Personal Involvement of Young People in HIV Prevention Campaign Messages: The Role of Message Format,Culture,and Gender

Abstract

To examine young people's reactions to and understanding of HIV prevention messages developed for MTV's global HIV prevention campaign Staying Alive, videotaped campaign materials were shown to focus group discussion (FGD) participants living in urban areas of Brazil, Kenya, Nepal, and Senegal. Responses related to “personal involvement” with the message were identified in the data from these FGDs and were examined in relationship to the emerging message themes, the message format (public service announcements [PSAs] vs. documentary), cultural context (site), and participant gender. Across groups, greater personal involvement (measured by personal connections, emotional reactions, and lessons learned) was found in responses about the documentary format compared to the PSA format. Exceptions were found for specific PSAs that were considered more relevant within specific gender or cultural contexts. Implications of findings for global campaigns were considered.

Keywords

adolescents media campaigns personal involvement

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Allen, J. (2004). Interview with Archbishop Ndingi Mwana aNzeki . National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved April 20, 2005, from http://ncronline.org/mainpage/specialdocuments/nzeki.htm

Bemfam, IBGE, Ministry of Health, & Macro International (1997). Brazil demographic and health survey . Rio de Janeiro: Macro International .

Bertrand, J. (2004). Diffusion of innovations and HIV/AIDS. Journal of Health Communications, 9, 113-121.

Breinbauer, C. , & Maddaleno, M. (2005). Youth: Choices and change. Promoting healthy behaviors in adolescents. Washington, DC: PAHO.

Central Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Health, & ORC Macro. (2004). Kenya demographic and health survey 2003. Calverton, MD: Author .

CIA. (2005). The world factbook, Brazil, Nepal and Senegal. Retrieved April 20, 2005, from http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook

Geary, C. , Mahler, H. , Finger, W. , & Shears, K. (2005). Using global media to reach youth: The 2002 MTV Staying Alive campaign (YouthNet Youth Issues Paper No. 5). Arlington, NC: Family Health International, YouthNet Program

Higgins, E. , & Bargh, J. (1987). Social cognition and social perception. Annual Review of Psychology, 38, 369-425.

Markus, H. (1977). Self-schemata and processing information about the self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35, 63-78.

10.

Ministry of Health, New ERA, & ORC Macro. ( 2002). Nepal demographic and health survey 2001. Calverton, MD: Author.

11.

Ndiaye, S. , Ayad, M. , & Gaye, A. (1997). Demographic and health survey-Senegal 1997. Calverton, MD and Dakar, Senegal : Ministry of Economics, Finance and Planning and Macro International.

12.

Papa, M. , Singhal, A. , Law, S. , Pant, S. , Sood, S. , Rogers, E. , et al. (2000). Entertainment-education and social change: An analysis of parasocial interaction, social learning, collective efficacy and parasocial communication. Journal of Communication, 50, 31-55.

13.

Petty, R. , & Cacioppo, J. (1981). Attitudes and persuasion: Classic and contemporary approaches. Dubuque, IA: Brown.

14.

Petty, R. , & Cacioppo, J. (1984). The effect of involvement on responses to argument quality and quantity: Central and peripheral routes to persuasion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 69-81.

15.

Petty, R. , Cacioppo, J. , & Goldman, R. (1981). Personal involvement as a determinant of argument-based persuasion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41, 847-855.

16.

Piotrow, P. , Kincaid, L. , Rimon, J. , & Rinehart, W. (1997). Health communication: Lessons from family planning and reproductive health. New York: Praeger.

17.

Symons, C. , & Johnson, B. (1997). The self-reference effect: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 12, 371-394.

18.

Unaids (1999). Acting early to prevent AIDS: The case of Senegal. Geneva : Author.

19.

Unaids (2002). Brazil-Epidemiological fact sheet-2002 update. Geneva: Author.

20.

Unaids. (2004). Report on the Global AIDS epidemic. Retrieved August 9, 2004, from www.unaids.org

21.

Waszak, C. , Thapa, S. , & Davey, J. (2003). The influence of gender norms on the reproductive health of adolescents in Nepal-Perspectives of youth. In S. Bott , S. Jejeebhoy , I. Shah , & C. Puri (Eds.), Towards adulthood: Exploring the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents in South Asia (pp. 81-85). Geneva : World Health Association.

22.

World Bank. (2004). World development indicators. Retrieved August 9, 2004, from www.worldbank.org

23.

World Gazetteer. (2004). Cities and people. Retrieved August 9, 2004, from www.world-gazetteer.com