Abstract:

Ever more frequently, governments use marketing techniques in order to influence public opinion and public behaviour. To be able to make effective strategies, insight in the public perception of the issues and in the value systems of the public is needed. This paper demonstrates that qualitative research is a powerful and helpful instrument to obtain this kind of insight. The paper shows how qualitative insight helped the Dutch government in developing and refining a promotional campaign on environmental behaviour. The paper explains how this kind of research can support strategic thinking in other campaigns.