Air Pollution - Information Needs and the Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviour of Canadians - Final Report

12.0 Informational Behaviour

The key to an effective communications or awareness campaign is to take into account the target audience's current communication habits and preferences. To aid in future outreach activities, we examined Canadians' current sources of air pollution information, the frequency with which they search for this type of information, their preferences regarding its availability, their information needs, and the perceived credibility of various sources of information about this subject.

12.1 Frequency of Looking for Air Pollution Information

A plurality of Canadians occasionally looks for information on smog or levels of air pollution in their area.

More than four in ten Canadians (45%) say that they look for information on smog or levels of air pollution in their area at least occasionally. Almost two in ten (17%) report that they frequently look for such information. Thirty-seven percent have never looked for this type of information. While Canadians are just as likely to have looked for air pollution information than they were at this time last year (62% vs. 61%), it appears that they do it slightly less often (frequently, 17% vs. 20%; occasionally, 45% vs. 41%).

Q.32 How often do you personally look for information on smog or levels of air pollution in your area? Would that be frequently, occasionally or never? (n=1,213)
*The October 2000 results are based on an EKOS Research Associates' survey that used the exact same question wording.

It appears that as Canadians get older, the frequency with which they look for information on smog or levels of air pollution in their area also increases. While only one in ten between 16 and 29 years of age (10%) report that they frequently look for this type of information, this proportion increases to almost one-quarter of those 60 years of age or older (23%). Those between 16 and 29 years of age (46%) are more likely to say that they have never looked for such information. Those between 30 and 44 years of age (51%) are more likely to have looked for smog or air pollution information on an occasional basis.

Q.32 How often do you personally look for information on smog or levels of air pollution in your area? Would that be frequently, occasionally or never? (n=1,213)

Residents of Ontario (25%), those Canadians who feel that the air pollution situation in their community has become worse in recent years (25%), those who feel that the environment has the biggest impact on health (23%) and those who feel that air pollution greatly affects the health of Canadians (23%) tend to be the most frequent seekers of air pollution information. Furthermore, it seems that as the level of concern about air quality increases, so too does the frequency of looking for this information.

Those who report that air pollution in their community has improved and the most affluent Canadians tend to be more likely to look for air pollution information at least occasionally (54% and 51%, respectively).

Canadians who are not concerned about air quality (60%), residents of Manitoba and Saskatchewan (59%), Atlantic Canadians (52%), those who feel that air pollution has little to no effect on health (56%), those from smaller communities (46%), and those who think that the air pollution situation in their community has remained constant over the last five years (46%) are the most likely to report that they have never looked for information on smog or levels of air pollution in their area.

Q.32 How often do you personally look for information on smog or levels of air pollution in your area? Would that be frequently, occasionally or never? (n=1,213)

12.2 Sources of Air Pollution Information

Newspapers, TV news and the Internet are the most frequently mentioned sources of air pollution information.

One-third or more identify newspapers (35%), TV news (35%) or the Internet (31%) as their main sources of information about air pollution. Two in ten (21%) mention the Weather Network while another two in ten (17%) cite radio news. Fewer Canadians mention environmental or health programs on TV (8%), Environment Canada (5%), the library (4%), an environmental group or association (2%), word of mouth (2%), their provincial government (2%), general comments about TV and radio (2%), environmental or health programs on the radio (2%) and magazines or journals (2%) as their major source of air pollution information. Slightly less than one in ten (8%) identify a variety of other¹¹ sources. One percent report no major sources of air pollution information, while four percent offer no response.

A number of interesting language differences exist with respect to sources of information about air pollution. While anglophones place a greater reliance on newspapers (41% vs. 19%), TV news (38% vs. 25%), the Internet (33% vs. 25%), the Weather Network (23% vs. 12%) and radio news (21% vs. 5%) than do francophones, francophones are more likely than anglophones to report that they would look for this information from environmental or health programs on TV (21% vs. 3%) and from Environment Canada (10% vs. 4%).

Newspapers are a popular source of air pollution information among British Columbians (52%), the most affluent (43%), those with a college education (42%), university graduates (41%), those between 45 and 59 years of age (41%), those who report that air pollution in their community has become worse (41%) and residents of Ontario (40%). Residents of Ontario (42%) also report a preference for TV news as a main source for this information.

