April 17, 2014 Learn 2 Learn A campaign for the Wellness Center Prepared for: Bryan Ashton Group 1: Alexandra Adams Mark Burggraf Jesse Benson Sophia Cullen Rebekah Domzalski Zhengjie Li Alex Schroeder
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April 17, 2014
Learn 2 Learn A campaign for the Wellness Center
Prepared for: Bryan Ashton
Group 1:
Alexandra Adams Mark Burggraf
Jesse Benson Sophia Cullen
Rebekah Domzalski Zhengjie Li
Alex Schroeder
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Table of Contents
SITUATIONALANDORGANIZATIONALOVERVIEW...................................................................................5
ORGANIZATIONALANALYSIS............................................................................................................................6
SECONDARYRESEARCH.......................................................................................................................................7PASTRESEARCH......................................................................................................................................................................7KEYFINDINGS..........................................................................................................................................................................8SUGGESTIONSFORPRIMARYRESEARCH...........................................................................................................................11
PRIMARYRESEARCH.........................................................................................................................................11METHODOLOGY......................................................................................................................................................................11PARTICIPANTDEMOGRAPHICS............................................................................................................................................11KNOWLEDGEGAP&PERCEPTIONGAP.............................................................................................................................13ATTITUDESTOWARDPRESCRIPTIONDRUGMISUSE.......................................................................................................13REASONSANDHEALTHYALTERNATIVES..........................................................................................................................16MEDIASELECTION.................................................................................................................................................................18CONCLUSIONS.........................................................................................................................................................................19
KEYPUBLICS.........................................................................................................................................................20DEMOGRAPHICSANDPSYCHOGRAPHICSOFFRESHMEN.................................................................................................20THEIMPORTANCEOFTHEFRESHMENPUBLIC................................................................................................................21DEMOGRAPHICSANDPSYCHOGRAPHICSOFGREEKLIFESTUDENTS...........................................................................22THEIMPORTANCEOFTHEGREEKLIFEPUBLIC...............................................................................................................23
GOALSANDOBJECTIVES...................................................................................................................................24
OVERALLSTRATEGY..........................................................................................................................................25
MESSAGINGSTRATEGY.....................................................................................................................................27MESSAGE1.............................................................................................................................................................................28MESSAGE2.............................................................................................................................................................................29MESSAGE3.............................................................................................................................................................................29MESSAGE4.............................................................................................................................................................................30MESSAGEAPPEALS................................................................................................................................................................30
TACTICS..................................................................................................................................................................31TACTIC1.................................................................................................................................................................................31TACTIC2.................................................................................................................................................................................32TACTIC3.................................................................................................................................................................................33TACTIC4.................................................................................................................................................................................33TACTIC5.................................................................................................................................................................................34TACTIC6.................................................................................................................................................................................37TACTIC7.................................................................................................................................................................................37
BUDGET..................................................................................................................................................................38
TIMETABLE...........................................................................................................................................................40SUMMERTERM2014...........................................................................................................................................................41
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AUGUST2014........................................................................................................................................................................41SEPTEMBER2014.................................................................................................................................................................41OCTOBER2014.....................................................................................................................................................................42NOVEMBER2014..................................................................................................................................................................42DECEMBER2014..................................................................................................................................................................42JANUARY2015......................................................................................................................................................................42FEBRUARY2015...................................................................................................................................................................43MARCH2015.........................................................................................................................................................................43APRIL2015...........................................................................................................................................................................43
EVALUATIONPLAN............................................................................................................................................43POST‐CAMPAIGNSURVEY.....................................................................................................................................................43AWARENESSOBJECTIVESEVALUATION.............................................................................................................................44ACCEPTANCEOBJECTIVESEVALUATION...........................................................................................................................44ACTIONOBJECTIVESEVALUATION.....................................................................................................................................45TIMELINEFOROUREVALUATION.......................................................................................................................................44
REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………46
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Situational and Organizational Overview The current situation the Student Wellness Center is facing is the existence of a high
perception gap between the perceived number of students who misuse prescription stimulants,
primarily Adderall, and the actual number of students who misuse prescription stimulants. In a
survey done by the Center for the Study of Student life, 5.5 percent of participants claimed to
have misused stimulants at least once per quarter (The Ohio State University, 2012c). However,
the survey also claims that participants perceived that nearly 80 percent of their peers used
stimulants such as Adderall at least once per quarter (The Ohio State University, 2012c). When
Bryan Ashton spoke with us, he informed us that the Student Wellness Center feels that using
social norms campaigns and minimizing the perception gap might lower the percentage of
students misusing these prescription drugs. In addition, students are not aware of the healthy
alternatives to using Adderall that are much less harmful to their well being.
The background of the situation is that there is a belief that the misuse of Adderall and
other stimulants has increased at Ohio State as a study aid for students. Kenneth Hale, assistant
dean at Ohio State College of Pharmacy, said, “National policymakers call prescription drug-
abuse an epidemic, and I’m particularly concerned about students using prescription stimulants
designed to treat ADHD as a study-aid” (Pyle, 2011). In autumn of 2011, Ohio State’s Center for
Study of Student Life assessed OSU’s student misuse of prescription and non-prescription drugs,
including Adderall. After reviewing the responses of 975 participants, it was found that the
percentage of students perceived to be misusing these drugs was much higher than the actual
percentage (The Ohio State University, 2012c).
The significance of this situation is that when students have the perception that the
majority of their peers are misusing Adderall, they may believe this is the norm. This may
ultimately lead to a higher percentage of students on campus misusing the stimulant. In fact, this
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trend has already begun, and students already feel that Adderall misuse is increasing on college
campuses. Kristyn M. Sturms, a pharmaceutical-sciences major at Ohio State, believes that
“Adderall is fast-replacing Red Bull, 5-Hour Energy and other caffeinated drinks for a quick
pick-me-up because it is so easily accessible” (Pyle, 2011). Misusing stimulants like Adderall
when not prescribed can lead to many adverse effects related to a person’s well-being, not just
increased academic performance. In an article posted on the website for Massachusetts Medical
Society, it is stated to “Discard the notion that stimulants will actually enhance your
performance; misuse of stimulants can result in behavioral and/or psychiatric difficulties
including irritability, depression, mania, and paranoid thinking/psychosis” (Massachusetts
Medical Society, ND).
Also, in the survey held by the Center for Study of Student Life, other side effects that
participants felt occur when misusing stimulants included “emotional problems, memory loss,
addiction and...negatively affected [relationships]” (The Ohio State University, 2012c).
Therefore, it is imperative that the organization minimizes the perception gap that exists on the
Ohio State campus, and diminishes the idea that Adderall misuse is the norm. In return, this may
lower the actual percentage of students misusing.
