For six years, the campaign "Runter vom Gas" ["Down with speed!"] was continued on the initiative of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) and the German Traffic Safety Council (DVR). The most recent campaign motive series "Lebensretter" ["Life-saver"] (2013) and "Scheinbar schöne Welt" ["Seemingly beautiful world"] (2014) do not only focus on speeding, but also on further causes of accidents. The methodological instruments for this evaluation consist of a media content analysis on the one hand and a representative population survey on the other hand. The media content analysis reveals differences regarding the course of reporting in comparison to preceding campaign motive waves. In contrast to all preceding campaign motive waves, media coverage about the campaign kick-off was low; the coverage rather focused on the campaign event "Udo Walz trägt Helm" ["Udo Walz wears a helmet"] as well as the presentation of road accident statistics in August 2013. In total and predominantly, the "Lebensretter" campaign was positively evaluated, even slightly more positively than most preceding motive series. However, it was significantly less frequently subject of evaluation than earlier campaigns. The diversification of the campaign goals found considerable expression in the media coverage. The results of the survey on audience resonance show that the campaign "Runter vom Gas!" is facing a negative development concerning its prominence in the population. The motive from the "Lebensretter" series was positively rated; however, it performed worse than preceding motives and especially the series "Scheinbar schöne Welt". Particularly, the risk group of young drivers evaluates the motive series poorer than other driver groups. Constraining their autonomy, the argument strategy fails to address young risk drivers. The study's results provide an empirical basis for reflecting on improvement and enhancement for the strategy of "Runter vom Gas!" by emphasizing on the original slogan "Runter vom Gas!", by focusing on social media strategies and by targeting different driver groups.. (Author/publisher)
Abstract