Najla

Part One

This module, our first, is structured around McGuire’s Communication-Persuasion Model for health communication. Modules and the broader sections to which they belong parallel McGuire’s “inputs” and “outputs”.   This module emphasizes McGuire’s central input, the Message.

The message is the ‘what’ of communication. Communication messages tend to combine both logical and factual content with emotional or artistic expression. The content is the “light” of communication: It lays out specifically how individuals can improve their health or that of the community or at least avoid or reduce risk. Content can be presented in a variety of forms but has to be adjusted to the cultural and economic context of the audience.

The emotional, artistic and expressive aspects of a message comprise the “heat” of the health communication piece. Messages often employ humor, sympathy or empathy, anger, anxiety or even fear with respect to a specific health issue. Colors, sound and other touches may be added to contribute to a multisensory and more memorable audience experience with the message. A message is a stated or implicit statement that presents a key aspect of communications destination and strategy to the target audience or a segment of the target audience. Messages should derive from key campaign objectives; without such objectives, messages may seem unclear to a target audience.  These campaign objectives represent what the source or ‘sender’ of the message wishes to do: announce, advise, activate or advocate. (Note that messages can manifest more than one or even all of these objectives…but in doing so may risk clarity!).

Brief definitions of these actions are presented below. In practice, many health communication pieces combine two or more of these objectives:

Campaign Objective: Announce

Presentation that direct individuals as to where they can obtain services, buy a product, or (in the case of health fairs) get more information about a specific health issue. They can also direct the individual to watch or read other media which will provide them with additional information and motivation.

Examples:

https://www.prostateconditions.org/outreach-programs/prostate-cancer-screening Or…

http://www.rbcdesign.net/Examples%20of%20Design%20Work%20for%20RBC%20Design%20Studio/styled-4/medical-advertising-marketing-graphic-design.html

Campaign Objective: Advise

Factual statements regarding health behaviors, risk factors, medications, etc. Information objectives are fairly simple knowledge oriented factual statements informing the target audience about the positive aspects of certain behaviors or other actions or their negative impact. Advice takes the form of information that can help address the challenge of presenting new knowledge or can help clarify misperceptions that people may have. Finally, this information may serve as “booster shots”, reinforcing existing knowledge and reminding the target audience of certain issues.

Examples:

https://gettested.cdc.gov/reasons/default.aspx

Campaign Objective: Activate

Motivating or persuading the audience to attend to and act on the advice or other information presented.

Example:

http://osocio.org/message/aids-campaign-takes-a-different-look-at-social-diseases/

Campaign Objective: Advocate

Documentaries and articles, movies, public demonstrations or ads that embrace and promote a social or political point of view.

Examples:

This current one: http://blacklivesmatter.com/

And this one from nearly 50 years ago: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13476480@N07/20510410925/in/photostream/

Campaign Objective: Combined Objectives

Pieces that attempt to achieve two or more of the above objectives.

Examples:

Research Activity #1

This “It’s Up to Us” campaign flyer announces that May is Mental Health Month and directs receivers to their website for mental health information and resources. Stating the prevalence of mental health problems and the prospects for recovery casts the issue in a serious, but hopeful light, encouraging viewers to visit the website.  

Advise: http://notmykid.org/eating-disorders/

An example of a campaign designed to advise is the “Not My Kid” campaign.  Facts and statistics about various youth health and behavior issues (e.g., substance abuse, eating disorders, bullying) are shared on their website. Receivers can also learn more about the signs of risky behaviors and effective prevention or intervention strategies.    

Activate: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/ms/latchonnyc-ads1.pdf

This advertisement from Latch On NYC is designed to motivate women to breastfeed by stating that only breast milk can lower risks for common infant illnesses.  Moreover, infant formula is depicted as an impersonal “factory made” product while breast milk is “mom made” and offered with a warm embrace.  It typifies a campaign with an activate objective because it emphasizes that breastfeeding has no equal; therefore, women should choose to breastfeed rather than formula feed.

Advocate: http://www.takepart.com/foodinc

The documentary, “Food, Inc.”, presents shocking footage of factory farming practices in the U.S. to advocate for a more transparent food system and environmentally-conscious farming and eating patterns. The filmmakers vilify agribusiness and its power over federal agricultural, food, and environmental policies to pursue their “advocate” objective.  

