- Introduction
- Health campaigns were originally designed with the confidence that, as humans, we want nothing so much as our own health and longevity. We go to great lengths in the pursuit of health, so it is not hard to persuade people to live healthier, it is mostly a matter of motivation and getting information out
- Motivating Factors
- Sometimes we do things that are unhealthy because it is inexpensive, convenient, socially rewarding, or fun.Some research suggests that people may drink alcoholic beverages despite believing they are unhealthy, because it is a social ritual
- Sometimes we even start new habits for reasons as simple as “because someone told me to.” However it can be equally hard to suggest a new habit if the person just doesn’t want to
- It is hard to gauge a campaigns effectiveness
- So it is easy to raise awareness, but it can be hard to convince people to adopt new habits
Exemplary Campaigns
- Get to Know the Audience
- The best campaigns are those that know their audience well and are suited for their audience
- A good example was the anti-smoking “truth” campaign because it never talks to teenagers and instead honors their sense of independence
- The idea was that if they expose big tobacco as lying corporations, teens wouldn’t start smoking
- Invest in Communication Infrastructures
- Obviously you can’t communicate without a means of doing so
- Create enduring infrastructures that support relationship development and collaborative problem solving
- Make Healthy Options Accessible
- Sometimes actions are more empowering than words alone
- As an example, healthy food is not an option for everyone
- This introduces what is called “nudging”, the practice of making healthy options readily apparent, appealing and visible.
- Nudging can be displaying healthy food in high traffic areas at a supermarket, or giving out coupons for safer child car seats.
- This helps people be empowered and ideally doesn’t condescend to them
- Take a Multimedia Approach
- A multimedia approach may be more beneficial than using only one channel
- An experiment involving showing people information on soft drinks used 2 different methods of giving the information.
- VR and a printed pamphlet
- The group that had both VR and the pamphlet responded best to the information and said they would likely not be drinking soda soon
- Set Clear Goals and Measure Your success
- This way you can clearly gauge your campaigns effectiveness
- Set up research for before and after your campaign to differentiate change
- Set out with one goal in mind and base your campaign that way
Background on Health Campaigns 