EVALUATION OF A NEW MODEL OF COMMUNICATIO N AND PREVENTION OF AIDS - ANALYSIS OF REACTIONS TO THE CAMPAIGN, 3000-SCENARIOS-CONTRE-UN-VIRUS

In June 1994, 31 films on AIDS prevention have been broadcasted on the French television networks. Because of their cinematographic construc tion, the diversity of the situations, and the presentation of prevent ion as a relation, these films represent a new model for AIDS informat ion campaigns. This campaign has been evaluated through both qualitati ve and quantitative approaches. A telephone survey was conducted on a representative sample of 1 000 persons who had seen at least three fil ms, that is 30% of the general population. The formal characteristics of the campaign induced particular interest while the content of the f ilms induced emotion and lead to a personal implication. This new kind of communication lead to discussions, but these were mostly restricte d to prevention in general and to people with AIDS. Personal and socia l experience characteristics, in particular the ability to talk about sexuality, seem to be determinant to explain the observed reactions. I n contrast, the impact of the campaign is nor different according to t he age of the respondent and to sexual activity. These results show th at it may be of some interest to define communication tools on AIDS th at would take into account people's attitudes toward sexuality and the ir ability to talk about it.