Combined: http://www.letsmove.gov/

Part Five: Branding

Branding is the process of pairing an image slogan or other stimulus with a product or practice until the two have become synonymous in the mind of the audience. The concept of “branding” derives from the discipline of marketing, with many years many of successful (e.g. Coca-Cola, Marlborough, Mercedes-Benz, Nike, Apple) as well as unsuccessful efforts.  Successes in branding “build relationships between consumers and products” or services that are being marketed.  Audiences eventually become familiar with a product and are reminded of it by seeing the image or hearing a slogan representing that product. One of the best examples of branding in health communication is represented by the long-standing condom promotion and HIV prevention program in Germany, “Macht’s mit: Gib AIDS keine Chance”.  Note that this was initially primarily delivered through billboards and posters; now they have a very impressive web presence as well. 

Examine this measles vaccine poster. Could/should this be better branded, and if so, how?

             The measles vaccine poster, now nearly 25 years old, is essentially two of the same ads in one and would benefit from better branding.  The shrunken cartoon is a redundant piece, as it merely restates the campaign’s name and slogan.  To improve the branding and design of this poster, I would relocate the statement about the local health authority to the bottom of the poster and place the campaign’s new brand in its place.  This revision would place the brand and slogan in closer proximity to each other, pairing the two together visually so viewers will progressively associate the two as a unit mentally.  The brand could be a truncated version of the slogan, such as “Just 1 Shot”, with the “t” in “Shot” or the “1” shaped like a vaccine syringe.  

Branding ISIS

Part Four: Social Marketing: A Different Slant on Message Objectives

Of major importance to the field of health communication is the Philip Kotler’s “social marketing” framework. Health communication has a mixed ancestry: while generally its roots are in psychology (social, perceptual and behavioral psychology) its other ancestor is in business and economics. Kotler took a business marketing model and applied it to community efforts for health and social change. Building on the work of others in the business world who developed the concept of the “marketing mix” Kotler describes ”4 Ps”: product price, place and promotion. This alliterative framework overlaps to some extent with that of McGuire but specifically details what aspects of the messages content should be included, especially in terms of:

The “Price” of a new behavior (not just as monetary but personal effort and other resources required…and perceived benefits of changing the behavior),

How best to describe ”Product” (e.g. the behavior change itself or the social or environmental change that one attempts to achieve),

The channels by which to send the message that should be used in terms of ”Place” (where a message can best reach someone in terms of a channel or program, and in what stage of life or time of year),

 And finally the overall Promotion (which is often referred to in social marketing as “media mix”: what best mix of print and broadcast etc. to used to initiate and sustain a campaign).

Some have added a fifth “P”, that of “Position”, indicating the specific comparison we can make between our product and that of another on the market (for example, the advantages of getting iron and protein from legumes and quinoa rather than red meat).

As an example, analyze the below anti drunk-driving piece from Kotler’s social marketing perspective:

Research Activity #4

EXAMINE TWO ADDITIONAL HEALTH COMMUNICATION PIECES BRIEFLY, FROM A MCGUIRE AND THEN A KOTLER PERSPECTIVE.  WHICH ONE PROVIDES A CLEARER AND MORE USEFUL EXPLANATORY MODEL, AND WHY?

Research Activity 4

Diabetes Prevention and Control Alliance (DPCA), “Not Me” Campaign: http://tclw.das.ohio.gov/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=P54CHU9qeQc%3d&tabid=293

DPCA’s poster of a young boy inquiring about diabetes is an example of a piece designed to announce, advise, and activate viewers towards diabetes prevention actions. The message appears to be directed at mothers who may be predisposed to diabetes due to a family history of diabetes or prior gestational diabetes.  Using a stark fact about shortened life expectancy associated with the disease, mothers are advised to “enroll today” in a program.  The fear-based message carries emotional heat because the vantage point of the photo looks to be from an adult height, much like a mother speaking to her child.  The poster may have been posted at OB/GYN or primary physicians’ offices, which would increase its exposure among the at-risk subpopulation.  

