Successful conservation in the United States relies on collective stewardship by millions of private landowners, challenging those agencies and nongovernment organizations tasked with engagement and outreach. Perennially limited resources compound this challenge, highlighting a deep need for efficient social marketing. In the following research, we test the efficacy of two social marketing strategies—microtargeting and normative appeals—through a randomized controlled trial of an integrated social marketing campaign targeting riparian landowners in the Pennsylvania portion of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. We used a microtargeting algorithm to predict landowners’ likelihood of responding to a conservation outreach campaign to create treatment groups of high-likelihood prospects versus random prospects (i.e., no microtargeting). A normative appeal was also included as an experimental factor in the campaign communicating that forested riparian buffer investments were common among similar landowners. Among microtargeted landowners, we observed a 66% increase in response to a riparian restoration survey compared to the control group. Additionally, we found a significant influence of a normative message among random (nonmicrotargeted) prospects, increasing response by 23% over the control group. We conclude conservation outcomes may be more efficiently achieved by deploying these marketing techniques on a wider scale to a variety of conservation challenges.

中文翻译：

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为雄鹿提供更多的“银行”：微观定位和规范性诉求可提高社会营销效率

在美国，成功的保护有赖于数百万私人土地所有者的集体管理，对那些负责参与和外联工作的机构和非政府组织提出了挑战。长期有限的资源加剧了这一挑战，突显了对有效社交营销的强烈需求。在以下研究中，我们通过针对切萨皮克湾流域宾夕法尼亚州河岸土地所有者的综合社会营销活动的随机对照试验，测试了两种社会营销策略（微观定位和规范性吸引力）的有效性。我们使用微目标算法来预测土地所有者对保护宣传活动做出响应的可能性，以创建具有高可能性前景与随机前景（即无微观目标）的治疗组。在竞选活动中还包括了规范性呼吁，作为试验性因素，表明森林的河岸缓冲带投资在类似的土地所有者中很普遍。在微目标土地所有者中，与对照组相比，我们对河岸恢复调查的响应增加了66％。此外，我们发现规范消息在随机（非微目标）前景中具有重大影响，与对照组相比，响应提高了23％。我们得出结论，通过将这些营销技术更广泛地应用于各种保护挑战，可以更有效地实现保护成果。我们观察到，与对照组相比，对河岸恢复调查的响应增加了66％。此外，我们发现规范消息在随机（非微目标）前景中具有重大影响，与对照组相比，响应提高了23％。我们得出结论，通过将这些营销技术更广泛地应用于各种保护挑战，可以更有效地实现保护成果。我们观察到，与对照组相比，对河岸恢复调查的响应增加了66％。此外，我们发现规范消息在随机（非微目标）前景中具有重大影响，与对照组相比，响应提高了23％。我们得出结论，通过将这些营销技术更广泛地应用于各种保护挑战，可以更有效地实现保护成果。