PROVISION OF THE SHALE GAS MESSAGE TESTING CONSUMER PANEL PROJECT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Description

A key objective for our communications campaign is to raise public awareness and understanding of the role of shale within the wider energy mix and the benefits it offers to growth and jobs. This is essential to the success of the shale policy as public opposition is currently one of the key barriers. Our insight to date shows that almost half (46% from the most recent DECC Public Attitudes Tracker) of people surveyed remain undecided on whether they support shale gas. We plan to target this undecided group in our public engagement and communication activities. Whilst we have some insight into the make-up of this audience (e.g. generally women/young people), we need to confirm this information and understand the demographics of this group in greater detail. Furthermore, the Minister of State has requested an ongoing series of communications activities – asking us to create two ‘moments’ each month for at least the next six months. To achieve this, we will need a number of news hooks, which could be drawn from this research. Therefore, there are two main aims for this project: 1. Gain a better understanding of the British public’s attitudes towards shale. - Which segments of the public support, oppose or remain neutral to shale (this should include demographic break down – age, sex, regional location)? What are the reasons or views behind people’s opinions? 2. Gather statistical evidence about people opinions about fracking to use as news hooks. For example, ‘18% of people under 25 have never heard of fracking’.