Bridging the communications gap

Apr 2007... From Red Deer to L.A. may be far in distance and a universe away mentally, but good communication can still go a long way to shrinking the livestock industry disconnect with consumers, says Jeff Goodwin.

It’s a bright, balmy day in Orange County, California as a mother enjoys an afternoon of high-end shopping with her teenage daughter and a friend.

Daughter (trying on light cotton shirt): “Mom I really like this. What’s it made of?”
Saleswoman: “Wool.”
Daughter: “Like, from a cow?”
Friend: “Duh, actually all wool comes from a cow”
Mom (looking at sweater tag): “Does cashmere come from a cow too?”
Saleswoman: “uh huh”
Mom: “The boy cow or the girl cow?
Saleswoman: “The boy cow?”
Daughter: “Oh you mean the one with the . . . tusks?"
Voiceover: If there’s anyplace that could really use a county fair, it’s L.A.

The above transcript of a commercial for the Los Angeles County Fair is more than a fun poke at urbanites disconnected with agriculture, says Jeff Goodwin, director of the 4-H program and youth development at Colorado State University.

“There’s a fair bit of truth to it,” says Goodwin. “It’s fun to laugh at, but it also shows the tough task we face in agriculture in communicating with consumers.”

Basic principles of what works

No matter how challenging the disconnect, good communications approaches can go a long way to facilitating better understanding and a stronger, more positive relationship between livestock industries and the consuming public, says Goodwin. In a presentation at the Livestock Care Conference, March 23 in Red Deer, hosted by Alberta Farm Animal Care (AFAC), he offered perspective on “Communication that works for us and against us.”

A longtime North American advisor to the agriculture industry, much of Goodwin’s work concentrates on consumer education about agriculture and producer education about contemporary issues. In a talk featuring a number humorous anecdotes and examples, he underscored the importance of basic principles to good communications.

Chief among these is listening to consumers as a basis to know what to communicate. “We need to listen to consumers as we try to tell our story, as we try to educate consumers about where their food comes from,” says Goodwin. “As part of that, we really need to listen to non-ag people as we craft our messages. Too many times it’s the ag people alone crafting our messages and those messages go completely over the heads of consumers.”

Another major principle is to “listen to your conscience and use your head as you work with animals,” he says. This is particularly important for communicating messages about livestock welfare.

“Most people are middle of the road and understand common sense when it comes to the use of animals,” says Goodwin. “As a livestock industry, we need to use this common sense as our guide and do a good job of telling our story. We are all connected in supporting the well being of animals.”

Understanding consumer attitudes

A past, nationwide U.S. study of consumer attitudes towards animals identified four major types of attitudes, says Goodwin. These include humanistic, moralistic, utilitarian and doministic attitudes.

A humanistic attitude is characteristic of someone who associates human attributes with animals. “Typically, this is the attitude pet owners have about their pets,” says Goodwin.

Those with a moralistic attitude tended to have strong views of the importance of having moral justification for any treatment of animals.

People with a utilitarian attitude viewed animal use as a practical matter. “This type of attitude basically looks at animal use and says if the benefit outweighs the negative then it’s a good action. A lot of ag people fit into the utilitarian frame of mind.”

The last, typically least common attitude is doministic. “This attitude is the one adopted by people who think they should be able to do whatever they want with animals.”

Compared to past generations, today’s consumers tend to be more humanistic and moralistic, observes Goodwin. “Understanding these attitudes and how they differ among gender, age, occupation and other factors is important to knowing who we’re dealing with and how best to communicate with them.”

Building effective communications strategies also means listening to your opponents and understanding their arguments, says Goodwin. To illustrate the point, he referred to two quotes that provide good advice for the animal agriculture industry.

The first was from Bender and Leone: “Those who do not know their opponent’s arguments, do not completely understand their own.

The second was from Steve Allen: “Your opponents are never wrong about everything.”

The power of opposite thinking

Overall, one of the best things livestock industries can do to improve how they communicate and connect with audiences is to “think outside the box,” says Goodwin. This applies not only to communications, but to all challenges facing animal agriculture.

“I like to think of it as the power of opposite thinking,” he says. “When we’re faced with complex problems, we tend to think solutions also need to be complex, but often that’s not the case. Looking at the problem in a completely different way is a great way to find a simple solution you likely wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.”