Know Your Audience First: Promoting Financial Literacy with Grassroots Public Relations

Abstract

Engaged learning provides excellent research opportunities for students. Going beyond the process of gathering research and effectively using it to activate, educate and motivate a target audience to act upon key messages can be a catalyst for change. This summary highlights research and development conducted by Communication students at Utah Valley University for a grassroots public relations campaign created to promote financial literacy and community based financial literacy classes, reaching low-to-moderate income individuals. The study highlights both the quantitative and qualitative research conducted by students on a key public located within southern Utah County and how the engaged learning process resulted in providing target consumers with tools to assist in making educated personal finance decisions. The goal of the research was to learn key publics understanding of financial literacy with the purpose of providing financial education and motivating the key public to take control of their financial future. The document reviews the outcome and evaluation of each strategy and tactic implemented during the campaign, as well as greatly detailed evaluation of the results. The summary concludes with an overview of how all campaign goals were exceeded due to thorough research and understanding of the target audience.