We pre-tested if a new communication strategy addressed to adult children could be effective in helping to improve colorectal cancer screening (CRCS) participation rates. In a first study we used a sample of undergraduate students who participated in an experiment with six different conditions to analyze their risk perceptions regarding CRCS and their family role. A second study with a portion of that sample was also achieved to give robustness to the findings. In addition, we achieved a third study using the first sample to replicate previous findings. In a fourth study we used a sample of participants above 50 years old in order to test if the responses regarding how adult children advise their parents and their perceived influence regarding adopting healthy behaviour were similar to parents’ responses to the same questions. A final fifth study was achieved to inquire about the reasons why adult children would decide to advise their parents if a hypothetical marketing campaign was targeted at them. The results showed that designing a communication campaign addressed to adult children could help to increase rates. This result is mainly derived from the role adult children play in a parent’s decision about health behaviour, and the willingness to influence parents to participate in the screening. Adult children could also prescribe CRCS to their parents, as health services or celebrities do. Therefore, they might help to convince the at-risk population to comply with the screening, and consequently, to enhance participation rates.
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