in getting their attention. Understanding parents’ perceptions on these will help gauge how the campaign performed. Additionally, the focus groups will be used to understand current attitudes towards child safety and anchoring, and ensure CPSC’s messaging is resonant and effective in informing parents and motivating them to action.
PURPOSE:
While a host of child-safety measures are often discussed and acted upon by most new parents or parents of young children – such as ensuring secure installation of car seats, putting chemicals and cleaners on high shelves, adhering to standards of crib safety, etc. – are well-known, that has not always been the case for anchoring or tethering TVs and furniture. However, injuries and deaths that could have been avoided through anchoring are not insignificant (SEE REPORT SUMMARY IN APPENDIX).
Focus groups are necessary to really understand whether parents are truly moved by these dangers, whether they have heard anything about these dangers from the CPSC or elsewhere, and the degree to which this hazard is still “hidden” today or if there has been any progress made on publicizing these dangers. Additionally, it will be critical to gauge whether people recall anything specific about CPSC’s campaign to understand the degree to which the message permeated, to understand if the current messaging resonates in today’s climate, and to learn how best to reach parents as the campaign works to curtail this danger.
To understand all of this, CPSC will conduct six focus groups among recruited parents of children age five or younger. Groups will be diverse to ensure all demographic groups are adequately represented. Each focus group will last approximately two hours. While focus groups are guided discussions that can lead into different areas of conversation, they will intend to address the following question sections that will helps us uncover the following (as further spelled out in ATTACHMENT #1 – Discussion/Moderator guide):
Overall Context of Child Safety:
How is “child safety” viewed and when do parents start making decisions concerning this subject?
What motivates them and what preparations have they taken on?
What factors are important to their decision making process when it comes to child safety measures in their homes – what is necessary and unnecessary in their eyes?
Anchoring:
How familiar are they with this child safety measure and/or what actions (if any) have they taken in this regard?
Do they know if their friends or other members of their community have taken “Anchoring” measures at home?
How important and/or necessary do they believe “Anchoring” is for a child’s safety at home?
Why do parents NOT choose to anchor their TV’s, furniture, and appliances?
Do parents fall into the trap of “it won’t happen to me” attitude when it comes to anchoring furniture?
The Campaign:
How much attention has the issue of “anchoring” been receiving in their location?
Where have they seen, read or heard about the issue of “anchoring” recently?
From where they have seen, read or heard something about the issue of “anchoring” what was the main message being communicated and how helpful was that message?
How effective were the different channels of communication when it came to delivering the messages about “anchoring.”
Based on everything they have seen, read or heard recently about “anchoring”, what information was missing or what questions do they wish to have answered following up on those communications?
Reaction to Ad Concepts:
Gauge aided reactions to former and current advertising concepts of Anchor It! Campaign.
What goes through their mind after seeing and reading each concept?
What did they like or dislike?
What stood out or was the main idea being communicated?
Was there anything confusing or unclear?
Was there anything they found to be not believable?
How useful is this information to them and their family?
Would these ads make them want to learn more about anchoring?
What is missing that could improve these ads and make them want more information and take action?
Message Testing:
After showing and allowing participants the opportunity to read a series of facts about tip-over injuries and fatalities, we would follow-up by asking:
Have they heard these facts anywhere before?
What is important about these facts and do any of them stand out above others?
Are any of them confusing or not relevant?
Does any of the points surprise or shock them?
Do the participants find them to be credible?
Once all six focus groups are conducted, a final report will summarize key findings and themes from the groups on all of these topics. This will allow the CPSC to understand how some individuals have responded to the campaign, and incorporate their feedback into future messaging and strategies for reaching and motivating parents to take the actions desired by the campaign.
DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS
Six focus groups will be conducted, each with 10 participants, for a total of 60 adults participating in this study. All adults will be parents who live in the U.S. and have at least one child age 5 or younger. There will be three separate locations in different parts of the country. The location and breakdown will be as follows:
2 groups in Philadelphia
1 group among Moms
1 group among Dads
2 groups in St. Louis
1 group among Moms
1 group among Dads
2 groups in Los Angeles
1 group among non-Hispanic parents (Moms and Dads)
1 group among English-speaking Hispanic parents (Moms and Dads)
These respondents will be recruited by a separate focus group facility (SEE ATTACHMENT #2).
GIFTS OR PAYMENTS
Participants will be provided $75 per participant in appreciation for their participation.
BURDEN HOURS
Category |
Number of Respondents |
Participation Time |
Burden |
Focus Group Participants |
60 |
2 |
120 hours |
APPENDIX
In August 2016, CPSC staff prepared a report entitled “Product Instability or Tip-Over Injuries and Fatalities Associated with Television, Furniture, and Appliances,” which detailed some of these statistics.1
The report found an estimated annual average of 33,000+ emergency department-treated injuries from 2013 to 2015, and 489 reported fatalities between 2000 and 2015 involving tip-overs. Specifically, they broke down in the following manner:
Victims
Estimated emergency department-treated injuries:
17,300 (52%) involved children, under age 18 years;
12,500 (38%) involved adults, ages 18 through 59; and
3,200 (10%) involved seniors, ages 60 years and older.
Reported fatalities:
411 (84%) involved children, victims ages 1 month to 14 years;
17 (3%) involved adults, victim ages 28 years to 59 years; and
61 (12%) involved seniors, victims aged 60 years or older.
What fell?
Estimated emergency department-treated injuries:
20,100 (61%) involved only furniture falling;
11,800 (36%) involved televisions (including TV + furniture) falling; and
1,100 (3%) involved appliances.
Estimated emergency department-treated injuries involving only furniture falling for children:
3,400 involved tables;
2,600 involved chests, bureaus, or dressers;
1,800 involved shelving, shelving units, and bookcases.
Reported fatalities
315 (64%) involved televisions falling (36% TV only, 29% TV + furniture);
142 (29%) involved only furniture falling;
32 (7%) involved appliances falling
Where?
Estimated emergency department treated injuries
66% in residential settings, 5% in public settings, and 30% in locations not specified.
Reported fatalities
91% in residential settings, 4% in public settings, and 5% in locations not specified.
46% in bedrooms and 20% in living/family rooms.
Injury Characterization (main injury type and body area affected)
Estimated emergency department-treated injuries
35% contusions/abrasions, 15% lacerations, 15% internal organ injuries, and 13% fractures.
Legs, feet and toes (37%), head (36%), and arms, hands, and fingers (16%)
Reported fatalities:
57% were crushed and remained entrapped under product(s); 13% were hit/struck by product(s) but not crushed under product(s); and 20% were due to positional asphyxia.
Head (61% head only; 4% head and torso) and torso only (24%).
As the report notes, untethered furniture, appliances and televisions are “one of the top hidden hazards in the home, and CPSC’s safety campaign is aimed at reducing the number of deaths and injuries from furniture and televisions tipping over onto children.”
ATTACHMENT #1: PROPOSED DISCUSSION/MODERATOR GUIDE
CPSC Anchor It! Campaign Focus Groups
I. Introductions (8 min.)
Welcome, thanks, introductions
Independent moderator / We’re all parents of young children here, gathered here to talk about a few things related to child safety.
I’m not an expert, no personal stake. Just interested in your open, honest feedback.
Rooms like this all over the country
One-way mirror, colleagues helping me take notes, may deliver a note
Recording this in audio and video so we don’t miss it
Reporting is completely anonymous, not tied to your name
Rules for discussion
We’re here for about 2 hours, a lot to cover.
