THE AWARENESS LEVEL SURVEY ON DUGONG AND SEAGRASS IN INDONESIA

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1 THE AWARENESS LEVEL SURVEY ON DUGONG AND SEAGRASS IN INDONESIA MAY JUNE 2017 INTRODUCTION Background and Objectives The Indonesian archipelago is an important area for dugong (Dugong dugon) and seagrass distribution on account of its position as a passage between two major basins, the Indian and Pacific Oceans. While dugong is fully protected under national regulations, it is still threatened by subsistence hunting, exploitation, and disappearance of its habitat, the seagrass meadow. In addition, the efforts to conserve the dugong and its habitat have also been hindered by little to no information that is available on both marine resources, including the awareness level of Indonesian citizens on dugong and seagrass in their own country. To identify the national awareness level on dugong and seagrass in Indonesia, a national-scale online survey was conducted by the Dugong and Seagrass Conservation Project (DSCP) Indonesia from 12 May to 11 June The survey also aimed to define the demographic profile of the aware Indonesian citizens and to identify the types of news source being used by the respondents to obtain information on dugong, and possibly, seagrass. The results of the survey will be used as supporting data in planning and implementing an education program from September 2017 to April This program aims to increase the exposure on dugong and seagrass to Indonesian citizens through online and offline activities, including an advocacy campaign and distribution of publication materials. Additionally, the survey results will be used to evaluate the education program itself considering another survey will be conducted after the program ends in 2018.

2 Methodolody Sample and Survey Design The survey targets years old social media users in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and groups in WhatsApp, living in 19 of 34 provinces in Indonesia where dugong sightings have been reported. These provinces are Aceh, Bangka Belitung, West Sumatra, Riau Islands, Banten, Central Java, East Java, Bali, Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, East Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, Maluku Islands, and West Papua. The reports are available in the proceeding of the "National Dugong and Seagrass Symposium". The whole design of the survey was a result of consultations with the Marine Communication and Campaign team at the WWF-Indonesia and was approved by the Directorate of Marine Conservation and Biodiversity, Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries. Some factors that might influence the response rate were considered, such as the topic, length, and complexity of the survey. It was also considered that the incentive offer from completing the survey would attract more respondents. The survey was delivered to such an extent that it became a medium to raise awareness on dugong and seagrass in Indonesia. Beside using pictures in some questions, correct answers were provided after completing the surveys. The questions were also designed to be fairly straightforward (i.e. closeended) and using simple words considering respondents would come from various backgrounds. Among 16 questions of the survey, seven questions focused on the knowledge on dugong and seagrass, five on the news source used by the respondents to obtain information on dugong and seagrass in Indonesia (Table 1). The rest of the questions focused on the demography information. Minimum Survey Respondents and Invitations Using statistical confidence level of 90% and margin of error of + 10% or 0.1, minimum respondents (i.e. sample size) for this survey was 67 for each target location. For instance, if 80% of social media users in Aceh were able to identify dugong picture, then the actual proportion who were able to do so would be 70 90% users. The same results would be obtained 90% of all time the survey was conducted. To obtain 67 respondents and minimum 25% response rate (i.e. the number of respondents divided by the number of invitations or people exposed to the survey), the survey was then distributed to at least 268 social media users in each location or 5092 users in total for 19 locations. Survey Platforms The survey was conducted using SurveyMonkey with a consideration that it had a mobile-friendly interface and was able to show the IP Address of the respondents to avoid duplicate answers. Meanwhile, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp groups were used as platforms to distribute the survey. Facebook Advertisement feature was optimized to target Facebook users in 19 provinces, while the rest of the social media platforms were expected to bring as many respondents as possible regardless of their location and background.

