Abstract
Public service announcements (PSAs) aired by local radio or television stations may be useful to human service agencies as a mechanism to reach potential clients during periods of low service demand. To examine the usefulness of PSAs for this purpose, a series of PSAs were videotaped for three aging-service agencies and aired by a television station during a 6-week period. The three agencies recorded the incoming demand for services received each day before and during the intervention period. The data were tested by a multiple-group interrupted time-series analysis. The results of the analysis indicated that for all three agencies the PSAs were effective for increasing the number of service inquiries received from nonclients over the telephone numbers publicized in the PSAs. At one of the agencies, the number of new clients increased significantly when the PSAs were broadcasted.
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Reference Note
1. McAbee, T. A., & Cafferty, T. P.The effectiveness of radio and television public service announcements in mass media compaigns: A review of the literature. Manuscript submitted for publication, 1981.
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This article is based on a doctoral dissertation submitted by the first author to the University of South Carolina. The first author acknowledges with appreciation the contributions to the research project and the preparation of the public service announcements that were made by the following: Robert V. Heckel, Gary L. Griepentrog, Lawrence F. McClure, and A. Porter McLaurin, members of the dissertation committee; Melinda Hotinger, research assistant; Ruth Harden and Bobby Dicks, Jr., WIS-TV; Winston Thomas, Rosalyn Dublin, Mary Fraser, Bessie Lee Harris, and Ruthie Saunders, Columbia Urban League Aging Program; Emily Canine, Kate Forbis, Lillie G. Earl, Beverly W. Williams, Annie Baxter, and Marjorie Mills, Newberry County Council on Aging; Fletcher Spigner, Sam Waldrep, Mae Inman, King Wingate, and June Yarborough, Richland-Lexington Council on Aging; George M. Dick, Nancy Rampey, and Betty Jackson, Central Midlands Regional Planning Council; Courtenay Carson, South Carolina Commission on Aging; the late Don Gillis, Mark Spagnolo, and Sally Battle, University of South Carolina Department of Media Arts. The authors acknowledge the substantial contributions to this paper that were made by Gary L. Griepentrog, who donated his time to guide the multiple-group interrupted time-series analysis. The authors express appreciation to Thomas D. Cook, Northwestern University, for his review and comments on the dissertation.
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McAbee, T.A., Cafferty, T.P. Television public service announcements as outreach for potential clients. Am J Commun Psychol 10, 723–738 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01312601
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01312601