Predicting Health: The Interplay Between Interpersonal Communication and Health Campaigns

• Published in: Journal of health communication Vol. 19; no. 5; pp. 625 - 636
• Main Authors: Hendriks, Hanneke, van den Putte, Bas, de Bruijn, Gert-Jan, de Vreese, Claes H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia, PA Taylor & Francis Group 01.05.2014; Taylor & Francis; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Alcohol; Alcohol use; Binge Drinking - psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Communication; Consumption; Female; Forecasts; Health; Health behavior; Health Promotion; Humans; Intention; Interpersonal communication; Interpersonal Relations; Male; Medical sciences; Messages; Miscellaneous; Pilot Projects; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult; Human; Mass campaign; Health promotion; Interpersonal relation; Public health; Communication
• ISSN: 1081-0730; 1087-0415; 1087-0415
• DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2013.837552

The present study experimentally investigated the interplay between interpersonal communication and health message exposure in relation to alcohol consumption intentions. Participants were 174 students who took part in a study on the effects of an antialcohol message. At baseline, the authors assessed intention to refrain from binge drinking. At the second wave (2 weeks later), participants were assigned to the conditions of a 2 (antialcohol message or no-alcohol message) × 2 (alcohol conversation or control conversation) between-subjects design, after which intention was again assessed. Results showed that when participants talked about alcohol (instead of the control topic) and were not exposed to an antialcohol message, they were less inclined to refrain from binge drinking, an effect that was not visible when participants talked about alcohol after viewing an antialcohol message. These findings suggest that health campaign exposure moderates the influence of interpersonal communication on health variables.