Organizational Analysis The Student Wellness Center is a program within OSU that strives to assist students in
finding balance, happiness, and overall wellness. The Wellness Center provides professional and
distinguished service to all OSU students with the help of professionals, graduate assistants,
student workers and more than 250 volunteers that make up its staff. From providing kits to help
quit smoking, to handing out free condoms to promote sexual health, The Wellness Center
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provides a multitude of services with guidance from their nine-dimensional guide that caters to
the specific needs of their patrons. These nine dimensions include financial, physical, spiritual,
social, career-based, intellectual, creative, environmental, and emotional wellness (OSU, 2014).
In general, we believe that OSU students are aware of the existence of the Wellness Center;
however, we also believe that many are unsure of the services that are available to them through
the center.
Secondary Research Given the situation that we have identified, there is a perception gap related to
prescription drug abuse and an opportunity to educate students on alternatives to prescription
drugs. We conducted secondary research to gain a better understanding about these perception
gaps and our key publics (first year students, students from fraternities and sororities).
Past Research In general, there have been multiple studies on the topic of prescription drug misuse on
college campuses, specifically at OSU. Among those studies, the research conducted by the
Wellness Center in 2011 was a significant and insightful study for this campaign.
This study looked specifically at issues related to sedative and stimulant medications and
questions about frequency of use, reasons for use, and consequences of use. Results of this study
included perception gap, initial use and obtainment of prescription drugs, and reasons that
students think people misuse prescription drugs. Huge perception gaps between perceived and
actual use of non-medical prescription drugs have been showed in this study. According to the
survey, participants perceived that over 20 percent of students use prescription drugs once per
year, while the actual use is below 5 percent. Participants also perceived that more than 60
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percent of students would use stimulants once per quarter, while the actual use is lower than 5
percent (OSU, 2012). Also, in terms of drug type, the most commonly used prescription drugs
were stimulants (11.4%), followed closely by pain medications (10.5%) (OSU, 2012). Most
students reported that their first misuse of prescription drugs was in college, and that it was easy
to obtain non-medical prescription drugs from a friend, a peer, or a relative (OSU, 2012). In
terms of reasoning and effects of use, “curiosity” and “getting high” were the top reasons for
misusing, as well as “relieving anxiety” (OSU, 2012). Other reasons included “improving
grades” and “peer pressure” (OSU, 2012). Even though this report did not look at in-depth
details about freshman and students from Greek life, it did briefly indicate that these two publics
have higher possibilities of abusing medical drugs. The report did not give attention to the
students’ knowledge about prescription drug use; more research should have been done to find
out more about this.
Key Findings The first finding from the freshman demographic was that freshmen are facing increased
pressures in their first year of college. The Higher Education Research Institute takes surveys
from first-year college students every year. The survey is called the CIRO Freshman Survey.
This survey is designed for administration to gauge incoming first-year students before and after
they start classes. According to the findings of the CIRO 2012 Freshman Survey (HERI, 2012),
88 percent said the ability to get a better job was a very important reason to go to college. Also
based on the findings, nearly three in four—the highest proportion on record—said that the
ability to make more money was a very important reason to go to college (HERI, 2012).
Based on these results, it seems that current college freshmen are facing more pressures
than ever before. Using prescription drugs to maintain a good academic standing is one of the
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primary reasons that the overuse of prescription drugs has become a serious problem on
campuses (Sander, 2013). From the OSU survey conducted two years ago, one of the reasons
that students take prescription drugs is because they think they can increase their grades and
lower their stress (OSU, 2012). This thinking may easily result in the misuse of prescription
drugs, and can become a more serious problem.
The second finding from freshmen is that they think the risk of misusing prescription
drugs is much higher than the risk of abusing alcohol, tobacco, or cannabis. In 2012, U.S. News
reported on a study from the Center for Substance Abuse Research at the University of
Maryland’s health section. This study’s purpose was to understand college students’ perception,
attitudes, and behaviors toward prescription drug use, smoking, and alcohol consumption. It
found that “Freshman college students think the occasional use of prescription drugs for non-
medicinal purposes poses a greater risk to their health than smoking pot or knocking back five
drinks every weekend” (HealthDay, 2008). In addition, researchers noted that the students who
expressed such low concern were found to be about 10 times as likely to have used stimulants
not prescribed to them in the prior year, when compared with those who perceived non-
medicinal drug use as highly harmful. These low-concerned students are at the greatest risk for
abusing prescription painkillers and stimulants (HealthDay, 2008). Based on this research,
around 25 percent of students hold the view that occasional non-medicinal prescription drug use
involves little or no risk, while another 25 percent think it will entail a great risk (HealthDay,
2008).
Students from fraternities and sororities are another important audience for this
campaign. A study based on a non-medical use of prescription stimulants among U.S. college
students, conducted by the University of Michigan, showed that fraternity and sorority members
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were twice as likely as other students to have used prescription stimulant drugs for nonmedical
purposes, and 13 percent of students living in Greek houses had done so (McCabe, Knight, Teter,
& Wechsler, 2003). Non-medical prescription stimulant users were more likely to report use of
alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, and other risky behaviors ( McCabe, Knight,
Teter, & Wechsler, 2003). Also, in other research about prescription drug misuse, findings
support further examination of nonmedical stimulant use among other college student
subpopulations (i.e., athletic teams, honor societies, residence halls) (Dussault & Weyandt,
2011). Thus, in order to have a better understanding about this public, more research should be
conducted.
Peer influence is an important and necessary element when considering students in
fraternities or sororities. Many studies were conducted to find out the influence that other group
members have. However, conflicting results make it hard to decide whether fraternities have
positive or negative influences on their members. For example, according to a research published
in The Research Journal of the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors, students in Greek life
reported higher involvement in critical developmental practices and larger gains in important
education areas than their unaffiliated counterparts (Bureau, et al. 2011). Also, according to a
survey from NSSA, students from fraternities tend to have a higher GPA than non-fraternity
students. However, some other research toward alcohol use indicates that students, particularly
men who affiliate with Greek organizations, constitute an at-risk group prior to entering college,
suggesting the need for selected interventions with this population (Capone, et al. 2009). This
research indicates a negative influence by group members in fraternities.
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Suggestions for Primary Research One of our goals was to create an alternative health lifestyle, so it is important to find out
the perception among college students toward that issue. Primary research should be based on
the perception in order to have a better connection of situation opportunities with the target
audience. Research questions about why a perception gap exists should also be included in the
primary research section. Furthermore, all studies showed that a fraternity environment has a
huge influence on students, whether positive or negative. We need to find out the influence that
Greek life has on participants at OSU. More studies should be conducted in order to find out how
OSU students deal with those influences and whether or not those influences were positive or
negative.
