Research 'imperative' to church's success, Adventist marketing director says
Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders in the South Pacific say that research should be integral in shaping the church’s message after a recent poll indicated about 50 percent of Australians and New Zealanders know nothing about the church beyond its name.
The numbers climb to a “distressing” 70 percent for poll respondents aged 18 to 34, said Mirella Gordon, church marketing director for Wahroonga-based Adventist Media Network. She speculates the statistic likely represents a general lack of knowledge about religion among many young people.
Respondents did, however, consistently link the Adventist Church to healthy living.
Learning how the public perceives Adventism is key to tailoring the church’s message, making the AU$16,000 AMN invested in the poll money well spent, Gordon said.
The Adventist Church has traditionally “underused” outside surveys, she said. “We do some internal research, but when it comes to understanding the external community, we rarely ask ourselves the questions.”
Newspoll, an Australian public opinion polling company, telephoned 1,720 respondents aged 18 and older from February to April for the Awareness Survey. Each was selected randomly to best reflect the region’s various demographics, including age, gender and education level.
Results indicated that most respondents knew the Adventist Church is a worldwide Christian denomination, which church leaders find heartening, Gordon said. Considerably fewer knew that Adventists worship on the seventh-day Sabbath or were familiar with the church’s extensive network of schools and hospitals. Regardless of demographics, most respondents strongly associated the church with healthy lifestyle choices.
When asked a series of questions about their own perceptions toward the church, nearly one-third said Adventists are “too private and inward looking.” When asked if the church presents its beliefs positively, 70 percent said they weren’t sure, reflecting their general lack of specific knowledge about the church, Gordon said.
Rajmund Dabrowski, world church communication director, called the poll “commendable” and urged church leaders in other regions to follow suit. “Church awareness could be drastically improved in many parts of the world as we build public relations around the results of such polls,” he said.
Church leaders in the South Pacific anticipate conducting similar polls every two years as a reference point for a larger effort, The Interactive Church, meant to help local churches better connect with their communities. The region also plans to use additional polls to inform major church decisions. “We want to test key messages and have a better understanding of how ... what we do or plan to do resonates with people,” Gordon said.
