The Evolution of Mass Media and Health Persuasion Models

Abstract

This chapter looks at development of approaches to the study of mass media in health campaigns through a historical lens, and places the recent growth of health communication study in historical context. It reviews the role of earlier studies of communication campaigns for their impact on the study of and use of mass media in the promotion of health behavior. The received history did capture the trajectory of much of the research and theorizing about the role of the mass media in persuading audiences and influencing their behavior. The intervention to a community might include no use of mass media, use of mass media alone, or use of mass media in combination with interpersonal communication. The chapter summarizes the study of the mass media's role in health campaigns and communicating health messages. The social marketing approach to designing messages is in many ways atheoretical, campaign specific, and leads to noncumulative findings about the process of persuasion even when it works.