3 Table 1. Categories of answers to the questions in the DSCP Indonesia Awareness Level Survey May - June No Questions Pilihlah salah satu gambar di bawah ini yang menunjukkan hewan duyung/ dugong. Choose one of the pictures below that shows a dugong. Apakah di sekitar tempat tinggal Anda pernah ditemukan dugong/ duyung? Is there any dugongs around your place/ area? Apakah duyung/ dugong merupakan satwa akuatik yang dilindungi oleh Pemerintah Indonesia? Is dugong a protected marine animal by the Indonesian Government? Pilihlah salah satu jawaban di bawah ini yang merupakan kegiatan yang boleh dilakukan terhadap dugong/ duyung. Choose one of the activities below that you can do to the dugong. Pilihlah salah satu gambar di bawah ini yang menunjukkan tumbuhan lamun (seagrass). Choose one of the pictures below that shows seagrass. Pilihlah tiga jawaban yang merupakan fungsi tumbuhan lamun (seagrass). Choose three answers below that are functions of seagrass. Pilihlah tiga jawaban yang merupakan ancaman bagi kelestarian ekosistem lamun (seagrass). Choose three answers below that are threats to the sustainability of seagrass ecosystem. Pilihlah jenis media yang Anda gunakan untuk mengetahui berita tentang duyung/ dugong dan lamun. Choose the media that you use to obtain news on dugong and seagrass. Pilihlah nama stasiun televisi yang Anda tonton untuk mengetahui berita tentang duyung/ dugong dan lamun. Choose the name of TV stations that you watch to obtain news on dugong and seagrass. Pilihlah nama koran yang Anda baca untuk mengetahui berita tentang duyung/ dugong dan lamun. Choose the name of newspaper that you watch to obtain news on dugong and seagrass. Pilihlah nama stasiun radio yang Anda dengarkan untuk mengetahui berita tentang duyung/ dugong dan lamun. Choose the name of radio stations that you watch to obtain news on dugong and seagrass. Pilihlah media sosial tempat Anda mendapatkan berita tentang duyung/ dugong dan lamun Choose the name of social media platforms that you watch to obtain news on dugong and seagrass. Categories of Respondent Based on Answer Fully Aware "Yes"/"No" "Yes" Not Aware Wrong Wrong

4 Awareness Level Measurement Borrowing the marketing terms, brand awareness is defined as a elementary level of brand knowledge involving, at the least, recognition of the brand name in different situations (Hoyer & Brown, 2006; Aaker, 1996). Brand awareness measures how familiar people are with the brand or product. It represents the lowest end of the continuum of brand knowledge that ranges from simple recognition of the brand name to a highly developed cognitive structure based on detailed information (Hoyer & Brown, 2006). In this survey, we only measure the awareness of the respondents on the brands (i.e. dugong and seagrass) without going further to assess the cognitive process resulting from awareness (e.g. effects on the awarenes on decision-making process or choice). Awareness level in this survey was measured through the number of people who express knowledge of dugong and seagrass when prompted. For instance, results would show if people could recognize dugong (or seagrass) our of a list of other animals (or plants). This survey aimed to measure: 1. The number of social media users exposed by the survey 2. The number of survey respondents who were able to identify dugong picture among Irrawaddy dolphin, mermaid, and dolphin pictures 3. The number of survey respondents who were able to identify seagrass picture among seaweed, kelp, and coral reef pictures 4. The number of survey respondents who acknowledged that dugong is protected under government law 5. The number of survey respondents who were able to identify activities prohibited by law to dugong 6. The number of survey respondents who were able to identify the role of seagrass in the ecosystem 7. The number of survey respondents who were able to identify the threats to seagrass 8. The number of survey respondents who were able to identify their national or local news source on dugong and seagrass In this survey, a respondent is fully aware of dugong and seagrass once they were able to answer all seven questions correctly, while a respondent is not aware of dugong and seagrass if they were not able to answer correctly at the same time to the questions that required them to identify both marine resources from the available pictures. Other respondents were categorized based on their correct answers. For instance, those of other respondents who could identify a dugong, but could not identify seagrass from the available pictures would be categorized as respondents who are aware of the dugong appearance, but not seagrass.

