Use of “Entertainment” Chimpanzees in Commercials Distorts Public Perception Regarding Their Conservation Status

Kara K Schroepfer,Alexandra G Rosati,Brian Hare,Tanya Chartrand,Georges Chapouthier

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0026048

Abstract

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are often used in movies, commercials and print advertisements with the intention of eliciting a humorous response from audiences. The portrayal of chimpanzees in unnatural, human-like situations may have a negative effect on the public's understanding of their endangered status in the wild while making them appear as suitable pets. Alternatively, media content that elicits a positive emotional response toward chimpanzees may increase the public's commitment to chimpanzee conservation. To test these competing hypotheses, participants (n = 165) watched a series of commercials in an experiment framed as a marketing study. Imbedded within the same series of commercials was one of three chimpanzee videos. Participants either watched 1) a chimpanzee conservation commercial, 2) commercials containing “entertainment” chimpanzees or 3) control footage of the natural behavior of wild chimpanzees. Results from a post-viewing questionnaire reveal that participants who watched the conservation message understood that chimpanzees were endangered and unsuitable as pets at higher levels than those viewing the control footage. Meanwhile participants watching commercials with entertainment chimpanzees showed a decrease in understanding relative to those watching the control footage. In addition, when participants were given the opportunity to donate part of their earnings from the experiment to a conservation charity, donations were least frequent in the group watching commercials with entertainment chimpanzees. Control questions show that participants did not detect the purpose of the study. These results firmly support the hypothesis that use of entertainment chimpanzees in the popular media negatively distorts the public's perception and hinders chimpanzee conservation efforts.

Highlights

Chimpanzees in the wild face an uncertain future due to habitat destruction, disease, and hunting fueled by the illegal pet trade [1]
When given the opportunity to donate money to Bushmeat Crisis Task Force (BCTF) and/or the American Red Cross, 3 participants donated to the BCTF and 7 participants donated to the American Red Cross
Result: P – Public Service Announcement (PSA) condition, B – Baseline condition, H – Hollywood condition, NS – not significant. *denotes p,0.05 in Chi2. **denotes p,0.02 in Chi2. ***denotes p,0.01 in Chi2. {Question not included in the composite score. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0026048.t001

Summary

Introduction

Chimpanzees in the wild face an uncertain future due to habitat destruction, disease, and hunting fueled by the illegal pet trade [1]. All African countries in which chimpanzees live forbid their capture and trade as food or as pets (CITES www.cites.org; and African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources). Wild-born chimpanzees are listed as endangered while individuals captive-born in the U.S are only listed as threatened [2]. While it is illegal for an African citizen to trade or own a chimpanzee anywhere in Africa, chimpanzees can be privately purchased by individuals or corporations in the U.S for the purpose of keeping them as pets, using them as entertainment, or for the purpose of biomedical research

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Conclusion