Primary Research The purpose of our primary research was to assess both the perception gap and
knowledge gap regarding prescription drug misuse. This survey was conducted in an effort to
gain additional information to the research Ohio State’s Student Wellness Center conducted two
years ago. Furthermore, the primary research aimed to find out more about alternative healthy
lifestyles for our key publics to reduce non-medical prescription drug misuse. The key publics’
perception gap was assessed by comparing perceived drug misuse to actual drug misuse. The
survey also analyzed the knowledge gap by asking basic knowledge questions about facts
surrounding prescription drugs.
Methodology The main method used to collect data was an online survey conducted through Qualtrics.
The survey contained 40 questions, including demographic questions, social and local media use
questions, knowledge questions, attitude/perception questions and healthy alternatives questions.
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Basic demographic questions included, “what year are you,” “where do you live," and “are you a
member of Greek life.” We asked these questions to learn more about our participants and to
ensure we reached a diverse demographic. Social media-use questions included what kinds of
social media and local media students typically use on a daily bases. These questions aimed to
locate the proper media channel we should use to target our key publics.
Knowledge questions included several true/false questions based on facts about
prescription drugs. Attitude and perception questions were also included to test the participants’
stances toward prescription drug misuse. Also, participants were asked to select the percentage
of students they think were misusing prescription drugs on campus. Finally, questions regarding
healthy alternatives were asked to find out what is the most acceptable way to get rid of drug
misuse, which we will emphasize in our campaign messages.
Participants were recruited using the snowball method. Group members posted links on
their social media web pages, such as Facebook and Twitter, to recruit participants and ask
others to spread the link. Emails were also sent to specific organizations, such as fraternities and
sororities and freshman students’ organizations, to recruit the key publics. Along with the link to
the survey, we described our survey as a class project about prescription drug misuse. The
recruitment took around two weeks and we received 139 responses, among which, 27
respondents were freshman and 65 were members of fraternities or sororities.
Participant Demographics Overall, the majority of participants (71%) were female participants. In terms of class
rank, most were seniors (28%), followed by juniors (19%), freshmen (19%) and sophomores
(18%)(figure 1). Among participants, 40% were from sororities and 6% were from fraternities
(figure2). Their GPA varied, with the highest percentage of respondents reporting a GPA within
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the range of 3.0-4.0 (85%). Most participants had majors in communication, business
(accounting, finance), nursing and engineering. In terms of living locations, most participants
(64%) live off-campus.
Figure 1: Class Rank
Figure 2: Are you a member from fraternity/sorority?
Knowledge Gap & Perception Gap Participants were asked to answer a series of knowledge questions regarding Adderall
use. For most knowledge questions, less than half of the participants gave the correct answer.
However, there were some questions that a majority of the participants answered correctly.
Eighty percent of responders said that Adderall is used for treating attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder and narcolepsy, and only five percent gave a wrong answer. Ninety-one percent of
participants said it is true that it is against the law to use a prescription drug like Adderall that is
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not prescribed to you. The knowledge gap for this question is very low. However, freshman
students gave a lower correct rate to this question. We also asked fact-based questions about the
relationship between health and prescription drugs. Most of our key publics (freshmen and
students from Greek life) answered incorrectly. When asked if “taking Adderall will cause long
term health problems,” only 23% of the freshmen responded by answering “true,” leaving the
rest with wrong answers or answers of “unsure” (However, 66% of Greek life students gave the
correct answer for this question). Participants were also asked to choose what percentage of OSU
students they thought misused Adderall. Of our participants, 28 % of participants said that 21%-
30% of the student population misused Adderall, followed by 21% of participants perceiving that
11%-20% should be the correct range (figure 3).
Figure 3: What percentage of the OSU student population do you believe use Adderall?
Attitudes toward Prescription Drug Misuse We also asked questions assessing participants’ attitudes toward using prescription drugs
without a prescription. When asking if Adderall helps students to get better grades, only 33% of
participants said yes. Furthermore, only 4% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that it is
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expected of them to use Adderall (figure 4). Seventy-one percent of participants hold the view
that it is easy or somewhat easy to get Adderall without a prescription (figure 5).
Figure 4: It is expected of you to use Adderall?
Figure 5: How easy do you think it is for a student at OSU to get Adderall without a
prescription?
Of all participants, 42% think students who take Adderall without a prescription can
benefit from it, and 30% actually know someone who has benefited from it. Most participants
said “false” or “unsure” in response to the question that freshmen and Greek life members are
more likely to take prescription drugs. Most importantly, there are only 24% of participants that
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do not know anyone misusing prescription drugs, and 76% of participants who know at least one
person misusing prescription drugs (figure 6). In terms of freshman, 38% know none and 62%
know at least one person who has misused Adderall.
Figure 6: How many of your friends at OSU have used adderall before?
Reasons and Healthy Alternatives Respondents were also asked to check all reasons they think people take Adderall without
a prescription. Among all the reasons, “help me study for an exam” (85%) and “focus on
homework” (80%) were the top reasons ranked by participants to misuse prescription drugs
(figure 7). This suggests that participants viewed Adderall as an academic performance aid rather
than a serious drug. The same results were found for both of our key publics.
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Figure 7: Indicate the reasons you think people take Adderall without a prescription
We also asked a question about healthy alternatives to drugs, and asked participants to
check other alternatives to help them study other than using Adderall. Among all answers, “using
better time management skills” was the top answer (91% of participants checked this), followed
by “getting more sleep” (65% checked), and “consuming drinks with caffeine” (62% checked;
figure 8).
Figure 8: If someone didn’t want to use Adderall to help them study, what else might they do?
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Media Selection In order to spread this campaign effectively through the proper media channels, questions
about media channel use were asked. Among all social media use, Facebook (41%), Instagram
(26%), and Twitter (25%) were the top social media channels used by participants. Our key
publics had similar results (figure 9).
Figure 9: What sources of social media do you use the most?
In terms of local print media use, 38% of participants read the Lantern (versus 29% of
freshman who read the Lantern), followed by 19% of participants reading the Columbus
Dispatch. (Figure 10).
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Figure 10: Which of the following LOCAL media sources do you consume the most on the
campus?
Conclusions Our primary research showed that the knowledge gap of misusing prescription drugs does
exit, as well as the knowledge gap of health issues affected by prescription drug misuse. These
findings indicate that we must raise awareness of the knowledge and facts about prescription
drug and perception gaps. Also, this result suggested that more facts and knowledge should be
included when addressing the campaign to help reduce those knowledge gaps. A portion of our
survey participants think they could benefit from using Adderall as an academic aid. This result
suggested that campaign messages should focus more on creating healthy study alternatives.
Considering the number of students misusing prescription drugs, the majority of
participants know at least one person misusing prescription drugs. This result suggested that our
campaign should be addressed all around campus in response to the large perception of students
misusing prescription drugs. Our key publics rate better time management skills and more sleep
as the top alternatives for prescription drug using. This finding suggested that we can provide
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opportunities to learn time management skills or other study-efficient methods. Finally, findings
also suggested that the best ways to reach our audience may be Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and
the Lantern.