5 RESULTS Survey Respondents and Response Rate A total of 985 social media users ( respondents ) from 34 provinces in Indonesia have completed the awareness level survey. Among them, 616 respondents were from target locations, including 341 respondents from Aceh, Bali, Central Java, and East Java. These locations fulfilled the minimum respondent requirement. Facebook Advertisement A survey advertisement displayed by using Facebook Advertisement ( Facebook Ads ) feature resulted in a total of 169,869 Facebook users from target locations being exposed ( reach ) to the advertisement on either their Facebook newsfeed or sidebar. Among them, only 2196 users who clicked the advertisement link ( link clicks ) which led them to a SurveyMonkey web page where the online survey was being hosted. Largest number of link clicks came from East Java, Central Java (n = 324), South Sulawesi (n = 196), and East Kalimantan (n = 181) respectively. However, only East Java and Central Java of which link clicks led to more than the minimum number for respondents completing the survey. Facebook advertisement targetted to users in North Kalimantan was not considered working well as all of its Reach (n = 28) did not yield any Link Clicks. Other Social Media Platforms The number of respondents obtained from other social media platforms was not clear. However, distribution through platforms beside Facebook was estimated to yield above 600 respondents. This assumption was supported by the fact that two weeks of Facebook Ads use only yielded 243 respondents. After the survey starting to be distributed through other platforms, there were more than 200 respondents per day. Response Rate The response rate for a survey that was distributed through Facebook Ads was only 11%. However, considering other social media platforms had also been used to distribute the survey, the response rate was likely to be increased. Although the number of reach or social media users being exposed to the survey from other social media platforms ( overall reach ) was not clear, the survey would have had a maximum of 44% response rate if Facebook Ads reach was being used as a reference to the minimum number of overall reach.

6 The Nature of The Sample The questions on the identification of dugong and seagrass from available pictures were screening questions to ensure that only those respondents who were aware about the appearance of dugong and seagrass at were considered in the analysis. Table 2 provides the number of responses by province. Table 2. Responses to screening questions by province No Province Dugong Lamun Both Total Respondents 1 Aceh Bali Bangka Belitung Banten Jawa Tengah Jawa Timur Kalimantan Selatan Kalimantan Tengah Kalimantan Timur Kalimantan Utara Kep. Riau Maluku Nusa Tenggara Timur Papua Barat Sulawesi Selatan Sulawesi Tengah Sulawesi Tenggara Sulawesi Utara Sumatera Barat Majority of respondents from all target locations could identify the dugong (91% respondents out of total respondents), the seagrass (69% respondents out of total respondents), and both marine resources (64% respondents out of total respondents) at the same time, except those from West Sumatra and Central Sulawesi with less than 50% of each total respondent of both locations could identify both, and less than 50% respondents from Central Sulawesi could identify the seagrass. In total, there were 394 responses considered in the analysis, leaving the remaining respondents (n = 222) being considered not aware of dugong and seagrass at the same time. Demographic Profile and Device Used Majority (71%) of the respondents were 18 to 30 years old. All of them, but two respondents, identified themselves as university students. It was unclear whether they were undergraduate or postgraduate students. Other popular professions were civil servant and private employee. As for the device being used by majority of the respondents, Facebook Ads result show that Android smartphones were used to access the survey. It was unclear about the the type of device majority of respondents from other social media platforms accessed.

