Understanding and Reaching Family Forest Owners - Lessons from Social Marketing Research

By: Butler, B., Tyrrell M., Feinberg, G., VanManen S., Wiseman L., Wallinger S.

Social marketing—the use of commercial marketing techniques to effect positive social change—is a promising means by which to develop more effective and ef?cient outreach, policies, and services for family forest owners. A hierarchical, multivariate analysis based on landowners’ attitudes reveals four groups of owners to whom programs can be tailored: woodland retreat, working the land, supplemental income, and ready to sell. A prime prospect analysis segmenting landowners according to their level of engagement and interest in land management can be used to improve the ef?ciency of program implementation. Landowners showing low levels of engagement but high levels of interest are of special interest because they are likely to be receptive to a social marketing message and therefore should be a priority target for any such efforts. Using the demographic pro?le of the average family forest owner, newspapers and television were identi?ed as important means for mass communication.