Free-flowing, no hand-raising, may ask you if I haven’t heard from you
Only rules: No cell phones, please no side conversations, one person speak at a time
Participant introductions
First name
Who lives at home with you
How old are the children in your home
Something you like to do for fun
II. Overall Context of Child Safety (12 minutes)
We’re all parents here. What comes to mind when I say the following phrase: “Child safety.” WRITE ON HANDOUT. DISCUSS.
When did you start making decisions about child safety?
Before your child was born? Before your child was mobile? Still trying to make those decisions now?
What motivates you to undertake child safety steps?
Love for child?
Fear for injury of child?
Desire to keep up with social norms
What preparations did you make in your own house when it came to child safety?
Did you make preparations in the homes of other care-givers as well?
What two or three child safety measures that we’ve talked about are most important?
What is about them that makes them the most important?
What factors go into your decision on whether to undertake a certain child safety measure?
Do you consider any of the child safety measures that you see promoted unnecessary?
How do you decide that they are unnecessary?
How do you separate what’s necessary from what you don’t think is necessary?
III. Anchoring (20 minutes)
I want to specifically follow-up on the concept of anchoring TVs, furniture, and appliances to walls to prevent them from tipping over and hurting or killing children. What specifically are you doing when it comes to anchoring TVs, furniture and appliances?
Are most of the other parents of young children you know doing this, or not really?
If you are, what are you specifically anchoring?
Is it your sense this is something that is highly recommended, or just somewhat recommended? How important do you think anchoring is?
Can you pinpoint the moment that you decided to take action on anchoring, for those that have anchored? What was it that moved you to ultimately take this action?
HANDOUT. Now, we’re going to discuss some reasons why parents might NOT choose to anchor their TVs, furniture, and appliances. On your handout, if you haven’t anchored anything in your house, take a minute and write down reasons why you have decided not to. If you have, take a minute a write down reasons why you think some parents might decide not to. DISCUSS.
Let’s go through some objections parents might have about anchoring furniture to the wall. How do you react to these objections?
Anchoring is hard to do and the parents may not be handy enough.
Anchoring would cost too much money.
Anchoring would be too obtrusive or inconvenient.
I don’t know anything about the process – who sells anchors, how to install them, etc.
I’m not sure anchoring is necessary, as it seems like doing so is overkill.
I’m not sure anchoring is necessary, because I watch my children very closely.
I don’t see other parents anchoring furniture.
How did you first hear about the dangers of free-standing furniture? What was your initial reaction when it was explained for the first time?
Was there anything you remember hearing that made you listen especially close?
Did you find the dangers of free-standing furniture credible, or do you think the danger is overblown to some degree? How so?
Do you think parents ever have an “it won’t happen to me” attitude when it comes to anchoring furniture – that is, the worst case scenario won’t happen to me? What would you say to a parent who says this won’t happen to them?
Are parents more likely to say this about anchoring than they are to say it about other child-safety issues?
IV. The Campaign (30 minutes)
How much attention has this issue been receiving in your city?
How much attention SHOULD it be getting? Is it getting enough?
HANDOUT. On your handout, take a minute to write down anywhere you can recall having heard about anchoring. Whether it is from friends and families, a specific TV show, a newspaper article, a commercial, a specific post on social media, or something else entirely. DISCUSS.
If you had to sum up in one phrase or short sentence the message you took away from what you heard about anchoring, what would it be? Is that a helpful / useful message to you personally?
Describe any ways in which you heard about anchoring from . . .
Morning TV shows
TV news other than morning shows
Online news or websites
Social media
Radio news
Newspapers
Advertisements (on TV, in a print publication, or on a billboard or poster)
How effective were these specific channels in informing you about anchoring? Were some more effective than others? How so?
What specifically were these channels effective for?
Learning about the actual process of actually anchoring furniture
Learning about the consequences of not anchoring furniture
Learning about the facts about how many kids and families are affected
Have you heard about recalls of furniture or other products that tipped over causing death or injury in the process? What did you hear specifically?
How did you react? Did that seem like something that could happen to you, or did it seem like a fluke? Did you take action upon hearing about it?
