Perceived Effectiveness of Televised Obesity Prevention Messages: Findings from a National Survey

Theoretical Background and research questions/hypothesis: Recent federal public health funding has provided an opportunity for state and community agencies to design, tailor, and implement evidence-based strategies intended to have broad population reach and impact, including newly developed mass-reach communication interventions aimed at preventing obesity. Evaluation of these initiatives offers the opportunity to fill evidence gaps on the population impact of mass-reach obesity prevention efforts. The primary purpose of this study is to compare individual ratings of perceived effectiveness (PE) among a dozen obesity prevention television ads included in recent public health communication initiatives to determine which specific ads and ad types are most likely to be perceived as effective in changing targeted attitudes and behavioral intentions.

Methods: Complete television ads were shown to a national sample of 7,017 adults responding to an online survey. Each respondent was randomly assigned to view and respond to questions about five of a total 12 ads; thus, 2,901 to 3,001 respondents viewed and provided responses regarding each ad (ad randomization resulted in slightly different viewing rates among ads). The survey included measures of ad-specific perceived effectiveness, in addition to measures of obesity-related knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs; support for obesity-related policy/environmental change; obesity-related behaviors; intentions to change obesity-related behaviors; and sociodemographic characteristics. Perceived effectiveness was measured for each of the 12 ads, and general perceived effectiveness was analyzed by respondent socio-demographic characteristics to determine whether reactions to obesity prevention ads vary among population sub-groups.

Results: Perceived effectiveness scale scores were higher for ads focused on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) than among ads targeting nutrition, physical activity, or general obesity. We found that, for the most part, general perceived effectiveness of the ads was unrelated to demographic characteristics, although African American and Hispanic respondents perceived the ads as more effective than did White, non-Hispanic respondents, and males had significantly lower perceived effectiveness scores than females across all ads.

Conclusions: Findings from this study, the first to assess perceived effectiveness of multiple obesity prevention television advertisements, suggest that ads targeting the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages with messages utilizing strong, attention-grabbing visuals, clear messages and specific educational recommendations are generally perceived as most effective.

Implications for research and/or practice: Communities considering mass-reach communication interventions for obesity prevention should consider ads with strong, attention-grabbing visuals, clear messages and specific recommended steps to take.