Analyzing this ad’s message from Kotler’s perspective, the cost (price) of diabetes is shown to be extremely high if left ignored.  If posted at doctor’s offices (place), both high and low-risk mothers are likely to have seen the ad and perhaps, even perform the behavior advised.  The product, which coincides with McGuire’s message, is a simple task—enroll in a program—and is marketed as conferring significant benefits to one’s health and family.  A website and toll-free phone number rounds out the media mix.  For this example, the objective of DPCA’s message is more clearly understood through Kotler’s model because the price is stated prominently on the ad and the recommended product immediately follows the statement.

WHO Helmet Campaign: https://www.behance.net/gallery/17469469/WHO-HELMET-CAMPAIGN

             The WHO’s helmet ads pictured here are examples of pieces that primarily offer facts to advise and activate receivers to change specific attitudes and behaviors.  Following a fear-based messaging strategy, each ad presents facts about different consequences of inadequate helmet use, including jail time, injury, and death.  It appears to be a print campaign aimed at adult men who are likely to comprise the largest group of motorcyclists and bicyclists in this targeted community/country.  From Kotler’s perspective, similar to the previous ad, the benefits (price) of wearing a helmet (product) are framed to significantly outweigh the costs, overlapping with McGuire’s advise and activate objectives.  These posters were probably posted outdoors near high motorbike traffic areas (place and promotion) to increase their reach and serve as reminders in the very locations helmets are to be used.  Again, viewing this campaign through Kotler’s model explains the WHO’s use of fear-inducing statements and images, meant to elevate the threat/cost of not wearing a helmet.

Part Three: Do’s and Don’ts of Motivation and Persuasion

A variety of methods can be used to improve the audience’s reception of motivation and persuasion messages. First, serious health issues cannot be treated too lightly, but at the same time the consequence of not taking an action should not be exaggerated. Credibility can be lost if people are shown dying from a fairly minor or obscure illness but also the message must make a realistic connection between a problem and its consequence. What mismatches between the feel and content do you see in these messages (choose 2)?:

Now try these two:

Analyze the potential effectiveness of one of these smoking control ads;

1. The ad with the picture of a pig feeding a bunch of babies in the mud, aims to get funds to provide care for abandoned infants in Manila. It uses a disturbing photo suggesting that if you don’t donate, these babies will end up like little pigs. The message exploits the situation of the abandoned children, putting them in an inhumane position, creating more shock and repugnance than a desire to help the organization behind this ad. That is a total mismatch between feel and content.

2. The “Don’t Treat Others the Way You Don’t Want to Be Treated” ad tries to get attention of animal cruelty by portraying a sea lion killing a human baby. The image is very violent and repulsive. Although killing an animal could be violent and repulsive, most of the times the killing is done for survival or feeding purposes. While here the victim is an innocent baby and there is no purpose behind.  

Smoking control ads:

The image of the women’s lips with a black hole on the side, insinuating the place of a cigarette, could be effective because, although a cigarette will never leave a mark like this, it shows the bad effects of smoking in the physical appearance.   This could be more threatening and produce more fear to some women, and more to induce a behavior change than other long term and hard to see consequences such as lung cancer. You can’t see your lungs turning black, but you can see the effects of smoking in your face.

Child abuse prevention ad:

Capstone: Save the Salton Sea

The rapid deterioration of California’s largest inland body of water has implications for the health and well being of our neighbors, ourselves and other species that inhabit the region and the hemisphere. Although this problem has been recognized for more than two decades, it has continued to grow.

So…

What health communication messages would you suggest for taking this issue on?

Who would your target audiences be, and how would vary messages by different audience segments?

How would you brand your effort?

To take this issue on I would suggest using communication messages that activate the audience to take political action to protect their own health.  The article referenced states that due to the drying of the Salton Sea harmful chemicals are being emitted into the atmosphere that can have severe benefits for the resident living in nearby areas.  I would suggest using fear messages that illustrate what the harmful effects of such chemicals can have on adults as well as for young children and pregnant women & developing fetuses.  

Who would your target audiences be, and how would vary messages by different audience segments?

