Reactions to theShared Values Initiative

Alice Kendrick, Ph.D.Southern Methodist UniversityandJami A. Fullerton, Ph.D.Oklahoma State University

Overview

In the fall of 2001, the State Dept., led by Undersecretary of State and former ad executive Charlotte Beers, launched a first-of-its kind television ad campaign in the Middle East featuring the happy lives of American Muslims. The ads were part of the U.S. government’s “Shared Values Initiative.”

Shared Values Initiative

• Post 9/11 public diplomacy campaign• Targeted predominantly Muslim

countries• Attempts to convince the Muslim

world not “to hate us”• Consists of numerous communication

elements including TV spots• $15 million budget

The Spots

• 5 spots in the campaign• Termed “mini documentaries” by DOS• Produced by McCann-Erickson Ad

Agency• Testimonial-style commercials

featuring slice-of-life treatments of prosperous Muslim Americans in various professional and personal roles

Shared Values Initiative

• First time that the U.S. purchased international broadcast time to run a public diplomacy message

• Used TV to reach the people• The media plan was cut short• Spots ran only in Pakistan,

Malaysia,Indonesia and Kuwait. Some satellite spill-out in Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE

Show the Spots

• “Baker”• “Doctor” • “School Teacher” • “Journalist” • “Firefighter”

Timeline

• Oct. 29, 2002– television ad campaign launches in Indonesia

to coincide with Ramadan– Al-Jazeera and other Arab countries refuse to

run the spots• Jan. 16, 2003

– Washington Post reports that the campaign was suspended because it failed

– Beers tells CNN that campaign would continue

Timeline

• Feb. 3, 2003– DOS reports that ads stopped running in

Dec. and were being revised• March 2003

– Beers resigns for “health reasons”• Since March 2003

– Media, Congress and administration criticize Beers and distance themselves from the ad campaign

Target Audience

• “The People” in countries with high Muslim populations

• Beers cited the importance of reaching women - “mothers and teachers”

Effects & Evaluation

• Media reports at home and abroad generally negative– considered a propaganda tool– Beers said it was successful because it

“started a dialogue”• CNN and WSJ said it failed to register

with Muslim audience and was prevented from airing in most countries

• Criticized for not explaining U.S. policy

Effects & Evaluation

• No formal quantitative evaluation made public

Research Questions

1. Attitudes toward the U.S. government 2. Attitudes toward U.S. people 3. Attitudes toward how Muslims are treated

in America 4. Believability of commercials5. Appropriateness and helpfulness the U.S. to

run the commercials6. Perceived effectiveness of the commercials 7. Main message, first impressions, likes and

dislikes8. Subgroup analyses

Method

• Pre/post experimental design• Traditional advertising copy test

Method

• Paper and pencil questionnaire (including pre-test)

• Viewing of Shared Values Initiative commercials

• Remainder of the questionnaire (including post-test)

Sample

• 105 international students • Regents College • London, England • July 2003

Questionnaire

• Dependent variables – attitude toward U.S. government – attitude toward U.S. people– treatment of Muslims

Questionnaire

• Copy test questions – first impression– main message– liked most/least – believability– effectiveness – appropriateness – confusing elements– persuasion

Findings

• Respondent Profile– 54% female; 46% male– average age 22– English was native language of 7%– 58% spoke English fluently

Findings

• Respondent Profile– 25 different countries– 70% European – 2/3 know someone in the U.S.– Half have regular email contact with

the U.S. – 97% said they would like to visit the

U.S.

Findings

• Pre- v. Post-Attitudes toward the U.S. Government and U.S. People

Favorability scale of 1-44 = most favorable

Pre/Post Attitudes

• U.S. Government– more positive after the videos– mean = 1.86 v. 2.05– Christians and “not religious”

remained negative– Muslims and “other religions”

improved

Pre/Post Attitudes

• U.S. People– not statistically significant– women more favorable than men – Europeans less favorable

Pre/Post Attitudes

• Attitudes Toward Treatment of Muslims– Stronger agreement after videos– Mean = 2.82 v. 3.14– Primary communication objective was

met

First Impressions

• Most frequent first reactions: disbelief and skepticism

• Focus on aspects of U.S. image: “America on its best behavior”

• Intended main message registered among 12%

Main Message

• Most (59.8%) involved U.S. image• One-third: Muslims living freely

and happily in the U.S. • One-half of main message

registrations were Muslim-related

Believability of Commercials

• Fewer than half considered them believable

• Doubt that the videos would be considered credible among target

• 64% found elements confusing or hard to believe

• One-sided nature objectionable • Europeans judged less believable • Christians and “not religious” judged less

believable

Appropriateness of Commercials

• Students divided on appropriateness of strategy

• One-third agreed “appropriate and helpful”

• Europeans: less appropriate and helpful

• Muslims and “other”: more appropriate and helpful

Perceived Effectiveness of Commercials

• Half said videos “an effective tool” for Muslim countries

• Women agreed more strongly • Those who had visited U.S. or

fluent in English less likely to agree

Elements Liked and Disliked

• One-fourth said they liked “nothing” • Likes: overall “objective” and

“friendly” style and tone • Likes: information content (15.6%);

specific information about Muslims (15.6%).

