UNDERSTANDING THE AUDIENCES OF A HEALTH COMMUNICATION CAMPAIGN - A DISCRIMINANT-ANALYSIS OF POTENTIAL ORGAN DONORS BASED ON INTENT TO DONATE

There is a great need for health communication campaigns that increase the number of individuals who carry signed and witnessed organ donor cards. This article describes one preliminary phase of such a campaign in which three target audiences are identified within the larger popu lation. A discriminant analysis of five relevant variables showed that individuals who have a signed organ donor card have a high level of k nowledge about organ donation, are rather altruistic, and do not belie ve that signing a donor card is a fearful activity. Individuals who ar e high in intent to sign organ donor cards (but have not done so) have limited knowledge about donation and a positive attitude toward organ donation, but they may find that signing a donor card is a fearful ac tivity. Those who are low in intent to donate tend to have inaccurate knowledge, are not overly altruistic, and feel that signing a donor ca rd would be quite frightening. Effective design of health campaigns de pends on an accurate and thorough audience analysis. Recommendations f or developing effective campaign messages for different target audienc es in an organ donor campaign are provided.