Hope for elephants as more Chinese feel remorse for ivory purchases
A recent evaluation of an advertising campaign by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) to reduce ivory demand in China shows that the campaign is paying dividends with 68% of the respondents said that they would definitely not buy ivory in the future.
Previous polling by IFAW found that 70% of the Chinese did not realize that ivory came from dead elephants. In Chinese, elephant ivory is called Xiang Ya (elephant tooth). This nomenclature unfortunately gives people the impression that an ivory tusk, like a person’s teeth, can fall out naturally.
“This astounding discovery led us to initiate the ‘Mom I’ve got teeth’ ad campaign about three years ago.” said Grace Ge Gabriel, Asia Regional Director for IFAW. “The ads explain that ivory products come from dead elephants and encourage consumers to reject elephant ivory.”
The online survey found that 75% of the urban Chinese population (mainly in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities) have seen the ads, through outdoor, magazines and social media.
The majority of those who were exposed to the campaign fully processed the messages (88%). The campaign has more than halved the high risk segment of people—those who are most likely to purchase elephant ivory—from 54% down to 26%.
In addition, amongst the 44% of Chinese who had purchased ivory in the past 12 months, only 7% still had any intention of making a future purchase following exposure to the ad campaign… Read the full article on IFAW : Hope for elephants as more Chinese feel remorse for ivory purchases
The full Report at Impact evaluation on ivory trade in China