Key Publics In order to achieve our campaign goals, we targeted two key publics: freshmen and Greek
life at OSU. From these two publics, we agreed that OSU freshmen are the most important to
reach out to because they make up a greater percentage of OSU students, and because they are
more impressionable. Both publics represent a great variety of ethnicities, genders, majors,
interests, ages, and workloads. The freshmen public allows us to focus on a concentrated age
group as well as reach a diverse group of OSU students. The Greek life public has a broader age
range focus, but includes an audience that shares more similarities and interests. The diversity in
these publics allow us to better examine and understand any trends that may exist about
perception gaps about prescription drug misuse among these different demographics. The
closeness and similarities among the two separate groups allow us to package and create
messages and tactics that can be easily tailored to the specific public.
Demographics and Psychographics of Freshmen In order to better understand our publics, we must get to know them better, starting with
freshmen. There were 7,083 (11% of total university enrollment) freshmen enrolled at OSU for
the 2013 autumn semester. The male to female ratio of the freshmen class was 50:50, and 58% of
the freshmen ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school classes. The most popular areas of
study as represented by select OSU colleges were Arts and Sciences at 37.4%, Engineering at
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17.5%, Business at 13.8%, Education and Human Ecology at 8.2%, and Exploration at 6.5%.
(OSU Undergrad Admissions, 2014).
The average cost of one year of schooling at OSU is about $20,810 for an Ohio resident
freshmen, and about $36,526 for a non-Ohio resident freshmen. Freshmen pay more for their
first year of college because they are required to live in student housing, which includes a
$10,000 rooming fee (OSU Undergrad Admissions, 2014).
As incoming freshmen at OSU, students are encouraged to attend many different social
and networking events such as Buck-i-Frenzy, Buckeye Kick-Off, Columbus Welcome, and the
Student Involvement Fair, in addition to numerous smaller events put on by various student
housing buildings and dorm floors (OSU Welcome Week, 2014).
The Importance of the Freshmen Public The freshmen public is important for us because they represent a large portion of the
university and because they are impressionable. Having such a large segment of OSU students to
focus on is important because of their place at OSU. Freshmen are brand new to the college
experience, and so are exposed to all the new pressures and unfamiliarity of college life. These
pressures may include competing with thousands of other students academically in a setting
unlike what they are used to in high school, and paying tens of thousands of dollars to attend
their first year at OSU. These stresses are good factors for us to consider when thinking about
why prescription drug misuse may be a problem on campus, and allows to better understand why
this portion of OSU students may have a perception gap about this topic. According to our
survey data, 17% of participants said that they believe that freshmen are more likely to misuse
Adderall without a prescription than other students on campus.
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Freshmen are important for our client because they are diverse, large, and are subject to
many of the same experiences as they begin their college life at OSU. By targeting freshmen, the
Student Wellness Center can reach a substantial percentage of OSU students.
We believe the best channels through which to reach freshmen are social media, local
print media, social events, and ads around campus. The campus ads and social events would be
ideal to reach freshmen as they attend orientation and other first-year events around campus. The
print and social media would be great to reach freshmen on their mobile devices and in their
news sources. According to our survey data, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are the most
popular social media platforms, with the Lantern and the Saver being the most popular print
media among OSU freshmen. We can use all of this information to maximize our reach to
freshmen.
Demographics and Psychographics of Greek Life Students OSU students involved in fraternities and sororities make up about 7% of the entire Ohio
State student body. There are more than 60 chapters on OSU’s campus, varying in cultures,
genders, interests, and academic standards. All chapters require their members to uphold a GPA
of at least 2.5 and maintain full-time student status (OSU Lead Learn Serve, 2014).
OSU sororities and fraternities center around three core initiatives: Leading, Learning,
and Service. OSU Greek life defines leadership as “the art of challenging your peers to never
settle for the status quo; even if it means going against the grain” (OSU Lead Learn Serve,
2014). Greek life members must count each other accountable to reach higher standards and
values. In terms of learning, all chapters have minimum scholastic achievements that their
members must maintain. Some chapters have higher GPA requirements than others. In Spring
2010, the total sorority/fraternity GPA was 3.24, while the total OSU undergrad student
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population GPA was 3.15 in Spring 2010 (OSU Lead Learn Serve, 2014). Service is also a major
part of being a member of Greek life at OSU. Many chapters focus on community and
organizational service in order to better their surroundings and require members to have
minimum service hours per semester.
In order to become a member of Greek life, students must pay fees. The fees vary from
chapter to chapter. The cost of joining any of the 14 Panhellenic association chapters on OSU’s
campus, for example, is $2,184 per quarter for in-house members and $555 per quarter for out-
of-house members. Some chapters require members to live within the chapter housing provided,
others do not (OSU Sorority/Fraternity Life, 2009 ).
In addition to costs of joining fraternities/sororities, members must also attend regular
events such as Greek Week and other programs centered around safety, health, and wellness.
Greek Week, for example, is an annual spring event that celebrates the Greek life’s
advancements in leading, learning, and service. Greek week hosts events and speakers that talk
about standards of excellence, philanthropy, leadership, and many others topics (OSU Ohio
Union, 2014).
The Importance of the Greek Life Public Greek life students at OSU are an important key public because they are diverse in their
interests and because they make up a large part of the university body. Unlike our freshmen
public, Greek life students are more diverse in their age ranges, since students of all years can
join fraternities and sororities. Greek life members, especially ones in sororities/fraternities that
require higher levels of GPA, are under more stress to perform well academically to be able to
continue their membership within their chapter. Added to this pressure is the cost of being a
member of Greek life. All of these extra pressures on Greek life members make them a great
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public for us and for our client to focus on in addressing any prescription drug misuse
perceptions and Adderall use. Furthermore, in findings from our survey, we found that 20% of
participants said that students in Greek life were more likely to use Adderall without a
prescription than other students on campus.
We will use the same print and social media that we are using for our freshmen public
(Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, the Lantern and the Saver) to reach Greek life with our message
because our survey responses indicated these to be the most popular. We will specifically target
members of fraternities and sororities by using speakers and information sessions to inform the
audience about the harms of and healthy alternatives to Adderall and other prescription drug
misuse at chapter meetings and social events such as Greek Week and other safety and wellness
gatherings. We believe these approaches will help us to target Greek life on campus.
Goals and Objectives Goal 1: To decrease the misperception that a large percentage of students on campus are
misusing prescription drugs.
Awareness Objective: To have an effect on awareness among Greek Life and Freshman,
specifically to increase awareness of the perception gap so that 60% of students recall having
seen messages regarding the perception gap.
