Public health specialists have concluded that mass media information campaigns can be "moderately successful" in educating the public on certain health issues. The present study examines the effectiveness of a particular mass medium, direct mail, in influencing the perceived importance of three controllable cardiovascular risk factors: cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, and high-fat, high-salt diets. In addition, this study assesses the relative effectiveness of three message strategiespositive, negative and neutral appeals-in educating the public about cardiovascular disease. The results indicate that direct mail can have significant effects on individuals' awareness and perceptions of salience of cardiovascular disease.
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