Canadians between 16 and 29 years of age (54%), the better educated (university graduates, 40%; some university, 37%) and the more affluent ($50K–$70K, 40%; $70K+, 36%) report a greater reliance on the Internet for air pollution information.

The Weather Network is more likely to be seen as a main source of information by those with some university education (27%), Atlantic Canadians (25%), the most affluent (23%), residents of Manitoba and Saskatchewan (22%) and residents of Ontario (22%). Quebecers (22%) are much more likely than others to identify environmental or health programs on TV as a primary information source.

Those with respiratory illnesses are more likely than those without respiratory illnesses to suggest that they would obtain air pollution information from TV news (40% vs. 33%) and the Internet (40% vs. 29%).

In the focus group sessions, many participants stated that they used the Weather Channel or its francophone equivalent, MétéoMédia, for their weather and air quality information sources. Other frequently mentioned sources include the weather section in newspapers, the Internet and broadcast weather reports.

12.3 Availability of Air Pollution Information

Canadians prefer to have air pollution information all the time rather than only when there is an air pollution problem.

In both the survey and in the focus groups, Canadians expressed a clear desire to have air pollution information at their disposal regardless of the air quality conditions. More than eight in ten (83%) think that air pollution information should be provided all the time; less than two in ten (16%) feel that it should only be provided when there is a problem with air pollution.

Survey results indicate that the greater the concern and the greater the perceived effect on health, the stronger the desire to have air pollution information constantly available. Canadians who suggest that air pollution has a great deal of effect on health (90%), Quebecers (89%), francophones (89%), those very concerned about air quality (88%) and the least affluent (88%) prefer to have air pollution information provided to them all the time.

Canadians who are not concerned or only somewhat concerned about air quality (25% each), residents of Manitoba and Saskatchewan (24%), Atlantic Canadians (23%) and those who feel that air pollution has only somewhat or little to no effect on health (23% each) are more likely to say that Canadians should only be provided with air pollution information when there is an air pollution problem.

In the focus group sessions, participants thought that governments and the media should make additional efforts to inform the public when air quality poses a danger to them, but that this activity should not take the place of regularly available air quality information.

Q.34 Do you think that air pollution information should be provided to Canadians all the time or only when there is an air pollution problem? (n=1,213)

12.4 Information Preferences

Canadians feel that information regarding the human health effects of air pollution and what individuals can do to reduce air pollution is the most useful.

When presented with a list of various kinds of air pollution information, more than eight in ten Canadians feel that each type of information is somewhat or very useful and majorities say that each type of information is very useful. Canadians provide positive assessments on information related to the human health effects of air pollution (72% very useful, 21% somewhat useful), what individuals can do to reduce air pollution (66% very, 28% somewhat), the types of pollutants causing poor air quality (64% very, 29% somewhat), what individuals can do to limit personal exposure to air pollution (62% very, 29% somewhat), and a forecast of how long an air pollution episode is expected to last (62% very, 27% somewhat). Nearly six in ten (57%) say that the air quality index or level of pollution for the day would be very useful information, with another one-third (32%) saying that this information would be at least somewhat useful. While, overall, a clear majority of Canadians (86%) think that information regardin g what governments are doing to address air pollution would be useful, Canadians are the least likely to think that this type of information is very useful (53%).

As noted earlier, the focus group participants wanted to understand the possible human health impacts of poor air quality as part of the air quality index.

It should be noted that the perceived usefulness of these types of information is very similar to that found in October 2000. That having been said, information regarding the types of pollutants causing poor air quality, a forecast of how long an air pollution episode is expected to last, and the air quality index or level of pollution for that day currently receive higher overall assessments of their usefulness than they did in October 2000.

Women assign somewhat higher levels of usefulness than do men to all of the types of information we examined in this survey. This difference was most notable for information that would inform individuals about what they can do to reduce air pollution (70% very useful vs. 60%).

In general, those who are 60 years of age or older tend to be the least positive about the various types of information; they are more likely than the other age groups to say that many of the types of information are not very or not at all useful. While those between 30 and 44 years of age (63%) are more likely to think that the air quality index or level of pollution for that day is very useful information for them to know, those between 45 and 59 years of age (59%) are more likely to think that what governments are doing to address air pollution is very useful information.

¹¹ These "other" responses include newsletters, pamphlets, brochures, school, doctors, Health Canada and books.