Exploring Irish attitudes to overseas development aid
Worldview Toolkit
Welcome to the Worldview Toolkit – a resource for Dóchas members and stakeholders to deepen our engagement with the Irish public on issues of global development, equality and citizenship. Here you will find:
- Overviews and links to the Worldview annual tracker research; quantitative and qualitative analysis of Irish attitudes to overseas development aid
- Guidance, analysis & data on public attitudes, citizen engagement and tools to help public engagement professionals achieve greater impact
- Worldview experimental campaign results, best practice and innovation
Worldview Annual Tracker Research
We completed our first annual tracker survey in January 2021. This involved conducting a nationally representative online survey amongst 3,008 adults aged 18+ in the Republic of Ireland with follow-on qualitative research to discern the current beliefs and motivations of the Irish public towards global poverty, injustice and inequality. Fieldwork for Survey 2 was completed in December 2021 (2,026 respondents).
The entire Worldview analysis report for Survey 1 and 2 can be downloaded below, or explore the various sections; Background, Research Overview, Quantitative Findings, Meet The Segments, and Qualitative Findings.
Background
The Irish overseas development sector is committed to engaging Irish citizens in the fight against global poverty, inequality and injustice, but we are at a crossroads in terms of how we connect with the Irish public. We urgently need to seek new ways of connecting more people to the relevance of international development cooperation for the Ireland of today. The Sustainable Development Goals give us a broad, aspirational vision to what can be achieved, but further effort is needed to ensure it is made real and relevant to Irish citizens.
We also need to be aware that public trust in charities, including non-governmental development organisations, remains low, while there continues to be criticisms by some of aid-spending, with accusations of waste, poor governance, corruption and/or duplication. There is a growing populist trend that is highly critical of the values and purpose of international development co-operation along with the rise of the “charity begins at home” or “let’s deal with the issues at home first” sentiment. If these trends go unchallenged, particularly in an age of negative and/or fake digital news, it could pose a huge threat to Ireland’s overseas development cooperation.
Worldview Project
Against this backdrop, the Worldview public engagement research project has been developed by Dóchas members, and funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It aims to reveal more about the views of the Irish audience and its varying constituents, not just on what they believe when it comes to international development cooperation, but why they believe it. From this research, a shared collective narrative about international development may emerge, which would allow us to connect with more people in Ireland about its relevance and importance.
The Worldview Project is broken down into several parts as follows;
- Desktop research into what data and research already exists in relation to this topic in Ireland and abroad, and how can it feed into and inform what we are aiming to achieve through this piece of work.
- Audience market research which will aim to gather baseline and segmentation data on Irish audiences. This research will be used to identify and to segment the audience into clearly defined and usable groups.
- Annual survey and focus groups based on the segmentation survey to discern 1) the current beliefs and motivations of the Irish public in relation to overseas development aid; 2) the communication content, style and channels that are likely to enhance support for overseas development aid; and 3) how these vary from one audience group to another.
- Once we have a deeper understanding of our audience(s), it will be possible to use data driven communications to test out various ways of engaging with different target audiences to communicate the importance of international development cooperation and how it can have a huge positive impact not only on people in other countries but on us as a society.
- In a follow-up phase, a particular target audience/s may be focused on for further understanding. This audience should be active and influential on a social and political level. Once identified, research will be carried out to gain a much deeper understanding of this group.
Worldview Goals
It is hoped that this project will continue over the coming years in order to build our knowledge of our audience and how best to engage with them. It is intended that as our knowledge grows it will be passed onto our members to use for their ongoing communications. This shared knowledge will help individual organisations and the sector as a whole, through a shared narrative and a shared approach, to disseminate the vital messages and promote a national conversation around the relevance and importance of international development cooperation and cultivate a sense of Irish Global Citizenship.
This project will also inform Dóchas’ external voice and messaging, including our ongoing political engagement work, and our efforts to promote best practice among our members in the use of Images and Messages.
Contact Claudia Lynch, Worldview Project Manager at projectmanager@dochas.ie to learn more about this exciting project.
Research Overview
- Current beliefs and attitudes of the Irish public in relation to overseas development aid
- The communication content, style and channels that are likely to enhance support for overseas development aid
- The drivers of support for international development co-operation
- The levers to change public attitudes and behaviours
- To analyse the above factors and show these vary from one audience group to another
Meet the Worldview Segments
Why create a segmentation of the Population?