7 Knowledge on Dugongs There were 45 social media responses who answered all questions correctly, thus making them the fully aware respondents. The situation with other respondents varied widely, with majority of the respondents (94% and 97%, respectively) were aware that dugong is protected under the Indonesian Government regulation and aware that dugong must not be captured, consumed, or kept as pet. These respondents included those (48%) respondents who claimed that there was no dugongs in the waters around their place, area, or province, especially majority of those who lived in Central Java (85%), East Java (72%), and Banten (76%). Meanwhile, others (38%) were aware of the dugong presence around their place, area, or province, especially majority of respondents from Aceh (81%) and Bangka Belitung (76%). Knowledge on Seagrass Majority of the respondents (96% and 94%, respectively) had recognized the role or function of seagrass in the marine ecosystem and the threats to the seagrass ecosystem itself. However, some respondents (29%) still thought that the seagrass meadows were merely serving as another green plants in the sea (i.e. greening ). As for the threat to the seagrass itself, some (40%) still thought that seagrass meadow could be threatened by humans stepping on them. Ten respondents, many of them were university students, from various provinces also thought the dugong served as a threat to the that seagrass meadow. News Source on Dugong and Seagrass Most (76%) respondents had chosen social media platforms as their source of information on dugong and seagrass, while at the same time identifying that those platforms had given them, at the least once, information on dugong or seagrass. The most (63% and 52%, respectively) favourite platforms were Facebook and Instagram, while the least favourite one was Twitter. On the other hand, some (28%) respondents also claimed that television, especially Trans 7, had provided them information on dugong or seagrass. These respondents might have also chosen social media as well.

8 DISCUSSIONS Survey Distributions It was clear that Facebook Advertisement did not work as well as expected as 2196 Link Clicks led only to less than 300 respondents. In fact, distributing surveys through other social media platforms beside Facebook had resulted in much higher number of respondents. These social media users also came from more varied background than respondents brought by the survey distributed through Facebook Ads. This might be caused by the random nature of the Facebook Ads distribution that the way the survey advertisement was shown was adjusted to the budgets that the administrator invested for using the advertising feature. Despite being highly exposed to the survey advertisement, less than 20% targetted social media users in East Kalimantan are interested in participating on the survey. The reason was unclear, but it might be caused by not specific survey distribution by the Facebook Ads. Possible Causes of Low Interest Despite the good response rate of the survey, the low number of survey respondents coming from clicking Facebook Advertisement might be caused by: Short survey period Solution: The next survey should be conducted for more than 1 month The targetted social media users had not been aware of DSCP Indonesia, were not interested in dugong or seagrass (the survey topic), did not know about dugong or seagrass, did not interested in the survey incentive, and had limited internet connection considering most target locations were outside of Java island and possibly from remore areas in Indonesia. Notes on News Source Respondents who thought media social provided them news on dugong and seagrass came from various background and age. Those who did not use media social as their news source stated that they obtained information on dugong (and seagrass) from direct interaction, online news, and television. Follow-Up Actions Available information from the current awareness survey should be used to support the planning of DSCP Indonesia education program from September 2017 to April Next awareness survey should be conducted offline, by collecting awareness information through printed questionnaires in four working sites of DSCP Indonesia (Bintan, Kotawaringin Barat, Tolitoli, and Alor). o It is expected that the information from the offline survey in four sites will be different, if not slightly, from that obtained from online survey.

9 DSCP Indonesia education program should optimize the use of social media (esp. Facebook and Instagram) and television programs if the target is nation-wide, years old social media users. Using Information from The Survey for the Education Program Based on the information from the survey, the education program could be conducted by: Optimizing the DSCP Indonesia Facebook fanpage: Activities that attract engagements, from sharing information to creating quizzes/polls, must be planned monthly. Optimizing the dugong ambassador in sharing information on their Instagram and other social media accounts. Using Facebook Ads to gain more LIKES to the fanpage Mentioning DSCP Indonesia in online publications & activities relating to dugongs or other marine species by MMAF, P2O-LIPI, FPIK-IPB, and WWF-Indonesia. Notes on The Next Survey To evaluate and to gain feedback on the DSCP Indonesia education program, a post-campaign survey (or evaluation survey ) should be conducted both offline and online near the end of the campaign (approx. April - June 2018). The evaluation survey should be conducted by combining more varied ways than those being used during the preliminary survey, including newsletters to s of people who have had participated in DSCP Indonesia activities, sending out formal invitations to formal institutions (e.g. Government agencies, academic institutions, academic forums, and university student councils).