Work
WESTERN RESOURCE ADVOCATES
Challenge
There is an opportunity, perhaps now more than ever, to influence the future of coal powered plants. Two of the United States’ largest, oldest and subsequently dirtiest coal plants are in the backyard of the Western Resource Advocates (WRA). To effectively communicate on the issue, WRA asked Noral to help them gain insight into the public’s attitudes, impressions, and reactions to various arguments and messages that discuss energy sources and electricity.
Tactics
Noral conducted focus groups among energy users to gain understanding of: 1) what level of knowledge exists with consumers across the range of energy issues, and, 2) what potential messages and message content work the hardest to persuade consumers that a change to cleaner, renewable resources is desirable. Messages were tested against both those who were engaged with environmental issues as well as those less engaged.
Results
The findings were surprising and informative. They helped shaped the questionnaire for a quantitative study and will undoubtedly influence future communications endeavors on the issue.