Segmentation research is a critical tool for organizations looking to understand their audiences better. By identifying the most effective communication channels and messaging for different segments, organisations can tailor their communication to the needs and preferences of each segment, depending on who they want to target. By focusing on the needs and preferences of specific segments, organisations can create more customized offerings that attract interest and hence generate increased engagement and positive support.
Overall, it can improve marketing effectiveness and drive donations and competitive advantage.
Know Your Audience
Use the navigation for a further breakdown of the six audience segments and discover more about who they are, their sociocultural profile, level of support and engagement and how to reach them:
- Global Citizens
- Community Champions
- Multilateralists
- Pragmatists
- Empathetisers
- Disengaged
Meet the Personas within the Segments
Now that we know the audience segments, who are the people within these groups? Having one individual in mind can often help us understand a wider group in a deeper way, to target them in a more precise manner. These Worldview Personas were developed by participants of the Worldview Practitioners Workshop and act as a useful tool to generate discussion and creative ideas within teams. Take a closer look at the six Worldview Personas.
Qualitative Findings
The Worldview public engagement research primarily explores Irish attitudes to overseas development aid through the longitudinal quantitative survey each year. However, the research also recognizes the importance of qualitative research.
Qualitative research enables us to explore the motivational and emotive underpinnings of the annual survey data. Though this is not done each year, Worldview identifies potential and upcoming areas of interest where qualitative research would complement and accentuate the quantitative survey results.
Explore our qualitative research from 2021 here and 2024 here !
The qualitative wave involved a series of six focus groups with the primary objective of exploring the motivational and emotive underpinnings of the survey data. The follow sample composition was adopted:
The qualitative research findings reveal more about people’s perceptions, levels of awareness and understanding as well as the main drivers of and barriers to support with verbatim quotes.
Wave 5 Imagery Research
In addition to Worldview’s annual research on sentiments and attitudes towards overseas development aid, Wave 5 also featured novel research investigating the responses of the Irish public to images used by Irish INGO’s in their various campaigns. Over 140 debranded images were submitted by Dóchas members which they have used in their communications, advocacy, fundraising, and educational campaigns.
All images were de-branded to isolate the effect of the image and not the organisational logos, also allowing anonymity. Images were categorized and selected from a range of attributes – “active” and “passive”, “happy emotion” and “sad emotion”, and included different genders, numbers of people, and levels of eye contact with the camera – to test how these attributes work in impacting respondents’ emotions.
Quantitative Imagery Research
71 images were selected and inputted into the quantitative survey, where respondents were asked to rank the extent they felt different emotions from looking at the picture, and if they would be willing to find out more about the image or content if it was part of an appeal from an INGO.
Find the full results of the quantitative imagery research below.
Campaigns
The ‘campaigns’ section highlights exciting campaigns that have been informed by the Worldview research data.
1. Dóchas Digital Experimental Campaign 2022 – People Like Me
In 2022 Dóchas’ carried out a social media experimental campaign to field test a number of low production videos about the importance of Ireland’s overseas aid budget to measure the impact the videos have on audiences in different constituencies. The messages were delivered by “people like me” aka people living in a particular location within Ireland talking to others who also live there.
The videos were then tested against videos with similar messages (unbranded INGO video) to understand what best resonates with the Irish pubic. The theory that people are more open to receiving messages from “people like them” was tested to gain a greater understanding of what engages/resonates well with the middle segments identified by the Worldview Research.
Participants were recruited and filmed in different locations throughout Ireland. A total number of 3 “people like me” videos were advertised on Facebook and Instagram during the month of September 2022. These ads were set to target those in the moveable middle segments identified by the Worldview Research – including the European Multilateralists, National Pragmatist and the Empathic Reactionaries.
The public’s engagement with and perceptions of the video were analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively, through focus group discussions and social media metrics.
The results of these will be available by end of November 2022. Below are the videos used in the experiment.
Further Resources
Quantitative Findings
Worldview Quantitative Survey
The annual Worldview survey gathers segmentation data on Irish audiences, which is used to identify and to segment the audience into clearly defined and usable groups.
The survey aims to discern to following:
- The current beliefs and motivations of the Irish public in relation to overseas development aid
- The communication content, style and channels that are likely to enhance support for overseas development aid
- How these vary from one audience group to another.
Read more about Survey 1 findings here, Survey 2 here, Survey 3 here, Survey 4 here and Survey 5 here!
1st Annual Tracker Survey
Dóchas Worldview Results Webinar, April 2021
This section covers the following:
- Worldview Baseline Survey Findings
- Drivers of Support for Overseas Aid and Donations Report
Worldview Quantitative Baseline Survey
The Worldview quantitative baseline survey ran from 6 January – 5 February 2021 among a nationally representative sample of 3,008 Irish adults to gauge their awareness and attitudes towards overseas development aid. Here you will see the key findings with the full report available for download below.