Do you recall any specific facts and figures that were mentioned about this issue? What did you hear? Where did you hear them?
Did you recall any anecdotes
about specific injuries or deaths involving children? What did you
hear? Where did you hear this from?
Are there any stats or anecdotes that really stuck with you, that you couldn’t get out of your head or that prompted you think differently about this issue? What were they? What about them made them stick in your head.
What is it like to hear important information – either facts and figures or anecdotes – about something that could have such tragic consequences? Is it:
Motivating?
Paralyzing?
Heartbreaking?
Does the way you feel – whether it is motivated, or paralyzed, or heartbroken, or something else – inspire you to act, or does it inhibit you from acting?
Thinking about everything you have heard about anchoring – what is missing? What could have made it more effective?
V. Reaction to Ad Concepts (30 minutes)
Now we’re going to discuss different ads that talk about the Anchor It! campaign. You’ll see three different ad campaigns, and for each one I’ll show you some print ads.
These aren’t ads that are trying to sell you any product. They are about the Anchor It! campaign. If you like or don’t like a particular picture or phrase, feel free to mention that, and just understand that these may be changed in the future.
THREE CONCEPTS. ROTATE ORDER.
SHOW ADS IN FIRST CAMPAIGN CONCEPT; DISTRIBUTE PAPER COPIES. READ HEADLINES ALOUD:
(INITIAL REACTIONS): Now take your pad of paper and, without saying anything out loud, take a minute or two to write down your first reactions. What goes through your mind when you see these? You don’t need to write full sentences, just jot down phrases or words. We’ll discuss this together in a few minutes.
(MAIN IDEA): Again without saying anything, what do you think is the main idea? Write down what you think the main idea of these ads is.
DISCUSS EACH OF THE QUESTIONS ABOVE, PROBING FOR “WHY” AS APPROPRIATE.
(CLARITY): Was there anything confusing or unclear in the ads? IF YES: What was that?
(BELIEVABILITY): Was there anything here that you found not believable? IF YES: What was not believable?
(RELEVANCE): As described in these ads, how useful would this be to you? What makes you say that?
(LIKES): What, if anything, stands out to you in a positive way about these ads—what, if anything, do you especially like about them?
(DISLIKES): What, if anything, stands out to you in a negative way—what if anything do you really NOT like about them?
(MOTIVATION): Would these ads make you want to learn more? Would you go to the website? Why or why not? Would you follow up in any other way? How?
REPEAT FOR EACH AD CONCEPT.
____ 1st concept ____ 2nd concept ____3rd concept
AFTER ALL CAMPAIGN CONCEPTS DISCUSSED:
Which of these campaign ideas is the strongest to you personally? Why that one?
Is there anything missing — anything that might make it even more compelling to you?
IF YES: What would that be?
VI. Message Testing (20 minutes)
Now I’m going to read you some facts about tip-over injuries and fatalities.
91 percent of tip-over fatalities occur in the home.
2/3 of TV and furniture tip-over fatalities involve toddlers.
46 percent of tip-over fatalities occur in a bedroom.
A TV can fall with the force of thousands of pounds. That is 10 times more powerful than being hit by a NFL lineman.
Every 30 minutes a child in the U.S. in injured by furniture or a TV tip-over.
On average, one child dies every two weeks when a TV or furniture falls onto him or her.
The majority of tip-over incidents result in head injuries.
An estimated annual average of 33,000 emergency department-treated injuries are associated with TV or furniture tip-overs.
Tip-over incidents are preventable. Anchoring is easy, inexpensive and only takes 5 minutes.
FOR EACH, ASK
Have you heard this anywhere?
What is important about this message?
Is anything confusing about this message?
Does anything about this surprise you?
Do you find this credible?
CONTINUING ON . . .
Looking at all of these data points and messages, which one or two stand out as the most meaningful or important to you? Why?
