CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

This final chapter of the book provides an in-depth look at a contemporary persuasion phenomenon: communication campaigns. The chapter applies macro-level theories, as well as those discussed earlier in the book, to the domain of public health campaigns. A variety of communication campaigns are discussed, from crime prevention to anti-smoking interventions. General effects of political campaigns, including America's global campaign against terrorism, are also broached. The chapter defines the concept of a communication campaign, discusses core campaign components, and explains when communication campaigns are likely to succeed and fail. The chapter introduces students to theories of campaign effects, while also providing a bird's eye view of the nuts and bolts of campaign planning and evaluation.

TERMS AND ISSUES TO KNOW

Campaign history
Definition of communication campaign
Differences between advertising and public communication campaigns
Stages of change
Diffusion Theory
Knowledge gap
Social Marketing
Evaluation
Campaign effects
Social norms marketing
Values, ethics, and campaigns

GLOSSARY OF MAJOR TERMS

Diffusion Theory: macro-level theoretical approach to campaigns; it explains and predicts processes by which innovations diffuse through society.
Knowledge gap: negative campaign effect that occurs when campaigns widen the disparity in knowledge between rich and poor citizens.
Social Marketing: application of marketing principles to public health campaigns; a process of designing and implementing programs to enhance the acceptability of prosocial ideas among consumers.
Evaluation: empirical assessment of campaign effects that determines whether campaign objectives have been met; evaluations can occur at the end of a campaign, or as the campaign ensues to provide campaigners with feedback.
Social norms marketing: campaign perspective that targets audience members' perceptions of others' behavior; applied to anti-drinking interventions, it attempts to modify student drinking practices by convincing students that they overestimate how much alcohol their peers consume.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Communication campaigns do not inevitably succeed. Identify the factors that facilitate campaign success and those that make it more likely campaigns will fail. What counts as a campaign effect?
2. It is often noted that campaigns take place in a larger social, cultural, and political context. Discuss the role that macro factors have on campaign strategies, effects, and evaluation.
3. Do you believe that anti-smoking campaigns have changed attitudes toward smoking? Based on this chapter and theories discussed elsewhere in the book, discuss the psychological influences campaigns have had on smoking cognitions, affect, and behavior, as well as their limits.
4. What role do values and ethics play in campaigns? Based on the chapter and your own ethical intuitions, discuss the ways that values influence campaign concepts and strategies.
5. These question focus on the changing nature of communication campaigns. First, do you think, with all the emphasis on health and safety in schools, young people have grown tired of health campaigns? Are campaigns, therefore, less effective today than they were before? More broadly, do you believe campaigns can fundamentally shake up the status quo, or can succeed only if they are backed by society’s influential institutions?
   

PRACTICE TEST QUESTIONS

1. Which of these is NOT a difference between advertising and public communication campaigns?
   a. interpersonal communication plays a larger role in communication campaigns than in advertising
   b. news frequently plays a greater role in communication campaigns than in advertising
   c. advertising campaigns are designed to make a profit; this is not ordinarily true for communication campaigns
   d. It is easier to change people's minds about their health than to get them to try a product
2. When a campaign widens the disparity between rich and poor people's comprehension of a health problem, we say that a/an __________ has emerged:
   a. knowledge bias
   b. knowledge gap
   c. social marketing  
   d. agenda-setting effect
3. The last strategic step in a social marketing campaign is:
   a. planning
   b. theory
   c. evaluation
   d. implementation
4. Cultural forces that shape campaign effects are called:
   a. individual differences
   b. macro factors
   c. cognitions
   d. behavioral campaigns
5. Social norms marketing approaches focus on changing:
   a. erroneous perceptions of others' behavior
   b. illusions of invulnerability
   c. fears of tackling new experiences
   d. cultural prejudices

Answers: 1: d, 2: b, 3: c, 4: b, 5: a

EXERCISES

1. Select a health, social, or political issue of interest to you. Carefully develop a strategic plan for a communication campaign on this issue. Based on approaches discussed in the chapter, describe the objectives of your campaign, theoretical ideas, appeals you would employ, and ways you would use media to implement your campaign. What values underlie your campaign effort?
2. Watch or read as many public service advertisements as you can for a particular issue (for example, anti-smoking, drug abuse prevention, safer sex). Identify the likely target audiences, psychological strategies, and probable effects. Discuss the strengths and shortcomings of the campaign.
   

NEWS FEATURES

Some years back, campaign practitioners began implementing social norms marketing campaigns to lower alcohol consumption. These campaigns have become popular on campus, and are described in the following articles:

"On many campuses, big brewers play a role in new alcohol policies," by Shailagh Murray and Bryan Gruley, The Wall Street Journal, November 2, 2000, pp. A1, A10

"New tactic on college drinking: Play it down," by Kate Zernike, The New York Times, October 3, 2000, pp. A1, A21.

After reading these articles and the chapter, what do you think of these campaigns? Are they interesting alternatives to standard fear appeals, or well-intentioned efforts destined to fail? How would you improve them?