Evaluating Conservation Flagships and Flagship Fleets

Abstract

Flagship species are widely used in conservation but this single species approach has attracted criticism. One response is the "flagship fleet," which uses several flagship species in one conservation marketing campaign. However, marketing theory suggests multibrand campaigns can be counter-productive. Here, we develop an evaluation strategy for conservation flagships, and use it to: measure the effectiveness of an existing bird flagship species; detect whether additional species are needed; and, if appropriate, identify which species should be added to create a flagship fleet. We show the bird species has high levels of visibility and recognition, but has traits that appeal to only half the target audience. We also show that this shortcoming could be overcome by forming a flagship fleet based on adding an endemic mammal or fish species but there are additional strategic considerations that must be taken into account, namely in terms of costs and potential future conflicts.

The effect of knowledge, species aesthetic appeal, familiarity and conservation need on willingness to donate

“…nature documentaries) and conservation marketing campaigns. Another way to examine this is to look at it from a brand awareness point of view (Veríssimo et al ., ), a concept used in consumer behaviour studies that is known to explain consumers’ purchasing behaviour (Macdonald & Sharp, ). Brand awareness may similarly affect donation behaviour, although the “products” are different, perhaps explaining why both species native to Finland and well‐known non‐native flagships (orangutan and tiger) were popular in our study.…”

Beyond compensation: Integrating local communities’ livelihood choices in large carnivore conservation

“…Boxall et al, 1996;Wouter Botzen and Van Den Bergh, 2012). However, it has only recently featured in the conservation literature with application to ecotourism (Di Minin et al, 2013;Veríssimo et al, 2009), conservation flagships (Veríssimo et al, 2014a(Veríssimo et al, , 2014b, and natural resource conservation (Delibes-Mateos et al, 2014;Moro et al, 2013;Nielsen et al, 2014). Although the potential to deploy CEs to design wildlife conservation policy has previously been identified by Hanley et al (2003), our study represents a novel extension of the methodology to explore the trade-off between livelihoods and conservation at a landscape scale for an endangered predator.…”

Competitive outreach in the 21st century: Why we need conservation marketing

“…In order to better engage their audience, conservationists commonly use species (but also ecosystems and landscapes, see Veríssimo et al, 2011) as the focus of their Conservation Marketing campaigns (Cousins et al, 2009;Veríssimo et al, 2011). These species, commonly known as flagship species (Veríssimo et al, 2011) are most effective if, like brands, their perceived attributes resonate with their target audience and if this group is aware of their existence (Veríssimo et al, , 2014. This parallel between flagship species and commercial brands is hardly surprising given how frequently biodiversity features among the world's most powerful brands, such as Jaguar cars, Puma sportswear or Apple computers.…”

“…Veríssimo et al, 2014). Efficiently leveraging flagship species brands can yield important advantages to practitioners designing Conservation Marketing campaigns through the embodiment of the personal or social benefits of desirable behaviour (Keller, 1998).…”