Brian G. Southwell

Colorectal cancer screening in older men and women: Qualitative research findings and implications for intervention

As part of the formative research for developing interventions to increase colorectal cancer screening in men and women aged 50 and older, 14 focus groups were conducted to identify (1) knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about colorectal cancer and colorectal cancer screening, (2) barriers to screening, and (3) strategies for motivating and supporting behavior change. Participants had either private insurance or Medicare and reported different levels of experience with colorectal cancer screening. Overall, they were poorly informed about colorectal cancer and the possible benefits of screening, reporting little or no information from physicians or mass media, negative attitudes toward screening procedures, and fear of cancer. Despite references to the subject matter as embarrassing or private, both men and women, African Americans and whites, appeared to talk candidly and comfortably in the permissive context of the focus group. This studys findings suggest that public education campaigns, decision aids, and targeted interventions are urgently needed to put colorectal cancer screening on the publics “radar screen,” to increase awareness of the prevention and early detection benefits of screening, and to encourage people 50 and older—and the health care providers who serve them—to make screening a high priority.

The Roles of Interpersonal Communication in Mass Media Campaigns

Communication scholarship has witnessed an explosion of disciplinary divisions and specific topic interest groups in the past 50 years that represents either noteworthy maturation or a troubling splintering, depending on your vantage point. As a result, important intersections remain for us to explore. In this review, we seek to highlight connections between interpersonal communication and mass media campaigns by identifying related streams of research that help us to explain how and why interpersonal talk and mass media efforts routinely affect each other. In doing so, we identify three general categories of roles of interpersonal communication: (planned or unintended) media campaign outcome, mediator of media campaign effects, and moderator of campaign effects.

Can We Measure Encoded Exposure? Validation Evidence From a National Campaign

Exposure is often cited as an explanation for campaign success or failure. A lack of validation evidence for typical exposure measures, however, suggests the possibility of either misdirected measurement or incomplete conceptualization of the idea. If whether people engage campaign content in a basic, rudimentary manner is what matters when we talk about exposure, a recognition-based task should provide a useful measure of exposure, or what we might call encoded exposure, that we can validate. Data from two independent sources, the National Survey of Parents and Youth (NSPY) and purchase data from a national antidrug campaign, offer such validation. Both youth and their parents were much more likely to recognize actual campaign advertisements than to claim recognition of bogus advertisements. Also, gross rating points (GRPs) for a campaign advertisement correlated strikingly with average encoded exposure for an advertisement among both youth (r = 0.82 ) and their parents (r = 0.53 ).

Between Messages and People: A Multilevel Model of Memory for Television Content

Multilevel approaches provide a powerful way to assess simultaneously the contribution of message differences and individual differences to prediction of memory for media content. Many questions about memory legitimately invite investigation of not only factors that describe people but also variables describing messages as well as potential interactions between those two levels. This article introduces an example of how multilevel modeling techniques can be applied to avoid basic pitfalls and to predict memory for electronic media content. Using data from a sample of U.S. adolescents and data regarding the content and prevalence of nationally available health campaign advertisements, this study illustrates main effects and cross-level interactions relevant to an array of communication scholars and professionals.

Interpersonal Communication as an Indirect Pathway for the Effect of Antismoking Media Content on Smoking Cessation

In the context of health campaigns, interpersonal communication can serve at least 2 functions: (a) to stimulate change through social interaction and (b) in a secondary diffusion process, to further disseminate message content. In a 3-wave prospective study of 1,079 smokers, the authors demonstrate that mass media messages (antismoking campaigns and news coverage relevant to smoking cessation) have an indirect effect on smoking cessation intention and behavior via interpersonal communication. Exposure to campaigns and news coverage prompts discussion about the campaigns, and, in turn, about smoking cessation. Interpersonal communication regarding smoking cessation then influences intention to quit smoking and attempts to quit smoking. The study finds evidence not only for the social interaction function of interpersonal communication, but also for the secondary diffusion function. A substantial number of smokers who are not directly exposed to the antismoking campaigns are nevertheless indirectly exposed via communication with people who have seen these campaigns. These results imply that encouragement of interpersonal communication can be an important campaign objective.