Target audiences for the campaign would be adults with young families, young adults, and potential real estate investors.  Messages for young families will focus on the harmful effects that the chemicals emitted by the sea can have on their families, the food they eat, and environment they surround them.   Messages for young adults will also focus on the harmful effects of the chemicals but will also encourage them to become advocates for their communities and encourage them to disseminate information. This approach will allow us to gain more allies among a youthful population that will have the time to advocate for change on behalf of their families and communities.  Lastly, we will target real estate investors who have an interest in making sure their investments will be secured.  The article mentioned that as urban areas are expanding thus, development of land and housing is expanding closer to the sea.  Potential real estate investors would be interested in ensuring that the land they invest in is successful.

How would you brand your effort?

I would brand the campaign as an advocacy campaign aimed at protecting the people of the surrounding area.

Would you use media advocacy, and if so, how?

Capstone: Save the Salton Sea

The rapid deterioration of California’s largest inland body of water has implications for the health and well being of our neighbors, ourselves and other species that inhabit the region and the hemisphere. Although this problem has been recognized for more than two decades, it has continued to grow.

So…

What health communication messages would you suggest for taking this issue on?

Who would your target audiences be, and how would vary messages by different audience segments?

How would you brand your effort?

Target Audience: A young demographic would definitely have to be the target because the future of this region that faces imminent danger impacts their future more directly than the older demographic. Therefore the messaging has to be targeted to fit their needs and priorities.  Though we have not done formative research to identify the best age bracket to target, we can make an educated assumption that targeting millennials (ages 18-34) would be a good strategy. This is especially true because this is the demographic that the Coachella valley usually attracts through its music festivals.

Branding: It’s very important create a simple, aesthetically pleasing branding image for this campaign to appeal to this young demographic. As mentioned in the message section, using catchy and simple hashtags would help create the pairing between the cause and the campaign.  Therefore some research has to be done, using the input from the target audience, to create the logo, hashtags, and name of the campaign that will strongly resonate with the target audience.

Part Six: Edutainment 

“Edutainment” is defined either as education done in an entertaining style or entertainment with an educational message built in. A prime example of the former is the Soul City TV/Radio series that emphasizes sexual health, produced in South Africa, and the American PBS program “Sesame Street” that targets preschoolers. Examples of edutainment that comprise primarily entertainment but also include important health or social messages are popular songs about social issues (e.g. Bob Dylan’s “Hurricane”), and movies that focus on the power of the tobacco industry, either from a dramatic or comedic tone.

Part Five: Branding

Branding is the process of pairing an image slogan or other stimulus with a product or practice until the two have become synonymous in the mind of the audience. The concept of “branding” derives from the discipline of marketing, with many years many of successful (e.g. Coca-Cola, Marlborough, Mercedes-Benz, Nike, Apple) as well as unsuccessful efforts.  Successes in branding “build relationships between consumers and products” or services that are being marketed.  Audiences eventually become familiar with a product and are reminded of it by seeing the image or hearing a slogan representing that product. One of the best examples of branding in health communication is represented by the long-standing condom promotion and HIV prevention program in Germany, “Macht’s mit: Gib AIDS keine Chance”.  Note that this was initially primarily delivered through billboards and posters; now they have a very impressive web presence as well. 

Examine this measles vaccine poster. Could/should this be better branded, and if so, how?

Part Four: Social Marketing: A Different Slant on Message Objectives

Of major importance to the field of health communication is the Philip Kotler’s “social marketing” framework. Health communication has a mixed ancestry: while generally its roots are in psychology (social, perceptual and behavioral psychology) its other ancestor is in business and economics. Kotler took a business marketing model and applied it to community efforts for health and social change. Building on the work of others in the business world who developed the concept of the “marketing mix” Kotler describes ”4 Ps”: product price, place and promotion. This alliterative framework overlaps to some extent with that of McGuire but specifically details what aspects of the messages content should be included, especially in terms of:

The “Price” of a new behavior (not just as monetary but personal effort and other resources required…and perceived benefits of changing the behavior),

How best to describe ”Product” (e.g. the behavior change itself or the social or environmental change that one attempts to achieve),

The channels by which to send the message that should be used in terms of ”Place” (where a message can best reach someone in terms of a channel or program, and in what stage of life or time of year),

 And finally the overall Promotion (which is often referred to in social marketing as “media mix”: what best mix of print and broadcast etc. to used to initiate and sustain a campaign).

