Prepared for Public Safety Canada
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This public opinion research report presents the results of 12 focus groups conducted by Ekos Research Associates on behalf of Public Safety Canada. The research was conducted in December 2023.
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© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Public Works and Government Services, 2024
The Government of Canada's National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation was launched in 2004 and expanded in 2009. In 2020, the Online Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse: Voluntary Principles was released to provide a framework to combat online sexual crimes against children and coordinate action between governments and industry partners. Public Safety launched a national awareness campaign in March 2021 that focused on changing the attitudes and behaviours of Canadians on the subject of online child sexual exploitation, a reprehensible crime causing life-long harm and suffering to victims. According to the Public Safety website, online child sexual exploitation (OCSE) is defined as when children are tricked into seeing or participating in online encounters of a sexual nature. OCSE is one of the most disturbing public safety issues facing society today. It continues to harm past and present generations of children in Canada and abroad[1].
The awareness campaign was renewed in the fall of 2022 to continue to increase awareness levels of OCSE by increasing public and parental understanding that children (persons under 18) who engage in sexting could be at risk of OCSE. Canada's Criminal Code serves to protect children from all forms of child pornography, the use of the internet to lure children, from sexual contact or touching, and the procurement of children for illicit sexual activity. Public Safety (PS) Canada has been leading the National Strategy.
The objective of the current research is to test a number of proposed concept for the newest iteration of the awareness campaign among parents of children 8 to 18.
Three concepts were tested in 12 online focus groups, which included participants from five different regions across the country. Participants logged onto a Zoom video meeting to generally discuss finding information for parents about online child sexual exploitation (OCSE) and subsequently viewed proposed animated storyboards to create a 30-second video as well as an associated website/social media static ads, for the three proposed concepts. They were asked to react to each concept in terms of overall impressions, tone, clarity of message and perceived effectiveness of the approach in encouraging parents to research, plan and discuss OCSE with their children. They were also asked to provide a series of ratings for each concept along similar dimensions.
In eight of the 12 groups participants were recruited to represent a region, rather than one specific city. Eight participants were recruited to attend each discussion. In the remaining four of the 12 discussions, participants were recruited among parents living in Halifax or Vancouver, which were intended to be conducted in-person. In the end only the two Vancouver sessions were held in-person, while the sessions with Halifax residents were conducted online. The recruitment sample was drawn from among parents responding to an earlier survey on the same topic, conducted in September 2023, at which time respondents indicated a willingness to be re-contacted about the follow-up focus group discussions. The original sample source for the survey, as well as some added records of Halifax and Vancouver parents, was the Probit online panel. The recruitment screener is provided in Appendix A. Participants were selected from those who registered their interest in participating, based on the age of their child (8 – 13 or 14-18), region they live in (Eastern or Western Canada), gender of the child, and language. In total, 77 individuals participated in the concept testing discussions, of the 100 recruited. Discussions occurred between December 4 and 11, 2023.
| Region/Demographic | # of Groups | Total # of Participants |
|---|---|---|
| East/Ontario | 5 | 38 |
| West | 5 | 31 |
| Francophone | 2 | 8 |
A focus group discussion guide (provided in Appendix B) was developed by Ekos in consultation with Public Safety, along with a rating sheet used to rate each concept to quantify the results and obtain an initial reaction from each participant prior to discussion. Ten of the groups were conducted in English, while the two groups held with residents of Quebec were conducted in French. Each focus group took roughly 90 minutes to conduct. Participants received an incentive of $120 for their participation in the online discussions[2]. Video recordings, researchers' notes and observations from the focus groups formed the basis for analysis and reporting of results.
A few overarching themes expressed about the campaign include:
Highlights of the testing of the three concepts are summarized below in terms of positive and negative reactions to each of the concepts.
| Concepts | Positive Reactions | Negative Reactions |
|---|---|---|
| Open-Closed |
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| Someone Else Will |
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| Uncomplicate It |
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Participants were presented with the animated storyboard of the 30 second video for each of the three concepts. In each discussion, the scenario was described and subsequently played twice, at which point participants were asked to go to a ratings page to provide reactions to the concept before any discussion was held. The order of presenting the three concepts was changed from one discussion to the next. Participants were asked to provide reactions from weak to strong in terms of the clarity of the message, the ad's ability to capture their attention, its relevance, ability to send them looking for information, and overall.
Results suggest that the message is most clearly conveyed in Open-Closed, which is also given the highest rating in terms of ability to capture attention. Both Open-Closed and Someone Else Will are seen as relevant. Each of the three concepts received modest ratings with regard to the call to action to look for information. The Open-Closed concept received the highest overall rating. Having seen and discussed all three concepts, participants were asked to pick a preferred approach that is effective at having parents think about the issue and take action. In this case, the concept Someone Else Will was preferred by a small margin. Some of the participants who selected Open-Closed or Someone Else Will as their preferred choice said the other was a close second choice.
Uncomplicate It was seen as relatable to some, however, there is a significant risk of offending some parents, particularly fathers. The ad would require toning down (strong anxious reaction, pace of the ad, etc.) in order to be effective. The message that it is important to speak with kids, and the reassurance that there is information was nonetheless considered helpful for some.
Both Open-Closed and Someone Else Will feature the shock factor that many said is needed to command attention and motivate action. Open-Closed was preferred by some because it is a simple and straightforward story, that is easy to portray and understand. Those who preferred Someone Else Will, liked the stronger shock value of seeing luring in action "right in the living room". The portrayal of the predator in the room is, however, more difficult to convey, adding distraction for some, who had trouble "seeing" what was intended for the live action video even when presented with a description of the scenario before viewing it. Ultimately, either of these two concepts is likely to be effective at commanding attention and conveying the message.
It should be kept in mind when reading this report that findings from the focus groups are qualitative in nature, designed to provide a richer context rather than to measure percentages of the target population. These results are not intended to be used to estimate the numeric proportion or number of individuals in the population who hold a particular opinion as they are not statistically projectable.
I hereby certify as Senior Officer of Ekos Research Associates Inc. that the deliverables fully comply with the Government of Canada political neutrality requirements outlined in the on Communications and Federal Identity and the Directive on the Management of Communications. 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.
Signed by Susan Galley (Vice President)