How do residents of the City of Hamilton want to be communicated with about Water, Wastewater and Stormwater?
Project Description: The Division of Hamilton Water uses several methods to communicate with Hamilton residents for a variety of reasons. Some are educational and encourage behavioral change (ie. Toilet flushing behaviors that impact infrastructure and environment), some are informational (ie. Potential health concerns related to Lead Pipes) and some are regulatory (ie. Ensuring compliance with our City by-laws). To relay these messages, we use several different methods including the City’s website, mailed letters, digital ads, radio messages, print ads in newspapers/magazines, and bill inserts. In some instances, we use the City of Hamilton’s social media accounts to share information about programming. We want to know if these are the most effective methods of communication.
Research Questions:
How do residents want to be communicated with? Are they receiving our message and taking action when needed?
What do they want to hear about? Do different issues/messages drive different methods of communication? (ie. Residents want to know about Stormwater facility maintenance because they live nearby vs proactive notice about upcoming construction).
Are mailed letters an effective form of communication? What are the preferred/most effective alternatives?
Deliverables:
Primary Research
Secondary Research
Staff lead: Rob Richarz, Project Manager – Outreach and Education, and Lugene Donelson, Senior Project Manager