Some have added a fifth “P”, that of “Position”, indicating the specific comparison we can make between our product and that of another on the market (for example, the advantages of getting iron and protein from legumes and quinoa rather than red meat).

As an example, analyze the below anti drunk-driving piece from Kotler’s social marketing perspective:

Research Activity #4

EXAMINE TWO ADDITIONAL HEALTH COMMUNICATION PIECES BRIEFLY, FROM A MCGUIRE AND THEN A KOTLER PERSPECTIVE.  WHICH ONE PROVIDES A CLEARER AND MORE USEFUL EXPLANATORY MODEL, AND WHY?

 Research Activity #4:

5 P’s

1.     Price: This ad actually illustrates the monetary cost and benefit of the behavior of condom use ($2.99 versus $217), therefore the benefit is that by using a condom you will save yourself the cost of having a baby and purchasing their associated accessories (car seat).

2.     Product: The product is promotion of condom use in order to prevent unplanned pregnancies.

3.     Place: This ad can be placed anywhere, both print and digital channels, to target men primarily to promote condom use.  It can be put in magazines and other channels that the target audience would access. There’s no specific place indicated in this ad though.

4.     Promotion: This ad can primarily be found in print and online to promote condom use, but indicates no actual promotional avenues.

5.     Position: The ad doesn’t make explicit comparison between itself and other condom companies, but it can be implied that this condom is the cheaper and more alternative option compared to other condom companies and compared to conceiving/providing for an actual child.

4A’s: Announce, Advise, Activate, Advocacy

This ad is primarily advising and activating, because it provides a comparison between the cost of condoms and cost of caring for a child that results from an unplanned pregnancy through not using condoms. Therefore the audience is informed of the cost of their behavior and also are activated to use condoms in order to save themselves from these costs.

5 P’s

1.     Price: The price of drunk driving, is explicitly illustrated in this ad, as running the risk of becoming disabled, and therefore being eligible to park in the disabled section.

2.     Product: The product is eliminating drunk driving and the associated possible risks (i.e.in this case disability).

3.     Place: Though the channel of sending this message is not provided in the ad, it can be assumed both digital and print ads that would reach the target audience. The actual “place” in this ad is a parking lot in the disabled section, an area every driver recognizes and is familiar with, that they usually don’t have access to unless they are disabled. It’s powerful to include an image of this because it drives the message home even more that if you drive drunk you can hurt others so badly that they can become disabled.

4.     Promotion: This ad seems to be mainly print and can be shared both online and in other print forms (magazines/newspapers) to reach potential drunk drivers in order to dissuade them from driving while drunk so that they don’t cost anyone their life or leave them disabled.

5.     Position:  A specific “position” is not taken in this ad because there are no products to compare, it’s focused on the main “product” which is to prevent drunk driving.

 4A’s: Announce, Advise, Activate, Advocacy

Part Three: Do’s and Don’ts of Motivation and Persuasion

A variety of methods can be used to improve the audience’s reception of motivation and persuasion messages. First, serious health issues cannot be treated too lightly, but at the same time the consequence of not taking an action should not be exaggerated. Credibility can be lost if people are shown dying from a fairly minor or obscure illness but also the message must make a realistic connection between a problem and its consequence. What mismatches between the feel and content do you see in these messages (choose 2)?:

Now try these two:

Analyze the potential effectiveness of one of these smoking control ads;

 “Don’t Treat Others the Way You Don’t Want to Be Treated” is a good example of mismatch between the feel and content of the message. Once again there’s a horrifying image of baby’s body covered in blood with the seal holding the weapon that was behind this gruesome death. The point of the message content is to make a connection in the audience’s mind between this and seals being clubbed to death by humans as part of their anti-animal cruelty campaign. However, unless you had prior knowledge and have seen images of humans doing this to seals, you would not understood the content of this piece. Especially since the text of the message is so small, light (almost transparent), and all the way in the bottom right corner. The feeling you have, which is you’re basically horrified and shocked, mismatches the content. Also, the consequences of animal cruelty here is not clear and what is offered, gruesome clubbing of humans as payback, is a very exaggerated and almost impossible consequence.