Acceptance Objective: To have an effect on the acceptance of Greek Life and freshmen,
specifically to decrease positive attitudes toward Adderall use by 5% by Spring 2015.
Acceptance Objective: To have an effect on the acceptance of Greek Life and freshmen,
specifically for 60% of students to agree that a perception gaps exists about prescription drug
misuse.
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Action Objective: To have an effect on the actions of Greek Life and freshmen,
specifically to decrease the misperception gap surrounding Adderall by 5% by Spring 2015.
Goal 2: To increase awareness of healthy alternatives to the use of stimulants to aid in studying.
Awareness Objective: To have an effect on awareness of Greek Life and freshmen,
specifically to increase knowledge of healthier alternatives to Adderall misuse by 5% by Spring
2015.
Acceptance Objective: To have an effect on acceptance of Greek Life and freshmen,
specifically to increase positive attitudes by 5% toward using healthy lifestyle alternatives to
help them study by Spring 2015.
Action Objective: To have effect on the actions of Greek Life and freshmen, specifically
to increase the number of students who utilize healthy lifestyle alternatives to help them study by
5% by Spring 2015.
Overall Strategy In light of the goals and objectives, the strategies for this campaign aim to shift
perceptions regarding prescription drug misuse and promote healthy lifestyle alternatives to the
use of stimulants such as Adderall.
We will primarily use a proactive strategy for our campaign. Specifically, we will
incorporate action strategies focused on building partnerships, audience engagement and special
events. Three action strategies that we will use to increase awareness of the perception gap
surrounding Adderall misuse and the healthy lifestyle alternatives are the circulation of a video, a
table at Buck-i-Frenzy in the fall and promotional posters placed in key places on campus.
25
The table at Buck-i-Frenzy will feature various giveaways including t-shirts with the “Learn to
Learn” logo and brochures about the facts of Adderall misuse. Since the Buck-i-Frenzy event is
at the beginning of the school year, it makes the perfect setting to launch the “Learn to Learn”
campaign. Passing out the free t-shirts will also help to increase campaign recognition,
considering many of the free t-shirts from Buck-i-Frenzy are worn by students throughout the
year.
The video will incorporate the campaign’s slogan “Learn to Learn,” and will engage
students by asking them knowledge questions about Adderall misuse and will incorporate facts
about Adderall misuse and the healthy alternatives that can be more effective. The video will
also use a catchy theme and will be launched on the Wellness Center’s Facebook page. The
incorporation of students, music and an attention grabbing message may help to generate views,
likes and shares through the Facebook platform, which our key publics indicated they view daily.
Incorporating the “Learn to Learn” logo and slogan will also help to increase campaign
recollection.
Another action strategy is the promotion of events for Greek life and freshmen students to
discuss alternatives to prescription drug abuse. For freshmen, these events will include residence
hall programming that incorporates free study snacks during finals week, which will draw the
audience in so that they can hear the message that healthy snacks are more effective at improving
study habits than Adderall. Since 75 percent of all sorority and fraternity chapters have to attend
a risk management event, we can reach Greek life by planning a risk management event that
addresses the facts about Adderall misuse and utilizes a spokesman who can serve as a credible
source in order to relay that message.
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Additionally, to increase awareness and acceptance of the perception gap, we will create
eye-catching posters that can be distributed throughout campus, especially in freshman residence
halls. The posters will also be in digital form to enable them to be disseminated through various
social media outlets. This will be effective because the poster will utilize memes, which are a
popular and eye-catching type of poster that many students will hopefully take the time to read
and even share on Facebook. The posters will also display emotionally charged messages that
can work to shape the opinion of the key publics who read it.
The campaign will also use communication strategies including the generation of news.
Specifically, we hope to get a feature article placed in the Lantern regarding Adderall misuse in
order to impact the acceptance of the target audience. From our survey, we learned that many of
our target audience receive their daily news from the Lantern’s various media outlets. In this
article, we hope to incorporate student testimonials about healthy alternatives, which may help to
gain credibility with students because it is coming from a more relatable source.
Ultimately, the campaign will use various strategies in order to impact the awareness,
acceptance and action of the target audience regarding the perception of Adderall misuse and
healthy lifestyle alternatives to replace Adderall.
Messaging Strategy The tagline for this campaign is “Learn to Learn,” with a logo featuring a graphic
representation of the characters “L2L.” The “Learn to Learn” tagline is intended to encourage
students to learn how to learn effectively, using healthy alternative methods to Adderall misuse.
This tagline is intended to help prevent the boomerang effect, which occurs when a public
service announcement has the opposite effect of what was originally intended. For instance, “Just
27
Say No” campaigns should be avoided altogether, as they often incite drug abuse sparked by
curiosity (Fishbein, Hall-Jamieson, Zimmer, Haeften, & Nabi, 2002). Our tagline is unobtrusive
and is not a blatant attack on drug misuse or drug misusers; students can evaluate the campaign
based on its factual messages regarding Adderall, which exposes the truth about Adderall
misuse, hopefully eliminating curiosity and the likelihood of the boomerang effect. The color
scheme for our logo and general campaign materials will be orange and blue; this color scheme
is advantageous because blue and orange are complementary colors, and provide enhanced
contrast which draw attention to the message material.
The overarching message strategy of the “Learn to Learn” campaign is to provide
students with factual information regarding misperceptions of Adderall misuse, as well as
information on healthy alternatives. After being confronted with the facts about Adderall misuse,
students may be much more receptive to learning about the healthy alternatives available to
them. Our primary research revealed four key areas where misperceptions lie. Creating a series
of simple and concise messages refuting these misperceptions can expose our key publics and the
general OSU undergraduate population to the facts. We created four key messages to address
each of these misperceptions.
Message 1 Perception: 70% of OSU students have used Adderall. Reality: Less than 12% of OSU
students have used Adderall.
Our survey found that the average participant believes roughly 29% of OSU students
have misused Adderall. However, a previous survey at OSU found that students believed 70%
of OSU students misused Adderall (The Ohio State University, 2012). Either way, these findings
display a perception gap. Since our key publics responded in accordance with the rest of our
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participants, this message is designed to reach our key publics as well as the general student
population. This message will be central to our campaign and will serve to aid in the completion
of all objectives for our first goal: to decrease the misperception that a large percentage of
students on campus are misusing Adderall.
Message 2 Misusing Adderall can lower GPA.
Our survey found that 29% of participants thought Adderall could improve grades, while
28% were unsure. That is 57% of participants with a possible misperception on this subject.
Our key publics responded in accordance with the rest of our participants. This message is
designed to reach our key publics as well as the general student population. Informing our
publics that Adderall may have the opposite of its intended effect can help to lower the
perception gap. If they know the drug does not work, they may be less likely to believe many
people are taking it to improve grades. This message will also aid in the completion of all
objectives for our first goal.
