Refining Online Communication Strategies for Domestic Cat Management

Bibliographic Data

ID3013370
AuthorsLynette J Mcleod (0000-0001-9408-3342, University of New England), Aaron B Driver (0000-0002-7145-809X, University of New England), Andrew J Bengsen (0000-0003-2205-4416, Vertebrate Pest Research Unit, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Orange, Australia), Donald W Hine (0000-0002-3905-7026, University of New England)
Year2017
Volume30
Issue4
Pages635-649
Publication date2017-10-02
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnthrozoös (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0892-7936 • E-ISSN: 1753-0377
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/08927936.2017.1370237
OpenAlexW2770379713
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited34

Management of the domestic cat (Felis catus) relies on community members adopting appropriate management practices toward both companion and unowned (stray, free-living) animals. Getting people to change their behavior and sustain these changes over time can be a challenging process. To date, very few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of interventions aimed at changing people's behavior toward these cats. This study provides a quantitative and qualitative content analysis of a sample of online cat management communications from 40 different organizations sourced using a general English language web search in 2014/2015. The potential effectiveness of these interventions was assessed using identified best-practice principles of behavior change and persuasive communication. Education through the provision of fact-based information to persuade individuals to change their current behaviors was the most popular behavior-change strategy (88%). Three-quarters of the interventions only scored average or below on the scales that described the ease of use and ability to promote action. Persuasive communication techniques such as commitment, prompts, goal setting, story-telling, descriptive norms, and likable and identifiable messengers were under-used. Other techniques such as the debunking of misinformation and framing of messages were not used effectively. We make suggestions on how to improve the behavioral effectiveness of cat management intervention designs

Behavior change · Framing (construction · Misinformation · Psychological intervention · Animal and Plant Science Education · Behavioral Health and Interventions · Computer Science · Human-Animal Interaction Studies · Psychology · Applied Psychology · Social Psychology

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