POPULATION SERVICES INTERNATIONAL(PSI) – Vietnam

Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) Communication Print Ads pre-Test

Report

Submit to PSI

Prepared by Vu Song Ha, CIHP

Hanoi

July, 2005

I. Background

Population Services International (PSI) in Vietnamis implementing a social-marketing program to increase the demand for voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) services by Most At-Risk Populations (MARP). Recently, PSIconducted a comprehensive qualitative study to identify perceived motivations, barriers, and benefits to accessingVCT services, as well as desired qualities of VCT services, among MARP in Vietnam. Based on study results, key messages were identified to break down barriers to VCT while identifying priority benefits to increase utilization of the VCT sites. Concepts for an advertising campaign have been developed for the social- marketing program, with phase one focusing on creating awareness of VCT as a new service. Specifically, the campaign will

  1. Promote VCT attributes and services that inspire consumer confidence
  • Knowledge of what VCT is
  • Emphasizing professional, empathetic counseling on a personal level
  • And provision of confidential services. Additionally, the campaign will
  • Emphasize the personal decision to take a safe, accurate HIV test
  1. Promote VCT accessibility and affordability
  • Accessible and affordable (free) services

In order to produce appropriate and attractive poster and logo, a pretest was requested, which used ‘concepts’ from advertising agencies as a basis. As the posters were concepts, stock photos of western models were used and Vietnamese photos did not exist. At the same time, some variances of tested logo were modified from logo of PSI’s VCT social market networks. Input from FGDs would be use for final selection of slogans, layout, design, type of models for poster and logo.

II. Study objectives:

  • To evaluate print advertising concepts for a) comprehension and understandability;b) attractiveness;c) persuasion (or call to action); and d) acceptability
  • To collect impressions and guidance on final design of print campaign

III. Methodology

Data was collected through seven Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), two FGDs with sex workers (SWs), two FGDs with intravenous drug users (IDUs), and an additional three focusing on the logo and slogans (one IDU, one SW, and one group from the general population) and carried out in Hanoi. These participants were recruited through outreach network of one local group. A total of 42 respondents, including 18 female SWs, 18 male IDUs and 6 males, who do not engaged in drug use and have low income, took part in FGDs. The youngest respondent is 19 years of age, and the oldest is 50 years old.

FGD guideline was developed by PSI (attached in annex 1). Dr. Vu Song Ha from CIHP and Dr. Trinh Thu Hang from PSI facilitated these FGDs. All FGDs were hosted at café at a local support group for people living with HIV/AIDS. Each FGD lasted about one hour. All FGDs were tape recorded. Tested posters and logos are attached in annex 2.

IV. Summary findings and conclusion

1. Poster

In an overall sense, the poster campaign met the warm reception from participants. Slogans in the ad seemed to be particularly successful in conveying the intended messages. Slogans were considered interesting, comprehensive and friendly. Languages in the ad were clear and simple. The short version of slogan was suggested with a modest revision of adding the word “free” to strengthen the attractiveness of this poster. Thus the suggested slogan was:

HIV Concern, Whom to talk with?

Come to Free Counseling and Testing Center

Be at ease, just between you and I

When counseling we are truly professional

When talking we are your best friends

While the word in this ad was highly acknowledged, background and layout of this ad got a lot of comments. Improving background and layout of this ad should be focused in the follow up.

2. Logo

From the diverse opinions and views expressed, it can generally be concluded the logo got positive impression. Even though, someparticipantshad a confusion of the type of service that logo represented for, both slogan “new horizon” and the symbol of sun were considered meaningful, attractive and unique. Two logos modified from logo of PSI’s VCT social marketing networks were selected as the most appealed.

V. Principal Findings

This section consists of two parts. The first part presents findings of testing poster. Three variants of a similar design and concepts were presented for testing.The second part presents findings of testing logo. Two slogans and fiveoptions of logo were tested.

1. Ad poster

The poster was evaluated in four aspects: comprehension, attractiveness, persuasion and acceptability. Overall ratting and suggestions to improve the quality of ad is presented at the end of this section.

Comprehension:

Respondents had no difficulty to realize the service advertised in the posters. Most of them expressed that they got that information immediately when they saw the poster.

