Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
We employ different mechanisms to measure the success of our partnerships,
including our major food service partnerships (proprietary reports on implemen-
tation and compliance) and our regional outreach partnerships (annual surveys of
outreach activities). The most comprehensive measurement to date, however, has
been the evaluation of our outreach strategy in 2004 including the effectiveness of
the Seafood Watch pocket guide.
17.9.1 Seafood Watch evaluation
The effectiveness of our outreach strategy was assessed through an independent
evaluation conducted by Quadra Planning Consultants Ltd and the Galiano Institute
for Environmental and Social Research, between November 2003 and June 2004,
and included:
a review of the literature on approaches to promoting environmentally respon-
sible consumer behaviour;
key informant interviews with 57 partners, scientists, businesses and members
of the seafood industry;
six focus groups with 64 pocket guide holders;
a written survey of 726 Monterey Bay Aquarium visitors (as a pre-assessment
of knowledge and purchasing behaviour) in November and December 2003;
follow-up telephone interviews with 400 of the 726 Monterey Bay Aquarium
visitors in February and March 2004; and
telephone interviews with 26 local area restaurants, caterers and seafood
retailers.
Who is using the pocket guide?
The evaluation confirmed that the current users of the Seafood Watch pocket guide
fit the demographic profile of 'early adopters' (Quadra & Galiano 2004). The de-
mographics of pocket guide holders were also consistent with that of Monterey
Bay Aquarium visitors, demonstrating that the zoo and aquarium platform is ap-
propriate for tapping into 'early adopters' to build awareness for changing their
buying habits and spreading this information to friends and family. The evaluators
also found that people who demonstrated prior environmental behaviours, such
as belonging to an environmental organisation, were much more likely to use the
pocket guide. This discovery also supports efforts to partner with large, national
conservation organisations that distribute the guides to their membership. In 2007
we launched a second evaluation to assess the impact and usefulness of the pocket
guide among users in markets across the United States. This evaluation will also ex-
plore appropriate tools geared for the average consumer - beyond the 'early adopter'
audience.
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