STRATEGIC QUESTIONS FOR CONSUMER-BASED HEALTH COMMUNICATIONS

USING THE CONSUMER-oriented approach of social and commercial marketer s, this article presents;a process for crafting messages designed to i mprove people's health behaviors. The process, termed consumer-based h ealth communications (CHC), transforms scientific recommendations into message strategies that are relevant to the consumer. The core of CHC is consumer research conducted to understand the consumer's reality, and thereby allowing six strategic questions to be answered. The immed iate result of the CHC process is a strategy statement-a few pages tha t lay out who the target consumer is, what action should be taken, wha t to promise and how to make the promise credible, how and when to rea ch him or her, and what image-to convey. The strategy statement then g uides the execution of all communication efforts, be they public relat ions, mass media, direct marketing, media advocacy, or interpersonal i nfluence. It identifies the most important ''levers'' for contact with the consumer. Everyone from creative specialists through management a nd program personnel can use the strategy statement as a touchstone to guide and judge the effectiveness of their efforts. The article provi des a step by step illustration of the CHC process using the 5 A Day c ampaign as an example.