USING PAID ADVERTISING TO MODIFY RACIAL STEREOTYPE BELIEFS

This is a pilot study to determine the feasibility of usingmass media to modify beliefs underlying discrimination againstAborigines in a small country town in Australia. A mass mediacampaign was developed utilizing primarily paid advertising.The 2-week campaign centered around the concept of an Aboriginalemployment week, ostensibly designed to encourage Aboriginesto seek employment and, at the same time, to encourage the communityin general (including employers) to give Aborigines seekingemployment "a fair go." However, a major aim of the campaignwas an attempt to neutralize some of the negative beliefs aboutAborigines and employment. The specific stereotypical beliefstargeted with respect to Aboriginal employment were: (1) veryfew Aborigines hold jobs; (2) most Aborigines who hold jobshold them for a very brief period of time; and (3) most Aborigineswho do hold jobs hold unskilled rather than semi-skilled orskilled positions. These beliefs were targeted because qualitativeresearch revealed that they formed the basis for the more evaluativebeliefs that Aborigines are lazy, irresponsible, and unreliableand that it is these evaluative beliefs that inhibit Aboriginalemployment. A pre-post independent samples design was used.The results showed significant changes in beliefs about theproportion of Aborigines in paid employment and in the proportionof employed Aborigines remaining in a job for an extended periodof time.