Message 3 Healthier alternatives to Adderall misuse exist that can improve GPA.
In our survey, we asked participants to list healthy alternatives to Adderall misuse. Most
students said using better time management skills would be best, followed by getting more sleep,
working out, and eating healthier. These options reflect solutions provided by the client. Raising
awareness of these alternatives and using resources like the Wellness Center to obtain more
information on them will aid in accomplishing the objectives of our second goal of increasing
awareness of healthy alternatives to Adderall misuse.
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Message 4 Misusing Adderall may have negative long-term health consequences.
Our survey found that 17% of respondents did not believe Adderall could cause long-
term health problems, and that 50% were unsure whether it did or not. That is 67% of
respondents that may be unaware of the truth on this subject. These answers were consistent
across key public respondents as well as other respondents. Long-term negative health effects
include increased risk of cardiovascular problems and strokes, increased blood pressure,
depression, hostility, paranoia, and physical/psychological addiction (NIDA, 2014). Informing
our publics of these negative effects may make them less likely to believe other students take the
drug, and may also make them more likely to use healthy alternatives; this will help satisfy the
objectives for both of our goals. Furthermore, our survey shows that 81% of respondents are
somewhat likely, likely, or very likely to tell friends who have misused the drug about the
negative side effects. This message is valuable because our survey found that 76% of
respondents know at least one person who has misused Adderall.
Message Appeals Our campaign will utilize a combination of rational and emotional appeals. Each of the
above messages is a rational appeal; the messages are factual propositions concerning the largest
misperceptions found in our survey. We will combine these factual propositions with positive
and negative emotional appeals. Humor, a positive emotional appeal, will reinforce existing
attitudes in those receiving the message, as well as add interest to the unexciting subject (Smith,
2013). According to our survey, many of the respondents already have negative views about
Adderall misuse; humor appeals can help solidify these attitudes, while adding interest to the dull
subject. Fear, a negative emotional appeal, is a strong human emotion that can incite worry and
anxiety in those receiving the message (Smith, 2013). The fear appeals will aid if being effective
30
in convincing those at risk for misusing Adderall. Furthermore, fear appeals are much more
successful when coupled with an immediate solution (Smith, 2013); our immediate solution is to
abstain from misusing Adderall and to practice healthy alternatives which can easily be listed
with the messages.
These messages will help meet our goals; humor to strengthen those who already identify
with the message, and fear to cause conversion in those who do not identify with the message, or
are unsure of it. Each appeal can be applied to each message. Finally, these campaign messages
will be best used in both categories of proactive strategy: action and communication. Our tactics
explain this in further detail.
Tactics Campaign Goal: To decrease the misperception that exists that a large percentage of
students on campus are misusing prescription drugs.
Objective 1: To have an effect on awareness among Greek life and freshmen, specifically
to increase awareness of the perception gap so that 60% of students recall having seen messages
regarding the perception gap.
Tactic 1 Buck-i-Frenzy: A “Learn to Learn” booth will be set up at Buck-i-Frenzy in the
beginning of the autumn semester. There will be a large (4ft x 6ft) poster that lists facts about
Adderall misperceptions and healthy alternatives to misusing Adderall. The poster will
incorporate the Learn to Learn (L2L) logo (see image below), the OSU Wellness Center logo,
and the Cardinal health logo. A representative from the OSU Wellness Center will be available
to talk to students as they answer any questions they have about Adderall misuse or healthy
31
alternatives. Promotional items will also be given away for free at this event. These items include
stress balls and t-shirts with the L2L logo on them and a QR code to the OSU Wellness center
website where they can easily access the list of healthy alternatives.
Justification of Tactic: Buck-i-Frenzy has always served as a popular event for students
to go to for free giveaways. This will be an effective event for getting the attention of our key
public and giving them the initial exposure to the campaign. The t-shirt will also serve as an
attention grabbing item that may help to increase campaign recall.
Tactic 2 “Learn to Learn” Promotional Video: OSU students will be interviewed by a camera
crew at the Union and other academic buildings with a large amount of traffic. They will be
asked one of the four key messages listed in the previous section. After they respond, the
interviewer will state the factual answer and the interviewee’s reactions will be recorded. After
these interviews are conducted, a promotional video will be created beginning with our “Learn to
Learn” logo in addition to combining clips of the student interviews, and a catchy song. This
video can launch on Buckeye TV, but can also be posted to the OSU Wellness Center website,
and emailed to RA’s, sorority and fraternity presidents to share.
32
Justification of Tactic: The idea is to produce a video that will successfully grab the key
publics’ attention. The originality, music and peer involvement in the video can be effective in
grabbing most students’ attention. In addition, it will expose the audience to the “L2L” logo and
may cause them to recognize it on other messages corresponding to the campaign.
Objective 2: To have an effect on the acceptance of Greek life and freshmen, specifically
to decrease positive attitudes toward Adderall use by 5% by Spring 2015.
Tactic 3 Posters: 1,200 color posters will be hung throughout campus, specifically in academic
buildings, bathroom stalls, freshmen dorms, sorority houses, and fraternity houses. 600 of the
posters will have a fear message and 600 will have a humorous message.
Justification of Tactic: The style of these posters has become a popular trend on social
media that captures most people’s attention due to humorous messaging. This goal is to appeal to
that preference for this style of poster not only to grab attention, but also to give an emotionally
charged message that can impact the opinion of the audience.
Objective 3: To have an effect on the acceptance of Greek life and freshman, specifically
for 60% of students to agree that a perception gaps exists about prescription drug abuse.
Tactic 4 Feature Story in the Lantern – We will pitch a feature story idea to the Lantern just
before finals week in autumn semester. The story will be written from a creative angle, mainly
consisting of content to reinforce that there is a perception gap on OSU’s campus in regards to
how many students actually misuse Adderall. The story will conclude by listing healthy
alternatives students can use instead of misusing Adderall to help them study.
33
Justification of Tactic: Through our research, we were able to determine that many of
our key publics get their news and other relevant information from the Lantern. By getting this
article in the paper, it would be able to effectively reach our key publics, and it would also serve
as a credible source so students know that the information presented is factual.
Objective 4: To have an effect on the actions of Greek life and freshmen, specifically to
decrease the misperception gap surrounding Adderall by 5% by Spring 2015.
Tactic 5 Social Media Sharing: Humorous memes and e-cards (images below) will be circulated
around social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram using the hashtag
#Learn2Learn. These are planned to first launch on the OSU Wellness Center’s Twitter handle,
but also can circulate through other OSU social media pages like the “Class of 2017,” “Free and
For Sale,” and other Facebook pages specifically for OSU students. A select group of student
athletes that have a large following on Twitter and Instagram will also be asked to post these and
in the caption ask people to retweet, regram and share
.