“At the first sight I’m sure it is about HIV. The word HIV is big and obvious”

“Under the question ‘HIV concern?Whom to talk with’ is the sentence ‘Come to Counseling and TestingCenter’, so I know it is HIV testing and counseling service”

Many respondents understood the attributes of the service conveyed in this ad. The most common mentioned attributes ware privacy and confidentiality. Most participants said that these meanings came out from the phrase “just between you and I”. This phrase “we are your best friends” wasalso perceived as referring to the attributes of friendliness, openness and sharing. Few of them, however, mentioned the quality of service, or sufficient and precise information in specific, through the phrase “truly professional” in the second slogan “when counseling we are professional, when talking we are your best friend”.

“Many people don’t want other people know [going to HIV testing as well as their status of HIV], so when they see the phrases that “just between you and I”, and “best friends” they learn that their information will be kept confidential, they will be received in a private place. The feeling of being shared make them do not be shy any more”.

“They [counselors] will tell us how to prevent [the disease]. They are professional, so they are trustful”.

Regarding to the language used in poster, most of participants agreed that the language is clear, simple, and comprehensive. A couple of IDUs were concerned with the word “tri ky” (best friends). In their opinion, this word might cause confusion for those who are less-educated. They suggested changing the word “best friends” into “good friend” (ban tot). However, almost all of other participants said that this word had no problem, and most of people would understand the intended message.

Attractiveness:

In general, the poster is considered as a nice poster.Most of participants agree that the word HIV written in red and big letter, and question marks caught their attention as well as slogans in the poster were impressive and interesting. Some of them even said that these slogans made them curious and urged them to learn more about the service. While the majority expressed that they like the slogan “Come to Counseling and TestingCenter; Be at ease, just between you and I”, many other also though that the slogan “When counseling we are truly professional; When talking we are your best friends” was very attractive and meaningful.Some participants worried about number of texts in this poster, yet, there was no consensus on which slogan would be emphasized and highlighted in this poster.

“When I read these slogans I fully understand, however, it quite difficult for passers-by to read all texts. The sentence “Come to counseling and testing center. Be at ease, just between you and I” should be bigger”

After learning that this poster used to promote the volunteering and free testing and counseling service, participants suggested adding the word “free” into this poster. They believed it would increase significantly the attractiveness of this poster.

“Many people are very poor, especially IDUs or positive people like us. Thus, if they you it is a free service, they might consider”.

“You should put the word “free” in big letter and decorate it colorful and attractive”.

While most participants showed their interest in slogans of this poster, many of them did not satisfy with its layout and background. Even few respondents stated that the unattractive appearance of poster reduces the effectiveness of slogans.

“This poster is unattractive and has no impression. The color, pictures are ordinary. Too many advertisements everywhere. Thus, this poster should be beautiful and special to make viewers stop to read messages”.

Common comments are listed below:

  • Color is very plain. The color of black and white only is ugly. It makes viewers bored and unfocused.
  • Layout is not attractive. Sentences are monotonous in both fonts and size.
  • Addresses are too small to read.
  • Images and models are not appropriate. Participants accepted the images of two people taking to each other either with both people show faces, or one shows face and the other show back. One female FGD and one male FGD stated that these images expressed the friendliness and sympathy. However, they did not like some aspects of images in pictures, such as, they are foreigner and express strong emotional, for example, a man in one picture is quite happy and humorous while a woman in another picture is too sad. They rejected the two options of pictures, one showsone sport star smilingand the other shows one female profession talk with one anonymous person demonstrated as a shade.Suggestions to improve quality of images and background will be presented detail in the section ratting and suggestion.

Persuasion:

Although respondents gave a number of positive feedbacks to the poster and showed their interest in the advertised service, many respondents said that this ad was not enough to help them to take an action. They explained that the ad caught the attention and was a start of breaking barriers, especially barriers relating to quality of service andconfidentiality;however, their biggest barrier is their fear of being positive.

“I know it is a good service, however, if I find out that I am positive, I will loose everything. I will not want to live anymore; my life will become more miserable”

“I will tell other people about the service, but I will not dare to go. Making decision on testing is very difficult. I have to think about it again and again. What happen if I know I am positive?”

While many respondents, especially females, were not confident to overcome their fear of knowing testing result, some other respondents suspected about the quality of the service. In their opinion in the reality the service might not as good as its advertisement. So they would wait until they gather positive feedback from those who experienced with the service. “Word of mouth”was considered is more reliable than formal information channel such as ad.

