An empirical study of short-term mass communication saturation and perception of population problems.

A 1-week population sensitivity campaign was held in the primarily university community of Boulder, Colorado, in November 1969. This 8-day campaign was conducted by running quarter-page advertisements in the newspaper and by braodcasting radio spots, which contained information on the population explosion. A control group of 175 people responded to a 1-minute telephone questionnaire immediately before the "population sensitivity" week began. A different sample of 185 people responded to the same questionnaire following the sensitivity week in order to test any increase in awareness that was not interviewer-induced. 96% of both the control and follow-up groups had heard of the population explosion, and 78% believed that "the population explosion applies to population growth in the United States." 55% of the respondents believed that the population explosion would have an effect on either their families or themselves. Older, less educated individuals who are lower in the occupational strata were found to be less likely to acknowledge that the U.S. has problems with population growth than were younger, better educated persons of high occupational status. Overall, there were no significant differences between the control and the experimental groups. Short-term saturation techniques conducted through the mass media are unlikely to affect attitudes concerning population growth, and this conclusion indicates the need for long-term education programs.