34
Justification of Tactic: Many of the key publics indicated through the initial survey that
they use Twitter, Facebook and Instagram on a regular basis. By using popular Ohio State
students and organizations, these messages can reach the key publics. Beyond that, asking the
audience to retweet, regram or share has an impact on action. Those who do decide to share the
message are likely to support the message by not participating in the misuse of Adderall.
Campaign Goal 2: To increase awareness of healthy alternatives to the use of stimulants
to aid in studying.
Objective 1: To have an effect on awareness of Greek life and freshmen, specifically to
increase knowledge of healthier alternatives to Adderall misuse by 5% by Spring 2015.
Tactic: Buck-i-Frenzy Promotional items at Buck-i-Frenzy, like stress balls, t-shirts and
brochures will be given away at our booth. The stress balls will have our L2L logo on them and a
link to the OSU Wellness Center website where students can easily access a list of healthy
alternatives to misusing Adderall and watch the promotional video of the campaign. The
brochures will consist of the factual answers to the 4 key messages previously listed in addition
35
to healthy alternatives. The T-shirts will be in blue and orange and have our L2L logo across the
center.
Justification of Tactic: Buck-i-Frenzy has always served as a popular event for students
to go for free giveaways. This will be an effective event for getting the attention of our key
public and giving them the initial exposure to the campaign. The t-shirt can also serve as an
attention grabbing item that may help to increase campaign recall. The brochures and link to the
OSU Wellness Center website provides students with easy access to gain knowledge on healthy
alternatives to Adderall misuse.
Tactic 2: “Learn to Learn” Promotional Video “Learn to Learn” is our campaign
slogan. OSU students will be interviewed by a camera crew at the Union and other academic
buildings with a large amount of traffic. They will be asked one of the 4 key messages listed in
the previous section. After they respond, the interviewer will state the factual answer and the
interviewee’s reactions will be recorded. After these interviews are conducted, a promotional
video will be created beginning with our “Learn to Learn” logo in addition to combining clips of
the student interviews, a catchy song, and ending with the OSU Wellness Center and Cardinal
Health logo. This video will launch on Buckeye TV, but will also be posted to the OSU Wellness
Center website, and emailed to RA’s, sorority and fraternity presidents to share.
Justification of Tactic: The idea is to produce a video that will successfully grab the key
publics’ attention. The originality, music and peer involvement in the video will be effective in
grabbing most students’ attention. In addition, this will expose the audience to the “L2L” logo
and may cause them to recognize it on other messages corresponding to the campaign.
36
Objective 2: To have an effect on acceptance of Greek life and freshmen, specifically to
increase positive attitudes by 5% toward using healthy lifestyle alternatives to help them study
by Spring 2015.
Tactic 6 Motivational Speaker: Keith Davis is a former NFL player and motivational speaker
who travels around the country empowering students to become “winners” without misusing
substances. We will be booking Keith for one day at OSU to host 3 seminars. The day will
consist of three seminar sessions; 4:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. The first two seminars will
be specifically for Greek life students. Members of Greek life are required to attend at least one
“Risk Management” event organized by their sorority or fraternity president, so this will be one
option for them. The last seminar will be for freshmen to attend that will be organized and
marketed in the dorms by the RA’s.
Justification of Tactic: To motivate our key publics to choose healthy alternatives to
help them study and do well in school instead of misusing Adderall. We know that speakers
increase key publics acceptance of a message. By utilizing Keith Davis as a speaker, this should
increase the freshman and Greek life students’ positive attitudes toward healthy alternatives to
Adderall misuse.
Objective 3: To have effect on the actions of Greek Life and freshmen, specifically to
increase the number of students who utilize healthy lifestyle alternatives to help them study by
5% by Spring 2015.
Tactic 7 Study Break: The freshmen RA’s will be provided with brochures, stress balls, coffee,
tea, and healthy snacks. They will host a “Study Break” event during finals week for the
37
freshmen living in the dorms to attend. This event will be held in their dorm so they don’t have
to travel far or take time away from studying. It will be the RA’s responsibility to mention the
goal of the event, which is to encourage freshmen to utilize healthy alternatives: drinking
caffeine, healthy foods, getting more sleep, etc.
Print Media. RA’s will be given 11 x 17 posters in addition to brochures that explain
healthy alternatives to misusing Adderall. The messages will be set up “Instead of misusing
Adderall to stay up and study….try getting an extra 2 hours of sleep because….” The posters will
be hung throughout the dorms in the hallways, by the bathroom, and one on every room door.
Justification of Tactic: Providing freshmen with a “Study Break” not only gives them
healthy alternatives to misusing Adderall, it also allows them to implement using them during
finals week. The posters and brochures reinforce a call for action to freshmen because they will
be visible throughout finals week as a constant reminder.
Budget Buck-i-Frenzy
$67.16 4ft x 6ft Poster
$1,612.80 T-shirts ($5.60 x 288)
$126.50 Stress balls ($0.61 x 200; $4.5 shipping)
$0.00 Representative from Wellness Center
$0.00 Administrative cost for Wellness Center
Total cost $1806.46
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Learn to Learn- Promotional Video
$300 Professional Video Editing (3 hours @100/hour)
$0.00 Camera Equipment (rent from Central Classroom)
$0.00 Camera Crew (Student Wellness Center Representative)
$0.00 Distribution
$0.00 Administrative cost for Wellness Center
Total cost $300.00
Feature Story in the Lantern
$0.00 Media Kit (in house)
$0.00 Media Cost
$0.00 Administrative cost for Wellness Center
Total cost $0.00
Social Media Event
$0.00 Creative Design (in house)
$0.00 Distribution
Total cost $0.00
Motivational Speaker
$2,500 Booking fee
$722 Airfare ($361 x 2)
$132 -$182 Hotel
$81 Food (OSU per diem rate 40.5/person x 2)
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$11.42-$27.93 Car Rental
$2,500 Archie Griffin W. Ballroom
$69 Publicity
Total cost $6,033.42- $6,081.93
RA Program
$187.50 Stress balls ($0.61 x 300; $4.50 shipping)
$223.50 Posters ($0.75 x 298)
$0.00 Coffee/tea/healthy snack (RA programing fee cover cost)
Total cost $411
$900 Posters ($0.75 x 1,200)
$500 Brochures ($0.20 x 2,500)
Total cost $1,400
Grand total $9,999.39
Timetable The text below describes our timeline for this campaign. We expect to begin developing
the campaign and acquiring products and other materials we will need to begin the campaign in
the summer term of 2014. We expect to roll out the campaign at the end of August and run it
through the entire fall semester of 2014. We expect to begin evaluating the campaign in January
of 2015. Throughout the entire spring semester of 2015, we will take the necessary steps of
40
distributing a post-campaign survey, collecting the data, and comparing the data to that of our
primary research in order to determine the effectiveness of our campaign.
