Executive Summary - Pre and Post Advertising Campaign Evaluation Tool (ACET) for COVID-19 Fall Booster and 6 months-4 years old Vaccination Campaigns

Submitted to Health Canada
Contract Number HT372-224742

Prepared By: Leger

Contract value: $96,314.42$ (Including applicable taxes)
Award date: August 18, 2022
Delivery date: March 24, 2023

Registration number: POR 029-22

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

Leger
507 Place d'Armes, Suite 700
Montréal, Quebec
H2Y 2W8
Telephone: 514-982-2464
Fax.: 514-987-1960

Ce rapport est également disponible en français.

Pre and Post Advertising Campaign Evaluation Tool (ACET) for COVID-19 Fall Booster and 6 months-4 years old Vaccination Campaigns

Executive Summary

Prepared for Health Canada
Supplier Name: Leger
March 2023

This report presents the methodology of online surveys conducted by Leger on behalf of Health Canada. The research was conducted in two waves, a pre-campaign and a post-campaign. The objective of these surveys was to evaluate two campaigns implemented by the Government of Canada on vaccination against COVID-19. One campaign focused on children's vaccination against COVID-19 while the other was aimed at the general population of Canada and focused on the vaccination of the Canadian population. For both waves, parents and respondents from the general population of Canada (with quotas on Indigenous respondents and respondents for racialized communities) were targeted. The first wave of research (pre-campaign) was conducted between August 25 and September 10, 2022, and the second wave of research (post campaign) was conducted between November 10 and 22, 2022.

Cette publication est aussi disponible en français sous le titre : Évaluation de la base de référence et post-campagne (OECP) pour les campagnes sur la dose de rappel contre COVID-19 de l'automne et celle des vaccins contre la COVID-19 pour les enfants : Les questions.

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

Catalogue Number: H14-433/2023E-PDF
International Standard Book Number (ISBN): 978-0-660-47964-4

Related publications (registration number: POR 029-22):
Catalogue Number: H14-433/2023F-PDF (Final Report, French)
ISBN 978-0-660-47965-1

©His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Health, 2023.

1. Summary

Leger is pleased to submit this report to Health Canada detailing the methodology of online surveys assessing ad recall for two COVID-19 Vaccination Campaigns. The goals of these campaigns were to raise awareness and provide information to contribute to increase the uptake of the vaccines.

1.1 Background and Objectives

The COVID-19 response is a Government of Canada priority, including the availability of vaccines for all people in Canada.

After more than two years of the pandemic, and now that most of Canadian adults are vaccinated with two doses, there is a sense of public fatigue or lack of commitment to public health measures and COVID-19 vaccination. However, it is important to remember that the COVID-19 virus is still present and that it is important for Canadians to go get their booster doses and to have their children vaccinated.

Having this in mind, two campaigns were created by the Government of Canada. The first one targeted parents of children six months to four years of age and had the following objectives:

The second one targeted the general population of Canada with quotas on indigenous respondents and respondents from racialized communities and had the following objective of encouraging people living in Canada who are fully vaccinated and eligible, to get their booster and additional shots when they are available to them.

Given that the advertising investment for these campaigns exceed $1 million, Health Canada was required to conduct evaluations of the campaigns using the Advertising Campaign Evaluation Tool (ACET).

The objectives of the research were as follows:

1.2 Application of results

The results of this research will allow Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada to assess the recall of the ad campaigns based on feedback from the survey data and analysis.

1.3 Methodology - Quantitative research

Quantitative research was conducted through online surveys using Computer Aided Web Interviewing (CAWI) technology.

The target audiences for the survey were the general Canadian population and parents of children between 6 months and 12 years old. It should be noted that for the pre-test of the campaign, only parents of children aged 6 months to 4 years were targeted. For the post-test, parents of children aged 6 months to 12 years were targeted.

Quotas were set to ensure a minimum of the main target audiences of interest, namely 18 - 34-year-olds, individuals who identify as Indigenous or belong to a racialized community, as well as parents of children 6-months-to-4-years-old in the general population portion of the sample. A minimum quota of 500 was set for 18–34-year-olds. The rest were soft quotas that helped ensure reaching a sufficient subsample size for each of the targets: 90 Indigenous-identifying individuals, 440 racialized communities, and 200 parents of children 6 months to 4 years old were the established soft quotas for the general population portion. No regional quotas were set but we ensured a minimum number in every region of the country.

