Evaluation of Phase II of the Tax Relief Measures Advertising Campaign 2008-2009

Prepared for the:
Public Affairs Branch
Canada Revenue Agency
FINAL REPORT
June 2009
POR# 051-08
Contract #46558-091404-001-CY

Prepared by:
Corporate Research Associates

Le rapport complet en français sera fourni sur demande.

To request a full copy of this report, please contact Library and Archives Canada at:
613-996-5115 or 1-866-578-7777 or www.collectionscanada.ca

Media Enquiries:
Media Relations
Canada Revenue Agency
4th Floor 555 MacKenzie Avenue
Ottawa ON K1A 0L5
media.relations@cra-arc.gc.ca

Executive Summary

Research Purpose and Objectives

The Evaluation of Phase II of the Tax Relief Measures Advertising Campaign 2008-2009 was undertaken by Corporate Research Associates Inc., on behalf of the Canada Revenue Agency to measure the effectiveness of a recent advertising campaign intended to remind Canadians of the tax relief measures recently introduced by the Government of Canada. The ad campaign highlighted the tax relief measures, including: Pension Income Splitting, Children's Fitness Tax Credit, Tradesperson's Tools Deduction, Apprenticeship Incentive Grant and Public Transit Tax Credit.

From a behavioural perspective, the campaign objectives were to: increase the percentage of individuals who claim tax credits; decrease the percentage of Canadians who try to access tax credits without supporting documentation; and increase the percentage of Canadians who file a return on time, and who do so electronically.

From a knowledge perspective, the objective was to increase awareness of the tax relief measures as well as the benefits and tax credits introduced by the Government of Canada.

From a belief perspective, the objectives were to increase the percentage of Canadians who believe that the Government of Canada is committed to delivering tax relief to individuals and families; increase the percentage of Canadians who believe that filing an income tax return may be financially beneficial to them; and increase public understanding of the importance of participation in the Canadian tax system in order to contribute to the economic and social well-being of the Canadian population.

Methodology

To evaluate these objectives, telephone interviews were conducted with 1,002 Canadian adults from March 23rd to April 6th, 2009. Interviews completed with 1,002 Canadians aged 18 and older would be expected to provide results accurate to within plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

The core questionnaire used for this study was the Advertising Campaign Evaluation Tool (ACET) instrument. Other questions used in the research were designed by staff members from the Canada Revenue Agency and Corporate Research Associates. Prior to being finalized, the survey was pre-tested on a small number of respondents to ensure the appropriateness of the questions and response categories.

Key Findings

• Results indicate that six in ten Canadian adults recall advertising on tax relief measures or tax cuts, unaided. Of those aware of the advertising, 20 percent recall specifics of the advertisements such tax relief benefits or credits or tax cuts/savings. Aided awareness (given a short description of the television, radio, print, and Internet advertisements) of the tax relief measure ads is similar to the unaided level of awareness, with six in ten of the total adult Canadian population recalling seeing one or more of these ads presented through the various media channels.
• The ad campaign has had some impact on prompting actions among a minority of those who have seen or heard at least one ad. Among Canadians who saw or heard at least one tax relief measure ad, 22 percent report doing something as a result of the ad. After taking into account the level of ad awareness, this translates into approximately 13 percent of all Canadians.
• The most common actions noted include going online for more information (13%), meeting with/discussing with/informing others of the ad content (15%), and keeping/organizing receipts (12%). When prompted, approximately two in ten of those who have seen or heard at least one ad, report they have gone online for more information (17%), filed their taxes online (19%), visited the 'canada.gc.ca/tax info' Web page (15%), or visited the Canada Revenue Agency Web site (17%) as a result of seeing or hearing the ad. Perhaps not surprisingly, younger Canadians are more likely than those aged 55 years or older (14%) to have taken actions that involve visiting the CRA Web site.
• Approximately four in ten Canadians have filed, or at least tried to file, their taxes online in the past. One-third of Canadians say that they have filed their tax return online in the past, while an additional five percent have tried to file online. Among Canadians who have filed or may have tried to file their taxes online, there is a strong belief that filing taxes online is easy.

Conclusion

Aided recall of the campaign is high, suggesting the ads were catchy and memorable. The incidence of actions taken as a result of the campaign is moderate but notable, suggesting that the campaign was effective. The appeal of filing taxes online is readily evident, as there is very pronounced agreement among online filers that doing so is easy. Continued communication of this ease-of-filing message will likely resonate with an increasing percentage of the Canadian taxpayers filing taxes online.