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learn$ave Project: Final ReportNumber of Enrolleesthe target population. The non-experimental sites usedsimilar methods to promote the project and attracteligible participants but at one or more sites (includingthe experimental Halifax site), advertizing on local cabletelevision channels and direct mail targeted by postalcode were additional methods used; two sites (Winnipegand Calgary) were able to benefit from awareness of theirown IDA programs. The larger urban centres of Montreal,Winnipeg and Calgary found that a multi-faceted advertisingcampaign was not necessary. However, many of thesmaller-market sites discovered at some point that theyhad to expand their range of marketing methods at leastto some degree.Nearly one third (29 per cent) of enrolees in theproject reported hearing about learn$ave through localmedia. Advertizing or interviews with local ethnic mediawere particularly effective in Toronto and may havecontributed to the large proportion of the final samplewho were newcomers to Canada at the time they appliedto learn$ave (see the discussion later in this chapter).When participants were asked how they had heardabout the project, the single most common method was“word of mouth,” at 35 per cent of participants. This isagain consistent with previous experience with IDAs inthe U.S. The marketing directly to target clients may haveraised their awareness of the project, but the decision toapply and enrol may have required some communicationwith a trusted personal contact such as a friend, familymember or community member. In fact, research onFigure 4.2 Cumulative Recruitment by Type of Site and Date40003500300025002000150010005000June2001Source:Oct.2001Feb.2002Experimental sitesNon-experimental sitesJune2002Oct.2002Feb.2003June2003Oct.2003Feb.2004Participant Management Information System andBaseline Survey.marketing techniques suggests that external marketingefforts (such as advertising, direct mail, etc.) are primarilyeffective only in the early stages when a new product orservice is being introduced (Goldenberg et al., 2001) andare quickly outpaced by the effects of word of mouth fromstrong or even weakly connected community members.This suggests that building a critical mass of participantsalready in the project may have been important torecruiting the remainder, which would be consistent withthe observed patterns of enrolment. Through their socialnetworks, existing participants can serve as examples oreven informal ambassadors for the IDA project, demonstratingthat the project is real and achievable for otherswho meet the selection criteria.Recruitment was completed in Halifax in July 2003, inToronto in August 2003, and in Vancouver in December2003. Recruitment in the last of the non-experimentalsites ended by August 2003.Potential reasons for recruitment difficulties and slow/low take-upThe focus group and other evidence points toward anumber of reasons why recruitment was difficult. Theevidence suggested that recruitment challenges wererelated both to certain features of the project design andto information or attitudinal barriers. The above-mentionedpattern of word of mouth may be most effective inaddressing these attitudinal challenges to attracting newparticipants.Barriers related to project design• Constrained uses of matched credits: More people mighthave applied if the credits could have been used forother “assets” as not all eligible low-income adultssaw education or small business as the best route toimproving their well-being. Several focus group memberssuggested that savings and credits should have beenavailable for other purposes beyond education orstarting a small business, placing a higher value on othergoals such as home ownership to “get ahead.” Similarly,several non-participants indicated a lack of interest inlearn$ave’s savings goals (education or small business)and expressed uncertainty about their own goals.Although the non-participants were eligible, they did notsee enough personal benefit in the project to decide toparticipate.• Research component: More individuals may have beenattracted and signed up for learn$ave if it had not hadbeen a temporary/demonstration project. The timelimits may have made it less attractive than, for example,on-going RRSP savings that allow accountholders to optin and out as their circumstances permit. According to thefocus groups, many who decided not to enrol in learn$ave32 | Chapter 4 Social Research and Demonstration Corporation