 Anti-smoking ad: The first ad, which shows cigarette smoke becoming a bag over a child’s head that is suffocating him, has the potential to be effective as it plays on the heartstrings and has a fear tactic. Naturally, people would not be okay with anything that would harm a child. Therefore this ad attempts to utilize that to make the point in its anti-smoking efforts. However, there’s isn’t enough information explicitly informing the audience that the source of the smoke is cigarettes, therefore diminishes the effect of the ad a little bit. There’s not a lot of text or any call to action being made in the ad. It only depends on the emotional response this ad is suppose to elicit to activate that behavior change.

Part Two: Messages that convey motivation and persuasion

Whether the objective is to announce, advise, activate or advocate, the message’s motivational and persuasive contents emphasize change in individual attitudes and group norms with respect to a certain health issue while making the health issue (behavior, social issues and challenges, etc.) foremost in the target audience’s mind. Specific examples of applying activation objectives often derive from fear appeal messages: attempting to arouse fear in the audience by demonstrating to individuals the scary aspects of engaging in a certain behavior and not doing something to mitigate the damage that that behavior can cause. Fear appeal messages usually involve a scary or threatening image or feel to create the desired reaction and promote subsequent behavior change.

The Elaboration Likelihood Model developed by Richard Petty and John Cacioppo and Kim Witte’s Extended Parallel Processing Model provide excellent theoretical bases to frame messages that derive from motivation and persuasion objectives, especially those that appeal to fear. A problem with fear-based messages however is that they may cause maladaptive responses when an individual either does not find the image sufficiently threatening or conversely avoids the message (for example, when its images are overly gruesome). For example, The Partnership For A Drug-Free America’s campaign “this is your brain on drugs” has been criticized for engendering more curiosity than fear among teens in the target audience. Also, if the message is sufficiently threatening, the individual may lack the ‘efficacy’ or confidence to take actions that would eliminate the threat. Feelings of helplessness may actually cause the individual to avoid the message altogether. Therefore, fear messages must be used with caution.

However, other emotions can also be invoked which will help individuals remember a specific message and recall the facts and perhaps the reinforcement associated with the behavior change related to those evoke emotions. Humor, sympathy, excitement and other emotions can also create an association that may help an individual remember the importance of the behavior change. For example, contrast the “feel” of the some of the below messages, all of which have the same general purpose.

And these: http://www.bestmswprograms.com/10-brilliantly-creative-condom-ads/

Research Activity #2:

COMPARE THE FOLLOWING TWO SPOTS WITH RESPECT TO FEAR AND RESPONSE EFFICACY-RELATED CONTENT

https://jasonbiviano.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/health-effects-of-smoking1.jpg

https://twitter.com/nyc_dot/status/314067899079872514

Emotions can be evoked not only by the specific nature of the message but also by images, sounds, and other elements that have both an emotional and physical impact on an individual. For example, concordant and discordant musical notes and colors may contribute to a message oriented toward fear and anxiety on one hand or harmony and sympathy on the other. Individual colors may convey different feelings (Example 1; Example 2) though this may vary from culture to culture.  As musical chords mix different notes to create distinct feelings for different compositions, combinations of colors also vary as a function of the light or heat of a message (see here for more info about this).

In terms of sight and sound, which of the following 3 pieces do you think would create the strongest reaction in an audience?

Research Activity #3

LISTEN TO A VARIETY OF THESE SOUNDS. WITH REFERENCE TO 5 OF THE SOUNDS, GIVE A ONE SENTENCE DESCRIPTION EACH OF 5 DISTINCT FEELINGS THEY CONVEY AND COMBINED WITH 5 MESSAGES THAT SOUND AND FEEL COULD BE PAIRED WITH.

 Research Activity #3

1.     Piano 117 GM 25 1 (page 9): This sound, a “futuristic grand piano riff in G minor”, evokes a dramatic and alarming sound as if something bad is going to happen or is happening. This could be used in a piece showcasing importance of wearing seat belts and this could be played during a scene where to non-wearing seatbelt character is experiencing an accident.

2.     Strat AM 140 22 1 (page 10): This sound, a “solo electric guitar”, evokes sadness and shock, which can be used in a piece that is promoting condom use as part of safe sex practices. The character would be receiving his test results indicating having gonorrhea or some other STI when this sound is played.

