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Literature Review

Introduction

In the past, there have been many health campaigns that have been aimed at encouraging

individuals to be more active and increase exercise in daily life. Regardless of this fact, obesity

is still an issue throughout this country. According to the National Institute of Diabetes and

Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), more than two in three adults are considered to be

overweight or obese (Overweight and Obesity Statistics). A number of campaigns in the recent

past have been aimed at attacking the issue of childhood obesity; yet, this literature review will

be looking at a target audience of individuals between the ages of 20 40. The main purpose for

this target audience is because childhood obesity has become such a headline in recent news and

the overall focus for individuals in the age group has decreased. However, individuals from 20 -

40 experience a variety of stresses, including work, school, family-related, and more. Although

childhood obesity is a huge issue in America, that doesnt mean that adults should be neglected

when analyzing them as a message target. In fact, due to the positive effects that exercising can

provide to an individual, it makes sense to have them as the primary target in order to educate

them on how to deal with everyday stresses and grab a hold of their health.

There are two main theories that would be useful in applying to this type of campaign,

which would include the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and the Theory of Planned Behavior

(TPB). The main purpose of this literature review is to look at adults (20 -40), apply the TRA

and TPB, and analyze the effects that health campaigns have on an individual, depending upon

an individuals behavioral intentions, ability to be more active in daily life, and to see if education

plays a role in understanding or recalling health messages.

Behavioral Intention
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The Theory of Reasoned Action aims to explore the making of a conscious decision and focuses

on ones behavioral intention as a primary precursor and factor in ones behavior (Cameron,

2009, pg. 311). When creating and analyzing a health campaign around being more active, the

TRA applies because an overall goal of the campaign would be to change an individuals

behavior by encouraging more daily exercise. By exercising, it provides the individual with

health benefits that go beyond physical attributes, such as mental and psychological. Yet, it

depends upon the individual to determine if the action (exercising) is worth the energy, time, and

other considerations. Luca, et al. (2013), analyzed the Get Up and Do Something campaign by

looking at and evaluating the effects of the campaigns on attitudes, perceptions, and overall

intentions to be more active. With attitudes and intentions at the forefront of TRA and TPB, the

results were claimed to be positive by showing that 27.7% of individuals reported that they

intended to be more active (Luca, 2013, pg. 26).

Ability to be More Active

The Theory of Planned Behavior, to scholars, is considered an extension off of the TRA and

allows the theory to explore more on ones perceived ability to perform the given behavior

(Cameron, 2009, pg. 311). Another source that provided meaningful information was How

Media Campaigns Influence Childrens Physical Activity: Expanding the Normative

Mechanisms of the Theory of Planned Behavior. Although this source looks at a target

audience that is dissimilar to the one in this literature review, it still provides some meaningful

information regarding the TPB and its influence it can have on physical activity. According to

Hove, et al. (2012), tweens who reported greater exposure to active health campaigns, such as

VERB, were more prone to believe that they have control over their behavior of doing physical

activity, that their peers consider physical activity to be both important and fun, and several other
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positive effects that are considered attitudinal changes. These results were developed through

another target audience, which should be considered, but these attitudes can definitely be shown

in the age group of 20 - 40. Nobody is telling adults to not exercise, meaning they have full

control over the ability to incorporate it into a daily routine. Additionally, during this age group,

people are very sensitive and aware of their body image, which may help encourage them into

being more active.

Education

Although anybody can become obese or classified as obese, it might be important to look at the

level of education that individuals have when targeting in regards to message recall and need or

desire for more information. Participants who had completed university, college, or high school

were much less likely to name commercial advertisements than were participants who had never

completed high school (Berry et al., 2011, pg. 252). This statement is supported by the idea that

individuals who are more educated, usually have somewhat of a background knowledge already

implanted in their mind that they can recall to. Whereas individuals with low-education have

trouble identifying public funded commercials between commercial advertisements. Therefore,

instead of recalling the actual health information, individuals with low-education refer to the

commercial and the brand associated with it; as well as some of the possible ways they think

they should appear because of representations in the commercial (Berry et al., 2011, pg. 253).

This is important to note in understanding what type of medium to use for the campaigns

message and how people of different education respond to it.

Summary

According to Cameron (2009), the combination of the TRA and TPB have been used in a wide

variety of health studies, which include exploring condom use, smoking behaviors, drug use, and
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cancer screening, and exercise behavior. Therefore, it only seemed wise to include the theories

as a combination, since it has already has some overlap and has seen extensive use together in

the past, as well as being tested in areas other than exercise campaigns. Furthermore, by using

both of these theories, it helps in the creating process because it explains why and how

people make decisions; and two, it explains how people plan their future behaviors (exercising)

and whether or not they will actually follow through on it. Overall, the biggest obstacle in this

type of campaign is appealing to individuals and persuading them to believing that being active

should be apart of their daily routine and that they owe it to themselves to be healthy.

Everybody knows that exercising more is better for ones overall health, instead it depends on

the motivation that individuals feel that influence their behavior and how they respond to the

messages.
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References:

Berry, T. R., Spence, J. C., Plotnikoff, R. C., & Bauman, A. (2011). Physical Activity

Information Seeking and Advertising Recall. Health Communication, 26(3), 246-254.

doi: 10.1080/10410236.2010.549810. Retrieved February 16, 2017.

Cameron, K. A. (2009). A practitioners guide to persuasion: An overview of 15 selected

persuasion theories, models and frameworks. Patient Education and Counseling, 74(3),

309-317. Retrieved February 16, 2017.

Hove, T., Paek, H.J., Oh, H.J., (2012). How Media Campaigns Influence Childrens Physical

Activity: Expanding the Normative Mechanisms of the Theory of Planned Behavior.

Journal of Health Communication, 17, 869-885. Doi: 10.1080/10810730.2011.650832.

Retrieved February 16, 2017.

Luca, N. R., & Suggs, L. S. (2013). Theory and Model Use in Social Marketing Health

Interventions. Journal of Health Communication, 18(1), 20-40.

doi:10.1080/10810730.2012.688243. Retrieved February 16, 2017.

Overweight and Obesity Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved February 16, 2017, from

https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-statistics/Pages/overweight-obesity-

statistics.aspx