And looking at all of these, which one or two stand out as the most likely to inspire you or other parents/caregivers to action when it comes to anchor furniture, TVs, and appliances?
Who would you most want to hear this from? Someone from your community? Another parent? Someone famous? A safety expert?
VI. Conclusion (5 minutes)
What have you learned about anchoring that surprised you, that maybe you hadn’t thought about when you came in tonight?
Thank you for your time.
ATTACHMENT #2: PROPOSED RECRUITMENT SCREENERS
CPSC – Anchor It!
GROUP DEFINITIONS
1 – Moms
2 – Dads
3 – Non-Hispanic parents (Los Angeles)
4 – English speaking Hispanic parents (Los Angeles)
Recruit 14 to seat 10
Hi, I’m calling from [FACILITY], a focus group facility. We are conducting a research project and want to hear from you. You need to do nothing in advance of the focus group and you will be provided $75 in appreciation for your participation. This is a very brief survey to determine if you are qualified for this project. I just have a few demographic and other questions for recruiting and research purposes only.
Observed gender: RECRUIT A MIX
[ ] Male [continue]
[ ] Female [continue]
Which one of the following best describes your race or ethnicity? [READ CATEGORIES]
[ ] Caucasian JOIN GROUP 1, 2, OR 3
[ ] Hispanic or Latino JOIN GROUP 4 (make sure English fluent)
[ ] African-American JOIN GROUP 1, 2, OR 3
[ ] Asian JOIN GROUP 1, 2, OR 3
[ ] Other (PROVIDE MORE INFORMATION)
Which of the following categories does your age fit in? [READ CATEGORIES]
[ ] 18-29 [continue] RECRUIT A MIX
[ ] 30-39 [continue]
[ ] 40-49 [continue]
[ ] 50-64 [continue]
[ ] 65+ [continue]
What range best describes your total annual household income before taxes? [READ CATEGORIES] RECRUIT A MIX
[ ] Under $40,000 JOIN GROUP 4
[ ] $40,000 - $59,999 JOIN GROUPS 1-4
[ ] $60,000 - $79,999 JOIN GROUPS 1-4
[ ] $80,000 - $99,999 JOIN GROUPS 1-4
[ ] $100,000 or more JOIN GROUPS 1-4
[ ] Rather not say TERMINATE
How many children do you have who are age 5 or younger? [RECORD] RECRUIT A MIX OF AGES
IF ZERO/NONE, ASK: Are you currently expecting a child? IF NO KIDS AND NOT EXPECTING, TERMINATE. OTHERWISE, CONTINUE.
How familiar are you with the practice of “Anchoring” furniture within homes or spaces where young children are consistently present?
[ ] Very familiar
[ ] Somewhat familiar
[ ] Not too familiar
[ ] Not at all familiar TERMINATE
Do you or have your ever “Anchored” furniture or appliances within your home? RECRUIT A MIX
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
When it comes to making decisions around child safety in your home, who is responsible for making the final decisions? [READ CATEGORIES] RECRUIT A MIX
[ ] Mother JOIN GROUPS 1, 3 or 4
[ ] Father JOIN GROUPS 2, 3 or 4
[ ] Both parents equally JOIN GROUPS 1-4
How active are you in your local community? [READ CATEGORIES] RECRUIT A MIX
[ ] Very active
[ ] Somewhat active
[ ] Not too active
[ ] Not at all active
Do you or anyone else in your household work in any of the following areas? [READ CATEGORIES]
Market Research
Advertising
Public Relations, Media
TERMINATE IF ANY OF THE ABOVE
Thank you! We would like to invite you to participate with us on XXXX OR XXXX time at XXXX. The interview would last for 2 hours and you would be compensated $75 in appreciation for your participation.
1 The report, and all statistics quoted in this section, can be found at the following link: https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/Product%20Instability%20or%20Tip%20Over%20Report%20August%202016_1.pdf
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Matt Price |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-22 |