Beyond the sign: Influencing recreational boaters required behaviors

Can more engaging signs and messages influence the intentions of boating anglers to adopt behaviors that prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species?

The purpose of this project was to develop, test, and compare novel educational messaging to increase intentions to perform preventive behaviors among anglers who use boats to fish. Minnesota waterways remain at high risk from aquatic invasive species (AIS), despite well-intended and widespread efforts to influence preventive behaviors. One way AIS travel around our state is recreational boaters, particularly anglers. Minnesota law requires people to: Clean watercraft, trailers, gear, and equipment to remove aquatic plants and prohibited invasive species. Existing and limited data reveal violation rates among boaters vary: they comply with some but not all required preventive behaviors.

MAISRC researchers observed four Minnesota boat landings to assess the preventive actions taken—or not taken—by anglers to reduce the spread of aquatic invasive species. These observations gave insights into current baseline behaviors, which: a) provided a clearer understanding of anglers' AIS prevention practices and b) informed subsequent phases of research aimed at influencing these behaviors more effectively. 

The research team then interviewed anglers who could be at risk for violating the state’s AIS law, to better understand their behavioral choices. The previous observations at boat launches and the angler interviews informed message development and testing in a communications experiment at the Northwest Sportshow in the spring of 2024. 

Respondents at the Sportshow were presented with information about AIS rules in one of four formats: a written definition, an augmented reality (AR) version of the definition, prevention messaging with a photo and text, or prevention messaging in AR format. Then, they filled out a questionnaire about the messaging. 

Key findings:

While the AR messages proved engaging, logistical challenges may limit their use as a standalone solution at a public access point on a lake. Therefore, the research team tested updated signs at boat launches. These signs promoted increasing the time spent cleaning and draining equipment. The vast majority of anglers observed merely glanced at these updated signs, revealing a potential issue with sign fatigue. These findings suggest that while creative messaging has value, it needs to be paired with practical, attention-grabbing options to achieve better outcomes.

This study revealed several opportunities to improve AIS prevention at Minnesota's boat launches. While public intentions to prevent AIS spread are high, many people fail to take important actions such as cleaning their boat and trailer components before leaving the access. Observations conducted at public boat launches show that even with new signage, behaviors often don’t align with stated intentions, especially when watercraft inspectors aren’t present. This gap underscores the need for more effective strategies to encourage consistent prevention behaviors. Understanding the impact of message format on AIS prevention intentions can help guide and improve future informational campaigns, ensuring resource use is optimized for maximum outreach and behavioral impact.