Communication preferences

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Understanding how residents find out about Hampshire County Council activity and what topics they are interested in hearing about, to guide future communication topics and channels.

Communication preferences

Hampshire Perspectives is the County Council's residents' forum

This report summarises key findings from the 28th Hampshire Perspectives survey, which focused on finding out which communication channels people use to find out about Hampshire County Council activity and what topics Hampshire residents are interested in hearing about. The learning from this survey will help guide future communication topics and channels used.

The survey was completed by 696 forum members between 22 September and 09 October 2023.

Key findings were as follows:

Google and social media were the highest reported channels to find out what is happening the local area.

However, it is important to note that the sample in this survey were all online / internet users to some extent. These channels were also more likely to be utilised by those aged under 55 compared to those aged 75+.

Facebook was the most commonly reported social media channel that would be used overall.

Certain channels are more likely than others to be used by particular demographics, such as NextDoor for older respondents and Instagram for younger respondents. In addition, some respondents, despite being online, mentioned a dislike or lack of trust for social media.

Just under half of respondents (47%) visit the main Hampshire County Council corporate accounts on social media, compared to 70% who visit service specific pages and 89% who use the website.

The most likely reported visit frequency for each of these channels is once a month or once every 3 months.

Respondents were mostly interested in hearing about information that directly impacts them.

Comments indicated people were mostly interest in updates about their local area and seeing issues that concern them being actioned. Topics of interest included things to do, road maintenance, changes to services, future plans, culture and leisure activities, environmental/climate change issues, transport and waste and recycling.