Social Research ¦ Market Research ¦ Behavioural Insight ¦ Evaluation ¦ SROI
Social Research ¦ Market Research ¦ Behavioural Insight ¦ Evaluation ¦ SROI
Eurovision Song Contest 2023 was the 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Liverpool, United Kingdom, as Ukraine—the winner of the 2022 contest with the song “Stefania” by Kalush Orchestra—was unable to host the event due to the Russian invasion of the country.
Several independent evaluations were commissioned to understand the economic, cultural and wellbeing impacts of the event. The research to understand the impact of Eurovision on the wellbeing and sense of community among those living in Liverpool led by Rhiannon Corcoran, Profession or Psychology and Public Mental Health at the University of Liverpool, Institute of Population Health, who subsequently commissioned M·E·L Research to undertake the research.
A representative sample of 1,300 interviews was collected across the Wards of Liverpool City in March 2023 (prior to Eurovision) using a door-knocking approach with strict quotas across a range of demographic measures. Survey were delivered via the provision of a tablet (so as to avoid interviewer bias and allow for the mirroring of later stages) and asked respondents about their awareness of, and intention to get involved in Eurovision 2023 and their personal wellbeing.They were also asked about Community Wellbeing, Civic Pride and Toleration of Difference using established metrics. In addition, 300 interviews were collected using an online panel, also from residents of Liverpool City.
These combined results were then weighted to the profile of Liverpool City, although minimal weighting was needed due to the study design. All respondents who completed the survey had opted-in to follow up surveys, and provided an email address and phone number that they could be contacted via in order to complete this. All respondents were offered a voucher for completing the survey.
A second wave was conducted in May and June of 2023 (immediately after Eurovision), and a third wave in September 2023 (a few months later). All respondents to the first wave survey were sent an invitation to complete the survey online by email and SMS. Respondents were asked the same questions as in the first wave in order to measure how their wellbeing and sense of connection had changed across the year. Respondents were offered a further voucher for each wave they completed. At the end of each wave, the responses were weighted to the profile of the city of Liverpool – though again, due to survey design we experienced good retention wave on wave and also found that retention was spread evenly across demographics, resulting in a need for minimal weighting.
M·E·L Research provided a data file after each wave containing all responses, in combination with responses to previous waves. The results fed into the evaluation of the impact of hosting Eurovision Song Contest 2023 on the city of Liverpool. Results suggested that 80% of residents noted how important hosting Eurovision 2023 was for Liverpool and 93% were pleased with how the city delivered the event. 74% were enthusiastic about Liverpool hosting on behalf of Ukraine and 71% felt that the city’s leading role promoted positive feelings across all of the participating nations. The interim report is available here: Eurovision Interim Report and was also presented at ‘And the Results Are In’ – a symposium held to share and celebrate the successess of Eurovision with evidence from the evaluation strands. A write up of the event is available here.
As a team, we were extremely pleased with the delivery of our survey data and the support offered by M.E.L Research. We found working with M.E.L. comfortable and easy. They responded to requests in a timely, polite and knowledgeable manner and provided useful advice and insights into processes and challenges from project initiation and throughout the time we worked with them.
Prof. Rhiannon Corcoran, University of Liverpool