75% of respondents to the survey are concerned about levels of global poverty
79% believe overseas development aid can help bring about positive change for those living in developing countries
80% agree overseas aid improves people's lives by providing access to education, healthcare, clean water and sanitation, ranking these three issues as the most important priorities for Irish Government support on overseas aid, respectively.
2nd Annual Tracker Survey
3rd Annual Tracker Survey
4th Annual Tracker Survey
5th Annual Tracker Survey
Wave 5 Imagery Research
In addition to Worldview’s annual research on sentiments and attitudes towards overseas development aid, Wave 5 also featured novel research investigating the responses of the Irish public to images used by Irish INGO’s in their various campaigns. Over 140 debranded images were submitted by Dóchas members which they have used in their communications, advocacy, fundraising, and educational campaigns.
All images were de-branded to isolate the effect of the image and not the organisational logos, also allowing anonymity. Images were categorized and selected from a range of attributes – “active” and “passive”, “happy emotion” and “sad emotion”, and included different genders, numbers of people, and levels of eye contact with the camera – to test how these attributes work in impacting respondents’ emotions.
Quantitative Imagery Research
71 images were selected and inputted into the quantitative survey, where respondents were asked to rank the extent they felt different emotions from looking at the picture, and if they would be willing to find out more about the image or content if it was part of an appeal from an INGO.
Find the full results of the quantitative imagery research below.
Qualitative Research
The results of the quantitative survey then informed which images were used in the qualitative imagery focus groups. Qualitative research enables us to explore the motivational and emotive underpinnings of the survey results. A series of six focus groups took place around the country with different Worldview segments. There was one focus group with each of the following Worldview segments: Global Citizens; Multilateralists; Pragmatists; and the Disengaged. Two focus groups were conducted with the Empathiser group as this is the largest Worldview audience segment, while none were carried out with the Community Champions, as they have similar if not higher levels of engagement as the Global Citizens. This enabled the possibility for two Empathiser focus groups. The objective was to explore issues that catch the public imagination and identify which type of images provoke or inhibit an emotional response and desire to respond.
Criteria for Qualitative Image Grouping
The images selected for the focus group research were split into four groups based on the emotional responses to them and their success in eliciting information seeking. The two main groups were the red group, representing the upsetting images, and the gold group, which represented happier images. In addition, where there was time, the researchers briefly reviewed images that performed better with specific segments (Blue set) and a few of the weakest performers overall (Green set).
You can find the results for the red set here, the gold set here, and the blue and green set here.
Find the full qualitative research results below.
Imagery and Ethical Communications
The Wave 5 imagery research yielded a range of results, some of which are practical for the INGO sector while others contravene the Dóchas Ethical Communications Guidelines. To contextualise all the results and provide actionable insights, Dóchas held an imagery and ethical communications webinar. The webinar was opened by Miriam Donohue, who drew on her 35 years of experience in media and communications to address the topic, sharing some mistakes she had made herself. Andrew Kartende, a Ugandan-based photographer, closed the webinar explaining the need for dignity in content creation, demonstrating some typical mistakes INGOs make when sending content briefs to photographers. The full event recording is below.
Campaigns
The ‘campaigns’ section highlights exciting campaigns that have been informed by the Worldview research data.
1. Dóchas Digital Experimental Campaign 2022 – People Like Me
In 2022 Dóchas’ carried out a social media experimental campaign to field test a number of low production videos about the importance of Ireland’s overseas aid budget to measure the impact the videos have on audiences in different constituencies. The messages were delivered by “people like me” aka people living in a particular location within Ireland talking to others who also live there.
The videos were then tested against videos with similar messages (unbranded INGO video) to understand what best resonates with the Irish pubic. The theory that people are more open to receiving messages from “people like them” was tested to gain a greater understanding of what engages/resonates well with the middle segments identified by the Worldview Research.
Participants were recruited and filmed in different locations throughout Ireland. A total number of 3 “people like me” videos were advertised on Facebook and Instagram during the month of September 2022. These ads were set to target those in the moveable middle segments identified by the Worldview Research – including the European Multilateralists, National Pragmatist and the Empathic Reactionaries.
The public’s engagement with and perceptions of the video were analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively, through focus group discussions and social media metrics.
The results of these will be available by end of November 2022. Below are the videos used in the experiment.