• Dislikes: lack of believability (70.4%)• Few comments about specific

executional elements

Implications/Recommendations

• SVI approach achieved its objectives• Mass media may be an appropriate

method to communicate with audiences in the Middle East

• Need to address erosion of attitude toward America in Westernized countries

Implications/Recommendations

• Concept testing and pre-testing should be used before spots are aired– Message strategy should be

altered– Avoid “travel video” appeal

Implications/Recommendations

• Messages should be less one-sided– May not be perceived as

propaganda– More likely to persuade and

inoculate

Implications/Recommendations

• Using two-step flow theory of mass communication– Mass media messages are filtered

through friends, family & church– Target communication to opinion

leaders in the community, especially clerics

First Impression – Table 1TOTAL COMMENTS 118** 100%

Muslim Life in the United States How Muslims live in the United States 7 Muslims are accepted/free in America 6 Muslim life after 9-11 6 Muslims like the United States 3 Muslims can practice religion freely 2 Happy Muslims in the United States 1 TOTAL 25 21.2%

Image of the United States Image of United States/”best behavior” 7 Acceptance/respect of other cultures 6 Opportunities/freedom 5 Americans like/accept Muslims 4 Kind/”Beautiful” people 2 Efforts to improve image after 9-11 2 Other image 2 American people v. government 1 Americans justifying ‘actions’ 1 TOTAL 30 25.4%

Positive Reactions Friendly/good/cool/interesting 8 Appropriate for situation 1 TOTAL 9 7.6%

Negative Reactions Not true/fake/suspicious/could backfire 19 Propaganda/public relations/persuasion 13 Misleading/one-sided 7 Skeptical/unsure/hopeful 6 Why were the videos made? 2 TOTAL 47 39.8%

Other Groups of people 2 Relationships between people 1 Ramadan 1 No category 3 TOTAL 7 5.9%

Main Message – Table 2

TOTAL COMMENTS 107** 100% Muslim Life in the United States

How Muslims live in the United States 12 Muslims are accepted/free in America 11 Muslims can practice religion freely 6 Happy Muslims in the United States 5 TOTAL 34 31.8%

Image of the United States Image of United States/”best behavior” 7 Acceptance/respect of other cultures 22 Opportunities/freedom 11 Americans like/accept Muslims 16 Efforts to improve image after 9-11 3 Other image 2 Americans are not fighting against Muslims 2 American people v. government 1 TOTAL 64 59.8%

Negative Reactions Not true/fake/suspicious/could backfire 2 Misleading/one-sided 1 Skeptical/unsure/hopeful 2 TOTAL 5 4.7%

Other People can live together 1 Don’t know 1 No category 2 TOTAL 4 3.7%

Most Liked Elements – Table 3

Tone/Point of View/Style 32 29.4% Friendly/happy/positive 16 “Normal” people/diverse, different people 9 Objective/realistic 7

Overall Concept and Information Content 17 15.6% Good effort/good faith/good idea/well done 10 Information/content/learning 6 The story 1

Information About Muslims 17 15.6% About Muslims/positive 6 Respect for Muslims 2 Muslims free/free to practice Islam 6 Appropriate for Muslim countries 1 Will help ease Muslim life after 9-11 1 The teacher 1

Information About the United States 18 16.5% U.S. tolerance/respect 7 Opportunities for other people in US 5 U.S. opportunities/successes/freedom 4 U.S. image after 9-11 1 Changed U.S. image 1

Negative Comments 25 22.9% Nothing/’cheesy’/dislike/skeptical 25

Most Disliked Elements Table 4

Lack of Believability 69 70.4% Misleading/false/not real 35 One-sided/biased 23 Too positive 6 Skeptical 5

Strategy/Approach/Format 7 7.1% Seems like advertising/propaganda 6 Why was this (video) done? 1

Specific Content 10 10.2% The ending (from American people) 2 Only about Muslims 2 Only about religion 2 Children’s hospital 1 That Americans are friendly 1 Muslim women with heads covered 1 U.S. too strong/dominant 1

Nothing Disliked 9 9.2%

“Everything” Disliked 3 3.1%