Based on data from Statistics Canada's 2021 national census, Leger weighted the results of the parents' sample of this survey by gender, regions, and language, whereas the general population sample was weighted by gender, age, language, education level, place of birth, and ethnicity.

Since a sample drawn from an Internet panel is non-probabilistic in nature, the margin of error cannot be calculated for this survey. Details regarding the weighting procedures and participation rate can be found in Appendix A.

Leger meets the strictest quantitative research guidelines. The questionnaire was prepared in accordance with the Standards for the Conduct of Government of Canada Public Opinion Research - Online Surveys.

The details of the methodology and more information on Leger's quality control mechanisms are presented in Appendix A. The questionnaire for the baseline is presented in Appendix B and the questionnaire for the post-campaign is presented in Appendix C.

Details for the baseline study

Fieldwork for the baseline portion of the survey was conducted from August 25 to September 9, 2022, for the parents' portion, and from August 30 to September 10 for the general population portion. The national participation rate for the survey was around 7% for the parent's portion and 13% for the general population portion. Calculation of the Web survey's participation rate is presented in Appendix A. A pre-test of the programmed questionnaire was completed in both official languages on August 25, 2022.

A total sample of 600 parents of children aged between 6 months and 4 years old were surveyed in all regions of the country, as well as 2,000 Canadian adults from the general population. The following table shows the effective samples collected:

Table 1. Distribution by Region for the first wave (baseline)
Regions Parents sample
n=
General population sample
n=
Atlantic 38 119
Quebec 139 458
Ontario 226 782
Prairies (Saskatchewan + Manitoba) 51 140
Alberta 58 206
British Columbia + Territories 88 295
TOTAL 600 2,000

The following table shows the effective sample collected by Leger for each target:

Table 2. Distribution by Target Audiences for the first wave (baseline)
Group Parents sample
n=
General population sample
n=
Parents of children 6 months-4 years old 600 247
18-34-year-old respondents 263 560
Indigenous-identifying respondents 23 127
Racialized communities (excluding Indigenous) 146 334

Details for the post-campaign study

Fieldwork for the second wave of the survey (post-campaign) was conducted from November 10 to 19, 2022, for the parents' portion and from November 10 to November 22, 2022, for the general population portion. The national participation rate for the survey was around 7% for the parents' portion and 13% for the general population portion, similar to the baseline survey. Calculation of the Web survey's participation rate is presented in Appendix A. A pre-test of the programmed questionnaire was completed in both official languages on November 10, 2022.

A total sample of 1,001 parents of children aged between 6 months and 12 years old (with a quota of 200 parents of children of 6 months to 4 years of age) were surveyed in all regions of the country, as well as 2,000 Canadian adults from the general population. The following table shows the effective samples collected:

Table 3. Distribution by Region for the second wave (post-campaign)
Regions Parents sample
n=
General population sample
n=
Atlantic 64 148
Quebec 231 459
Ontario 369 777
Prairies (Saskatchewan + Manitoba) 78 123
Alberta 122 221
British Columbia + Territories 137 272
TOTAL 1,001 2,000

The following table shows the effective sample collected by Leger:

Table 4. Distribution by Target Audiences for the second wave (post-campaign)
Group Parents sample
n=
General population sample
n=
Parents of children 6 months-4 years old 1,001 255
18-34 year old respondents 292 572
Indigenous-identifying respondents 55 101
Racialized communities (excluding Indigenous) 231 375

1.4 Notes on the interpretation of the findings

The opinions and observations expressed in this document do not reflect those of the Public Health Agency of Canada. This report was compiled by Leger based on research conducted specifically for this project. This research is non-probabilistic; the results cannot be applied to the general population of Canada. The research was not designed with this objective in mind.

1.5 Declaration of political neutrality and contact information

I hereby certify, as Executive VP of Leger, that the deliverables are in full compliance with the neutrality requirements of the Policy on Communications and Federal Identity and the Directive on the Management of Communications - Appendix C (Appendix C: Mandatory Procedures for Public Opinion Research).

Specifically, the deliverables do not include information on electoral voting intentions, political party preferences, party positions, or the assessment of the performance of a political party or its leaders.

Signed by:

Christian Bourque
Executive Vice President and Associate
Leger
507 Place d'Armes, Suite 700
Montréal, Quebec
H2Y 2W8
cbourque@leger360.com