A toy-tale sign: a communications campaign advocating for sustainable toys among young parents

Abstract

A Toy-Tale Sign is a communications campaign aimed at raising awareness of sustainable toys as an alternative to conventional plastic toys among soon-to-be parents and/or parents of young children aged 0-4 years. Sustainable toys are playthings designed, manufactured, distributed, used and disposed of in a way that minimises their environmental, social and economic impacts. Compared to plastic toys, sustainable toys are less harmful to the environment and safer for children to play with. We conducted primary research through a survey guided by the Integrative Model of Behavioural Prediction and expert interviews to understand the toy market, toy purchase behaviour and sentiments towards sustainable toys among young parents in Singapore. Secondary research was also done to understand toy waste and the negative effects of plastic toys. Insight from all our research was used to inform the campaign activations — a social media campaign, a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) workshop and an awareness pop-up booth. Post-campaign research was then conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of our campaign in meeting the outlined objectives. Due to a lack of evidence, we could not conclude that our campaign had significant effects. In the final section of this paper, we also discussed the limitations of our campaign and directions that similar future campaigns can take.