Caveat Venditor

The "sense of community" concept suggests an underlying motivation for giving by listeners who take their "public radio citizenship" seriously. It implies a kind of civic giving that is closely related to what attracts them to your programming in the first place.

Civic giving aims to preserve the values and lifestyles that public radio validates for most listeners.

This should not be confused with altruistic giving – the notion that people contribute to public radio solely because it’s a public good. AUDIENCE 88 tested and disposed of that idea a decade ago.

If on-air pitches work best when they resonate with listeners’ beliefs, then civic giving has great potential as a catalyst for public radio support. VALS^TM 2 can help shape these pitches, since our listeners’ values and lifestyles strongly reflect what it means to be a citizen of public radio.

Remember: People’s VALS types do not cause them to give. But their VALS characteristics do help explain why they listen.

VALS tells us who’s hearing our fund drives, and this is powerful information.

Two in three public radio listeners are "Actualizers" or "Fulfilleds." These people are motivated by principles, and for them possessions have little intrinsic importance. They view related premiums – objects with your call letters, or logos of their favorite programs – as emblems of their public radio citizenship. Similarly, their subscription to your station symbolizes their use and shared ideals.

Actualizers and Fulfilleds listen to your station for the sound and attitude that’s expressed through your editorial and aesthetic sensibilities. They are drawn to your noncommercial nature. They trust that they will find these qualities every time they tune in.

Turning your station into the Home Shopping Network betrays that trust.

Everything we know about Actualizers and Fulfilleds tells us that they are repulsed by status-oriented consumerism.

A parade of unrelated premiums – restaurant vouchers, day spa certificates, balloon rides – may cause the phones to ring, but the calls are probably not coming from the listeners who have the deepest relationship with your station.

Suddenly you’ve turned their community of deeply held values into an infomercial. This would explain why half of them tune out or listen less during fund drives.

Listeners who remain give because they’re getting a deal on unrelated goods – not because your station is personally important to them. Perhaps this is why so many new givers are increasingly expensive to get and difficult to keep.

Treating public radio support as a sales transaction may temporarily bolster gross revenues, but appealing to your listeners’ hearts and minds is probably where lasting commitment and real financial stability lie.

The problem with any on-air pitch is that it works for someone. But what are the hidden long-term costs of this short-term fix?

The biggest hidden cost may be the Actualizers and Fulfilleds – the potential civic givers – your merchandising repels.

Let the seller beware.

 – Leslie Peters
AUDIENCE 98 Core Team

 

Audience Research Analysis
Copyright © ARA and CPB.  All rights reserved.
Revised: September 01, 2000 12:38 PM.