The Symbiosis of News Coverage and Aggregate Online Search Behavior: Obama, Rumors, and Presidential Politics

Using a relatively new approach, this study examines the agenda-setting effects of television and newspaper coverage of a prominent rumor from the 2008 presidential election: the rumor that Barack Obama was secretly Muslim. In doing so, we look at the relationship between online information-seeking behavior and mass media news coverage, expecting online behavior, such as search, to be a function of exposure to conventional news coverage rather than vice versa. Using Google search trends as a novel search behavior measure, we demonstrate that volume of news coverage positively predicts spikes in aggregate search.

Gender Differences in Young Adults’ Beliefs About Sunscreen Use

This study employs focus group methodology to explore gender differences in sunscreen use. Guided by the theory of reasoned action, males and females were found to differ on each of the following constructs: behavior, behavioral beliefs, and normative beliefs. Males and females differed in their sunscreen use, with females adopting a more preventive style of sunscreen use and males a more reactive style. Males and females differed in their salient beliefs that motivated their sunscreen use, many of which were related to traditional American gender roles. In addition, although males and females were aware of both positive and negative sources of normative beliefs regarding sunscreen use, females received more encouragement from their mothers and peers than males. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the design of future interventions.

Connecting Interpersonal and Mass Communication: Science News Exposure, Perceived Ability to Understand Science, and Conversation

We present experimental data (n = 667) supporting three hypotheses that link science news, perceptions about science, and talk with other people. Regular television news viewers were recruited from a midsize Designated Market Area using random digit dialing, and were randomly assigned to one of three science news exposure conditions. As hypothesized, science television news exposure appears to boost perceived ability to understand science. We also find that perceived ability to understand science, in turn, predicts conversations about science. We note connections to literature on the role of talk in mass communication effects and encourage future work in this vein.

Effects of advertisements on smokers’ interest in trying e-cigarettes: the roles of product comparison and visual cues

Introduction Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are battery-powered nicotine delivery devices that have become popular among smokers. We conducted an experiment to understand adult smokers’ responses to e-cigarette advertisements and investigate the impact of ads’ arguments and imagery. Methods A US national sample of smokers who had never tried e-cigarettes (n=3253) participated in a between-subjects experiment. Smokers viewed an online advertisement promoting e-cigarettes using one of three comparison types (emphasising similarity to regular cigarettes, differences or neither) with one of three images, for nine conditions total. Smokers then indicated their interest in trying e-cigarettes. Results Ads that emphasised differences between e-cigarettes and regular cigarettes elicited more interest than ads without comparisons (p<0.01), primarily due to claims about e-cigarettes’ lower cost, greater healthfulness and utility for smoking cessation. However, ads that emphasised the similarities of the products did not differ from ads without comparisons. Ads showing a person using an e-cigarette created more interest than ads showing a person without an e-cigarette (p<0.01). Conclusions Interest in trying e-cigarettes was highest after viewing ads with messages about differences between regular and electronic cigarettes and ads showing product use. If e-cigarettes prove to be harmful or ineffective cessation devices, regulators might restrict images of e-cigarette use in advertising, and public health messages should not emphasise differences between regular and electronic cigarettes. To inform additional regulations, future research should seek to identify what advertising messages and features appeal to youth.

New Communication Technologies, Old Questions

The recent emergence of new media, or better, new communication technologies, has afforded substantial commentary regarding societal effects, the latest chapter in a decades-old trend that rises and falls with each new communication technology. Whereas this article does not deny that the current generation of communication technologies differs from predecessors, it argues against the need for wholesale changes in theory to understand the effects of these technologies. New communication technologies do not fundamentally alter the theoretical bounds of human interaction; such interaction continues to be governed by basic human tendencies. What is perhaps most interesting about these new technologies is their ability to provide new or previously rare contexts for information expression and engagement. This article reviews two sets of rival hypotheses investigated in light of new communication technologies: proposals regarding social isolation effects versus connection effects, and ideas about whether new technologies lead to group integration or group polarization.