3.     Musical Bed Tribal Drum (page 11): This sound evokes drama and feels like its building up to something. It can be used an ad that is exposing facts on the negative impacts of smoking and the tobacco industry as it relates to the person, their health, finances, and etc. The building up sound would be perfect if coupled with the facts of the piece.

4.     Jhviolindrone( page 11):This sound, a “rich violin FM sound sustained on F#”, evokes time stopping and something terrible is happening. It can be used in a anit-drunk driving piece where it can show the scene of the terrible accident and tragic death/injuries happening where it feels like time has stopped.

Part One

This module, our first, is structured around McGuire’s Communication-Persuasion Model for health communication. Modules and the broader sections to which they belong parallel McGuire’s “inputs” and “outputs”.   This module emphasizes McGuire’s central input, the Message.

The message is the ‘what’ of communication. Communication messages tend to combine both logical and factual content with emotional or artistic expression. The content is the “light” of communication: It lays out specifically how individuals can improve their health or that of the community or at least avoid or reduce risk. Content can be presented in a variety of forms but has to be adjusted to the cultural and economic context of the audience.

The emotional, artistic and expressive aspects of a message comprise the “heat” of the health communication piece. Messages often employ humor, sympathy or empathy, anger, anxiety or even fear with respect to a specific health issue. Colors, sound and other touches may be added to contribute to a multisensory and more memorable audience experience with the message. A message is a stated or implicit statement that presents a key aspect of communications destination and strategy to the target audience or a segment of the target audience. Messages should derive from key campaign objectives; without such objectives, messages may seem unclear to a target audience.  These campaign objectives represent what the source or ‘sender’ of the message wishes to do: announce, advise, activate or advocate. (Note that messages can manifest more than one or even all of these objectives…but in doing so may risk clarity!).

Brief definitions of these actions are presented below. In practice, many health communication pieces combine two or more of these objectives:

Campaign Objective: Announce

Presentation that direct individuals as to where they can obtain services, buy a product, or (in the case of health fairs) get more information about a specific health issue. They can also direct the individual to watch or read other media which will provide them with additional information and motivation.

Examples:

https://www.prostateconditions.org/outreach-programs/prostate-cancer-screening Or…

http://www.rbcdesign.net/Examples%20of%20Design%20Work%20for%20RBC%20Design%20Studio/styled-4/medical-advertising-marketing-graphic-design.html

Campaign Objective: Advise

Factual statements regarding health behaviors, risk factors, medications, etc. Information objectives are fairly simple knowledge oriented factual statements informing the target audience about the positive aspects of certain behaviors or other actions or their negative impact. Advice takes the form of information that can help address the challenge of presenting new knowledge or can help clarify misperceptions that people may have. Finally, this information may serve as “booster shots”, reinforcing existing knowledge and reminding the target audience of certain issues.

Examples:

https://gettested.cdc.gov/reasons/default.aspx

Campaign Objective: Activate

Motivating or persuading the audience to attend to and act on the advice or other information presented.

Example:

http://osocio.org/message/aids-campaign-takes-a-different-look-at-social-diseases/

Campaign Objective: Advocate

Documentaries and articles, movies, public demonstrations or ads that embrace and promote a social or political point of view.

Examples:

This current one: http://blacklivesmatter.com/

And this one from nearly 50 years ago: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13476480@N07/20510410925/in/photostream/

Campaign Objective: Combined Objectives

Pieces that attempt to achieve two or more of the above objectives.

Examples:

Research Activity #1

2.     Advise: This piece provides information to the audience about lung cancer screening, benefits, and risks. http://www.lungcanceralliance.org/am-i-at-risk/what-do-i-need-to-know-about-risk/should-i-be-screened-for-lung-cancer.html

3.     Activate: This video directs the audience to make some changes in order to reduce their risk of carbon monoxide death, especially during a disaster. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yVmM3913ok&feature=youtu.be&list=PLP9YeFRSgIT6MWIwBeVzbPItX6yx2KYmb

4.     Advocate: This documentary highlights the negative impacts of fast food as it relates to obesity in America.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv_lc1p4I50