Raising Awareness for Animal Welfare: A Review of the Effectiveness of Advertising Campaigns

Animal welfare organizations invest considerable time and money in awareness and advertising campaigns to improve animal welfare and inform consumers about animal-related issues. These campaigns aim to increase knowledge, raise awareness, and encourage more animal-friendly attitudes and behaviours. However, it is not always clear how effective these efforts actually are. Do animal welfare campaigns mainly increase awareness, or do they also lead to real changes in consumer behaviour? In this project, you will conduct a literature review to explore what is already known about the effectiveness of animal welfare awareness and advertising campaigns, focusing on their impact on knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour. So the product of this internship will be a state-of-the-art overview of existing research on the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. 

Animal welfare, advocacy campaigns, awareness campaigns, persuasive messaging, public communication, literature review  

The section Psychology of Conflict, Risk and Safety at the University of Twente has a distinctive and unique profile in the areas of risk perception and risk communication, conflict and crisis management and the antecedents of risky, antisocial, and criminal behaviour. It currently includes 16 research staff members and 8 PhD students. We work from both a psychology and an engineering perspective and cooperate with other scientific disciplines, based on the “high tech, human touch” profile of the University of Twente.

Usually anytime. This internship is open to 1 student.

Please contact the PCRS internship coordinator Miriam Oostinga (m.s.d.oostinga@utwente.nl).  

• Mercy For Animals. (2016, October 13). What characteristics make videos most effective at inspiring individual dietary change? Mercy For Animals Research Blog. https://mercyforanimals.org/blog/making-effective-videos/ 
• Philpotts, I., Blackwell, E. J., Dillon, J., & Rooney, N. J. (2024). Do Animal Welfare Education Campaigns Really Work? An Evaluation of the RSPCA’s #DogKind Campaign in Raising Awareness of Separation-Related Behaviours in UK Dog Owners. Animals, 14(3), 484. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14030484 
• The Vegan Society. (2019, September 3). Project update: A guide to effective animal campaigning. The Vegan Society. https://www.vegansociety.com/about-us/research/research-news/project-update-guide-effective-animal-campaigning