Communication is one of the essential components of our human existence: we use it every day. Verbal or nonverbal, in written or spoken words, in our gestures, our actions, in the way we express ourselves or don’t. It seems like we’re communication naturals. But are we really?
Our journey through the health communication world has made me think about how messages work and how we relate to them. Have you also noticed that sometimes, different strategies are needed to convince different people of the same thing? That, while you might be more likely to consider adopting a healthy habit if you’re reading about its benefits, others will be more easily convinced to change their behavior if they're made aware of the risk of not doing so? People are different in the way they react to how messages are presented. One of my main takeaways of this course is related to this phenomenon. The seemingly intuitive act of using different appeals to communicate one particular issue actually has a name – and is accompanied by a large body of evidence: COMMUNICATION CONCEPTS.
The great variability of communication is not only about the WHAT. Whatever content you want to convey, it's worth thinking about the HOW. This is where communication concepts come into play. When developing a message, one of the first steps should be the question: “What do I want people to think and feel about it?”. I was amazed to learn that there are several established categories of appeals that can be used to address the specific needs of various audiences. From the “fear appeal” which is supposed to evoke a strong emotional response to the message—an approach which is being discussed controversially in the literature—to “perceived benefits” or concrete “action steps”: there are multiple ways to communicate the same thing!
How messages are worded can make a big difference. The content of “If you don’t get vaccinated, you can have a higher risk to die of cancer” is very close to “If you get vaccinated, you can increase your chance to have a healthy and longer life”. However, the emotions triggered by these two messages are fundamentally different from each other. Whether it's perceived threats or benefits, fear or empowerment: this single contrastive example shows how important the rigorous consideration of communication concepts is for the successful development of the final message.
The way we convey our message decides who is reached by it, how they think about it, and if they are encouraged to change a behavior or not. So: do your research! Knowing your audience, their needs, and their preferences will help you to develop the messages needed to affect change.
Yours,
Johanna
[Source and further reading: Schiavo, R. (2014). Health Communication: From Theory to Practice (Second edition). Jossey-Bass.]