“Before I come into the testing center, I have to explore feedbacks about the service quality from people around center, or those who tested already.”

“Advertisement is advertisement. For example, it was stated widely that no stigma and discrimination toward PLHA, however, PLHA are still suffered discrimination. Therefore, I need to check information before I believe in it”

Some participants though that the poster should have a message addressing supports and benefits for those who are HIV positive, for example “helping positive people to be confidence, self-esteem”, “offering medication” and “peer network”. On the other hand, other participants concerned with the redundance of information.

Acceptability:

This poster was highly accepted by these groups. In their opinion, HIV has become a popular issue mentioned widely in mass media recently. This poster talked about HIV testing and counseling, so it was neutral and targeted to all people not specifically to them only. Respondents expressed this made them felt more comfortable to look at this poster at public areas. Additionally, the poster advertised a useful service thatmany people like them would be very interested in, and they would share this information with other peers.

“This poster targets for everybody, including those who do not indulge in debauchery [use drug or have sexual contact with many people] and want to test for sure. Therefore, it is OK to look at this poster”

Ratting and Suggestions:

All respondents agreed that this poster was the first ad related to VCT they have seen. Being asked to rate this poster at 5 point scale with 5 is the highest score, respondents rated from 4 to 4.5 in terms of understandability and from 3 to 3.5 in terms of acceptability. Most of respondents mentioned that the poster did not have high score mostly due to some limitations in terms of lay out, back ground. They added if all their suggestions are made, the score for acceptability and for overall will be from 4 to 5.

There were interesting opinions relating to wording, laying out, color, and images. For example, some respondents thought the long version “Concerns about HIV and don’t know whom to talk with?” is easier to understand, or the subject “you” should be added in to the sentence to make it more friendly. While females preferred two persons in the background show the friendliness and sympathy through body contacts, males preferred distance. However, the followings are common and consensuscomments:

  • The short version (HIV concern? Whom to talk with) makes the information more interesting and concise.
  • Present HIV word in a bid size and red.
  • Make slogans more diversified in color, size and fonts.
  • Do not use too much bright or dark colors, for example, too much red or yellow or gray only
  • The word “FREE” into the sentence Come to Counseling and TestingCenter is important to low income individuals
  • The design/layout should be the pictures of two persons talking each other. They could show their faces (like the option #1a) or the counselor shows face, the client show his back (like the option #2a).
  • They must be Vietnamese. They are ordinal people. Avoid using sport stars, movie stars or models for background. They are same sex, and their eyes, faces should express the friendly, open, and empathetic communication.
  • They should wear casual dress. For men, for example, the counselor is suggested to wear shirt, and the clients is suggested to wear T-shirt. The counselors should not wear T-shirt with slogans, and they do not need to put tie on.
  • Service addresses should be printed much bigger. Some participants suggested that to highlight and emphasize the service address for specific location. For example, poster which is distributed in Hanoi will highlight VCT address in Hanoi through make the address bigger than addresses of other VCT in Quang Ninh and Hai Phong.

Last but not least, respondents also suggested distributing posters at:

  • Busy traffic light areas
  • Long distance bus and train stations
  • And local bus stops, the most recommended places in Hanoi where this public transportation has rapidly developed in recent years. .

2. Logo

2.1 Slogans

Two slogans were presented for testing. They were “Chan troi moi” or “New horizon” in English, and “Hay tim lai cuoc song”, which means “Seek for one’s life again”.

Comprehension

Most of respondents associated the slogan “Chan troi moi” (New horizon) with bright future, sun, new life andchange.

“Chan troi moi” means to expose to something new, something brilliant” (SW)

“It is a better future. It is alike to the rising sun” (Building worker)

However, there are also some differences among groups of participants in terms of interpreting meanings of the slogan. Some participants of low-income group though of a new life with more income and better job, while some participants in IDU and SW groups connected to something rescuing their lives.

“A new life with bright future and higher income” (Porter)

“Give us a new path to brighten our lives” (SW)

“New method lessens the darkness in our lives” (IDU)

The slogan “Hay tim lai cuoc song” (Seek for one’s life again) was also associated with faith, hope, better life. Nevertheless, respondents,especially SWs and IDUs, tended to understandthis slogan as a process of changing from bad to good.

“Because we had some mistake so we want to change our thinking. Even though our efforts might not be successful at once, we still have guts to continue for the better life” (Guest-house worker)