Public Relation(Marketing) - Essay Example

The ever diminishing turn-out in elections for the European Parliament - it fell in all but three member-states during the recent Euro elections - is just one eloquent expression of popular disaffection and indifference towards the EU" (Clegg, 2003, p.5). The focus of the present essay is the perception of British citizens of 50 of European Union and related institutions. The nationwide EU research, conducted in summer 2006, comprised 1,347 persons of British citizenship, 45% of whom were people over 50 (Eurobarometer 65).

As the report holds, the British are known for their typical answers 'I don't care' and 'I don't know', but citizens over 50 have specific position. For instance, when asked about their opinion concerning the EU membership, 50 per cent of respondents answered 'It is a good idea', 16 per cent found it unacceptable, whereas there were 34 per cent, who were just unaware of current political issues. As for seniors, the huge percentage of people over 50 (30 per cent) view EU membership as problem and don't support it, and only 23 per cent found the idea sound and reasonable.

Still, there are 47% of indifferent (or poorly-informed) citizens, the majority of who are aged over 65 and who are currently not able of following all news broadcasts. Nevertheless, the survey suggests that the situation has improved comparing to 46-per-cent unawareness in summer 2005 (Eurobarometer 63). On the other hand, the related dynamics among seniors is slower - whereas in 2005, the percentage of indifferent or unaware citizens aged over 50 was 49%, the recent research shows only 2-per cent decrease.

This fact is clear and explainable: the survey was participated by various age groups and social classes - from students to businesspeople, and the natural increase of education level is exactly what the investigation has measured. On the other hand, citizens over 50 are less motivated in terms of political inquiries, so they are likely to remain either uninformed or uninterested.The exact percentage of uninformed citizens is 12 per cent: "What is also encouraging to note is that only 125 of the UK poll say that they know nothing at all about the European Union compared with 18 per cent a year ago.

There is a welcome decline in the negative aspect of the UK data. A year ago, 28% of UK citizens said they never looked for information on the EU. It has now reduced slightly, but significantly, to 23%" (Eurobarometer 65, p.3). On the other hand, White et al highlights that this positive step forward is being done by the population under 45, whereas the development of consciousness in citizens over 50 has been in state of stagnation for five years. For instance, only 8 per cent of British seniors made attempts to find more extensive information about the EU (White, 2006), and their number has enjoyed only 1,5 per cent increase over the last year.

Earlier research (Lafferty, 2004) introduces certain target audience for cognitive influence, and categorized the UK population by age and gender. Female students from 23 to 28 turned out the most perceptive and sensitive in terms of recent information campaigns, run by the EU. People over 50 are considered neither influential (i.e. they are not able and not motivated to persuade their surroundings) not sensitive to new information. Lafferty indicates that the typical profile of a UK citizen over 50 is following: a person interested in domestic news and concerned about governmental