That's a great question, and interesting too. I was thinking about this last year, as Nelson says that mass media approaches should be tailored but doesn't give an example of how.
The mass media approach is restrictive because you are targeting a wide population with different cultures/levels of readiness. My thinking is that there are four ways that you could develop a campaign (e.g. TV ads, billboards) that is tailored to a specific group:
- Research the audience. For a TV show such as the biggest loser, TV ads would most likely target people in the contemplation or preparation stage and therefore would use a mixture of cognitive and behavioural strategies. If it was another show, another audience might need to be catered for.
- Broadcast a range of different messages that target different groups. This is tough, but many billboards could be created, each targeting people in different stages of motivational readiness or different cultural groups.
- If the mass media campaign is targeted at a community, it's much easier. The locals ads, billboards, whatever - inform the community on specifics of the campaign that is usually complemented with environmental/policy change.
- Meet the specifics of the campaign - if it's for weight loss, target stages 1+2 and maybe 3
There is no clear answer that I can think of, ask your teacher maybe... It's a pretty ambiguous question.
Your spot on when you say that the campaign and cognitive/behavioural strategies should be tailored to motivational readiness. That's an important concept, and understanding it already is awesome as its very examinable. You're also right in saying that both population and individual aspects should be considered. A comprehensive multi-strategy approach is important.
Good work. Did what I say make sense?
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