The Ligand, the Receptor and the Message. An Attempt At Interdisciplinary Application of Phenomenologic Principles From Biology to Health Communication and Marketing

Theoretical Background and research questions/hypothesis:  Interdisciplinary research can cut across “silos” of knowledge, transcending system boundaries. Health communication and marketing may benefit from understanding the dynamics of biological signal transmission and response in living organisms. In these organisms, in order for a stimulus or “ligand”, e.g. insulin, to elicit a response, it interacts with its corresponding “receptor”. Receptors are molecules located on or in the cell, which receive chemical signals from outside the cell. In a key-and-lock fashion, ligands bind to their specific receptors, signaling the cell to enact particular courses of action, such as divide, die, or allow specific substances to enter or exit the cell. We postulate that effective health communication may benefit from emulating, adopting, or adapting the biological principles governing ligand-receptor interactions, and the resultant signal transmission. This presentation attempts to apply lessons from this biological modeling to human health communications. 

Methods and Results (informing the conceptual analysis): We explore and apply some characteristics of ligand-receptor interactions to health communications. Examples are:

1. Binding. Ligands bind to receptors and dissociate from them in an equilibrium process following the “Michaelson-Menten Equation”. We describe that equation’s basic precepts and expand its application, with appropriate modifications, to human communications.
2. Receptor Induction, Upregulation, Downregulation. Ligands may create (induce), increase (upregulate) or decrease (downregulate) their receptors, thus modulating outcomes. We discuss examples where communicators induced and regulated a “market” need for their products, e.g., “Restless Leg Syndrome”.
3. Agonists, Antagonists. We discuss applications to health communications, of factors that enhance or suppress the receptor-ligand interaction. Competitive Antagonists merely block receptors from binding to other ligands, without inducing specific responses themselves.  We discuss the adaptation of this principle to combating unhealthy lifestyles, by introducing alternatives which do not necessarily have to be too expensive.
4. Rate Theory. Rate theory proposes that the activation of receptors is directly proportional to the total number of their encounters with ligands, per unit time. We discuss the implications of this theory on the number of “impressions” or times of exposing the target audience to the communicated message.  Cross reference is made to “downregulation” which might result from overexposure to the stimulus.

Conclusions:  The interdisciplinary adaptation of the principles of “ligand-receptor” interactions in living cells, to health communication and marketing, may be beneficial. We discuss examples of these principles, e.g., “Binding”, “Receptor Induction”, “Upregulation”, and “Downregulation”, the use of “Agonists” and “Antagonists”, and the applications of “Rate Theory.”

Implications for research and/or practice:  We discuss applications and lessons learned from communication enterprises and campaigns, where the ligand-receptor kinetics impacted the outcomes. We also propose practical applications of the principles reviewed; e.g., “Binding” (we propose enlisting clergy in antismoking campaigns in rural areas, because of their higher “binding affinity” with audiences there); “Upregulation” (we cite the positive challenge posed nationally by the First Lady in combating childhood obesity); “Antagonists” (preoccupying teenage males in athletics, thus decreasing their susceptibility to gang entanglements; “Rate Theory” (we cite popular Ads by certain pharmaceutical companies.)