Summer Term 2014 In the months of June, July and August, the Wellness Center should begin developing the
messages and ordering materials needed in order to roll out the campaign. This is the time that
the Wellness Center will begin ordering the flyers and brochures, getting in contact with the
university officials about setting up a booth at Buck-i-Frenzy, purchasing air time on Buckeye
TV for the L2L promotional video, speaking with the Lantern about publishing a feature story,
contacting the motivational speaker and reserving a room in the Union for the speaker to speak to
our key publics. Also, the client should begin to order the products that will be used as tactics.
This includes things such as stress balls and t-shirts that will be given to students in order to raise
awareness of the campaign. While this is time consuming, giving the client almost the entirety of
the summer term should allocate plenty of time to complete the development of the campaign.
August 2014 The formal date for the Wellness Center to launch the campaign will be August 26, 2014.
This is the date that Buck-i-Frenzy is held for the fall semester of 2014. This will be the campus’
first experience with the campaign, and will begin to raise awareness of it.
September 2014 The launch of the campaign will come in August; however, beginning on September 1,
2014, the campaign will begin to grow. This is the date in which the client will launch the social
media campaign and hang flyers across campus in areas such as residence halls, classroom
buildings and athletic facilities. While the social media campaign and flyers will begin to show
up on campus in the beginning of September, the plan is to be active with each throughout the
entire fall semester of 2014.
41
October 2014 For most students, midterms for classes are held in October. Therefore, bringing in the
motivational speaker during this time will help reach out to publics at a stressful time in which
students may be vulnerable to Adderall misuse. The goal is to rent a room in the Union for our
motivational speaker to come in and speak to our key publics of Greek life and freshmen on
October 14, 2014. Keith Davis will be our motivational speaker and will speak on this day at
allotted times.
November 2014 In November of 2014, the Wellness Center will launch the L2L (Learn 2 Learn)
promotional video. In the beginning of November, the Wellness Center will send out an
interviewer and hired camera crew to interview students on campus about their knowledge of
Adderall misuse at Ohio State. Editors will then edit the video and get it prepared to air on
Buckeye TV by November 15, 2014.
December 2014 On December 1, 2014, we will attempt to publish a feature story in the Lantern for
students to read as finals week approaches. Also, during finals week in December, the Wellness
Center will host a social event titled “study break” in the dorms for freshmen to attend. The event
will last for an hour at the beginning of finals week.
January 2015 The timeline of our evaluation period will begin in the spring semester of 2015. In our
objectives, we are attempting to influence our key public’s awareness, acceptance and actions by
spring of 2015. In early January 2015, and throughout the month, we will begin to distribute the
post-campaign survey, again aiming to reach Greek Life and freshmen as much as possible.
42
February 2015 In February of 2015, we will collect the results that we received through our post-
campaign survey.
March 2015 The Wellness Center will begin analyzing the numbers and compare them to the results
we received from our primary research.
April 2015 By April of 2015, we will be able to determine how successful our campaign was.
Evaluation Plan
Post-campaign Survey We believe that the best way to determine the level of success our campaign reached is to
hold a post-campaign survey. We will compare the data we gather on the post-campaign survey
with the primary and secondary research findings we have already collected. As for the
evaluation metric, we believe that by using a survey that will provide quantitative data that we
will be able to obtain the most accurate and clear assessment of the effectiveness of our
campaign.
In both of our goals, decreasing the perception gap of Adderall misuse and promoting
healthier alternatives to Adderall misuse, we state that our objective is to influence the key
public’s awareness, acceptance, and action by a certain percentage; therefore, it makes the most
sense to use quantitative measures on an online survey, which will include items that measure
students’ perceptions of Adderall misuse on campus, as well as measuring their knowledge of
healthy alternatives to Adderall use. Using this method, we can compare the data from our
43
primary research, as well as secondary research findings, to post-campaign results and determine
the percentage of difference the campaign made.
The key publics we have stated for the campaign, Greek life and freshmen, possess the
information we must acquire in order to evaluate whether our campaign was a success. We feel
that recruiting 100 students from our key publics to participate in our post-campaign survey will
be best, seeing as we had nearly 100 participants for our primary research. For standards of
accuracy and reliability, it is important that we aim our post-campaign survey at our key publics
like we did in the primary and secondary research findings. We will provide the Student
Wellness Center and Cardinal Health with an initial implementation report via email outlining
how campaign tactics were carried out. We will also provide a written progress report halfway
through the campaign and a final report outlining campaign impact and outcomes resulting from
the campaign. When completed, our client will be able to use the new-found information as a
way to combat the misuse of stimulants such as Adderall by students on campus.
Awareness Objectives Evaluation For our awareness objectives, we believe message recall would be most effective in
determining if our campaign was successful. To assess our first goal, we would ask survey
participants to answer whether or not they recall seeing an ad or message that refers to perception
gap about Adderall misuse on campus. For our second goal, we would ask a similar question, but
about the healthy alternatives that our campaign would be promoting, like “Do you recall seeing
messages focusing on healthy alternatives to Adderall misuse?”
Acceptance Objectives Evaluation For acceptance objectives, we would attempt to discover the types of reactions our
publics had to the messages. We want to discover if the publics accepted the message that we
44
had delivered to them. Questions formatted could include “To what extent do you agree with
these statements?” and then make a list of statements such as “A.) Less students use Adderall
than I probably think they do,” “B.) More students are using Adderall than what the numbers
indicate,” and then have them rank on measures of 1(strongly disagree) to 5(Strongly agree). The
same format would apply for goal 2 as well, listing statements such as “Healthy alternatives to
misusing Adderall work just as well as using Adderall,” and then again rank how much they
either agree or disagree with that statement. Getting the audience to accept our messages is
crucial for this campaign. If we want the publics to take action, we first must get them to accept.
Action Objectives Evaluation For action objectives, we believe that self-reports through a survey would be effective.
We want to know whether or not our key publics have reacted to our campaign by taking action
and making choices different from those they may have made before. Questions can include “I
have tried using healthier alternatives to misusing Adderall this semester,” or, “I’m less likely to
misuse Adderall now that I’m aware that it is not the norm.”
Timeline for our Evaluation The timeline of the evaluation will begin in the spring semester of 2015. Starting in
January of 2015, we will begin to distribute the post-campaign survey, again aiming to reach
Greek life and freshmen as much as possible. In February of 2015 we will collect the results that
we received through our survey. By March of 2015, we will be able to begin analyzing the
numbers and compare them to the results we received from our primary and secondary research
findings. This way, by April of 2015, we will be able to determine how successful our campaign
was. At the end of April of 2015, we will be able to deliver evaluation results to the client.
45
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