Post ACET for COVID-19 Vaccination Advertising Campaigns
Executive Summary

Prepared for Health Canada
Supplier name: Ipsos Public Affairs
Contract Number: HT372-213292/001/CY
Contract value: $39,051.44
Award Date: January 15, 2021
Delivery Date: November 1st, 2021.
Registration number: POR 009-21

For more information on this report, please contact Health Canada at:
hc.cpab.por-rop.dgcap.sc@canada.ca.

Ce rapport est aussi disponible en français

POLITICAL NEUTRALITY STATEMENT

I hereby certify as Senior Officer of Ipsos that the deliverables fully comply with the Government of Canada political neutrality requirements outlined in the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada and Procedures for Planning and Contracting Public Opinion Research. Specifically, the deliverables do not include information on electoral voting intentions, political party preferences, standings with the electorate or ratings of the performance of a political party or its leaders.

Mike Colledge
President
Ipsos Public Affairs

Post ACET COVID-19 Vaccination Advertising Campaigns
Methodological Report

Prepared for Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada
Supplier name: Ipsos Public Affairs
October 2021

This public opinion research report presents the methodology of the Post COVID-19 Vaccination Advertising Campaigns Evaluation online survey conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada. The research study was conducted with n=2,005 Canadians aged 18+ between September 29th and October 12th, 2021.

Cette publication est aussi disponible en français sous le titre : Post-évaluation (OECP) des campagnes publicitaires sur la vaccination contre la COVID-19.

This publication may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes only. Prior written permission must be obtained from Health Canada. For more information on this report, please contact Health Canada at hc.cpab.por-rop.dgcap.sc@canada.ca or at:

Communications Branch
Health Canada
200 Eglantine Driveway
AL 1915C, Tunney's Pasture
Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9

Catalogue Number:
H14-385/2021E-PDF

International Standard Book Number (ISBN):
978-0-660-41083-8

Related publications (registration number: POR 009-21)
Catalogue Number H14-385/2021F-PDF (Final Report, French)
ISBN 978-0-660-41084-5

^©Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Health, 2021

Executive Summary

1. Background

1.1 Summary Statement

In December 2019, a cluster of cases of pneumonia was reported in Wuhan, China; the cause was confirmed as a new coronavirus (COVID-19) that had not previously been identified in humans. The situation quickly evolved into a worldwide pandemic. By October 2021, there were more than 1,676,846 confirmed cases in Canada and over 28,468 deaths. COVID-19 daily epidemiology update - Canada.ca

The COVID-19 response is an urgent Government of Canada priority. The planned vaccination advertising campaign has been approved for $40.5M.

Overall, the campaign has sought to achieve the following objectives:

• In phase 1: Provide Canadian populations with the information they need to make an informed decision to get the COVID-19 vaccines when they become available to them by increasing confidence and trust in the COVID-19 vaccines.
• In phase 2: Increase awareness among all Canadians of the importance of the COVID-19 vaccine to protect themselves and motivate action.

The research consisted of online surveys conducted in English and French, taking place between September 29th and October 12th, 2021.

Ipsos programmed, hosted, and provided sample management services, while HC and PHAC provided the online questionnaires. Ipsos was responsible for data collection and data storage in Canada, data processing and data weighting. The total contract value of this research was $39,051.44, including HST.

2. Purpose of the Research

2.1 Research Objectives

PHAC is looking to assess the impact of its COVID-19 Vaccination Advertising Campaign in raising awareness, motivating interest, and generating engagement with federal information and resources and other Canadians about the COVID-19 vaccines at Canada.ca/covid-vaccine.

This research will help to evaluate the impact of this advertising campaign, such as:

• Unaided and aided awareness of the ads and their placement
• Assess message recall
• Determine if the messaging and visuals resonated with the target audience
• Understand the influence of the ad, in terms of visiting Canada.ca/covid-vaccine to access information and resources.
• Understand if the campaign motivated audiences to share information and or take an action as a result of seeing the ads.

The results of this research will allow PHAC to evaluate the performance of this multi-phase ad campaign. It will also help PHAC to improve future phases of this ongoing COVID-19 vaccination campaign.

The Government of Canada's Policy on Communications and Federal Identity requires the evaluation of all advertising campaigns exceeding $1 million in media through the Advertising Campaign Evaluation Tool (ACET).

The following campaigns were evaluated through this ACET:

1. COVID-19 vaccines: We can all help by getting vaccinated (launched May 17 and ended July 4, 2021)
2. COVID-19 Vaccine Questions (launched June 5 and ended July 31, 2021)
3. COVID-19 Vaccine Questions – Parents of Youth Edition (launched August 2 and ended September 30, 2021)
4. COVID-19 vaccines: It's time for kids to make memories again (launched August 25 and ended October

The objectives of the research are as follows:

• Determine if people have seen the advertisements associated with the campaign
• Determine where the ads have been seen
• Measure recall of specific elements of the campaign
• Identify attitudinal changes as a result of the advertising campaign

The target audience of the research was as follows:

• General Canadian population 18 years of age or more
• Young adults 18-24 years of age
• Young adults 25-34 years of age
• At-risk ethnic communities
• Indigenous communities
• Parents of children 12-17

3. Methodology

3.1 Online Sample

Respondents for the survey samples were drawn from the Ipsos i-Say panel, consisting of over 200,000 Canadians recruited in all provinces and territories. The survey sample of n=2,005 was drawn from Canadians 18+.

A pre-test was conducted on September 29th on a sample of n=40 respondents (27 in English and 13 in French), to confirm survey length before fully deploying the questionnaire. In the pre-test, an open-ended question was asked at the end of the survey where any problems, questions, or unclear questions could be brought to our attention. No issues were flagged during the pre-test that required revision to the original questionnaire.

The general population sample consisted of n=2,005 respondents. Quotas were set to ensure representation by region, age and gender, according to the latest Census information.

Within this sample, we set up minimum quotas of n=200 for each of five target groups (except Indigenous communities: target of n=100 and parents of children 12-17: target of n=300). In the end, within natural fallout we obtained our targets without having to oversample (note that one person can fall into more than one category).

• Young adults 18-24 years of age (n=212)
• Young adults 25-34 years of age (n=326)
• Ethnic communities (n=288)
• Indigenous communities (n=139)
• Parents of children 12-17 (n=335)

Interviews were conducted in English and French, with respondents being able to complete the survey in either official language of their choice.

Respondents were invited to participate in the survey via email, with a unique URL link. This link could only be used once, with respondents being allowed to pause during completion and return to complete it at a later time. On average, the online interviews took 11 minutes to complete.