Page 280 - The Handbook of Persuasion and Social Marketing

256 The Handbook of Persuasion and Social Marketing

held at their meeting place (e.g., state capital), and so on (Andreasen,
2006). There are three broad means of making the transition from expo-
sure to attention and thus enlisting legislative support. One approach is to
speak to legislators’ political needs (e.g., promise resources, explain how it
will benefit constituents, provide an opportunity to show leadership). A
second means is to talk about why the policy should be supported on its
own merits. A third approach (see McGrath, 2007) is to employ many of
the ideas that have been advanced in the public health literature for both
attracting media attention and enlisting public support for a policy. Both
are discussed below.

Media Advocacy—Gaining Media Attention

Coalitions can communicate with the public through the use of media
advocacy. As noted above, some leading public health scholars have ar-
gued that media advocacy is the defining feature of the “new public health.”
Media advocacy is given preference over message dissemination because
(1) it is a far more cost-effective means of reaching people, (2) messages
transmitted through the media are more credible than paid messages, and
(3) it is a means of addressing the power imbalance (Wallack & Dorfman,
1996). The power imbalance arises because communities and public
health officials have far fewer financial resources than the elements of the
private sector that profit from unhealthy behaviors (e.g., sellers of tobacco,
alcohol, or motorcycles).
It is necessary (but not sufficient) that an effective media advocacy cam-
paign attract media attention. Based on their reviews of numerous case
histories, scholars have reached two important conclusions in this regard.
First, a well-designed and -implemented media advocacy campaign can
generate increased news coverage (Holder & Treno, 1996; Siegel &
Lotenberg, 2007; Wallack et al., 1993; Wallack & Dorfman, 1996). This
conclusion reflects both numerous pre-post evaluations of media coverage
and the findings of a quasi-field experiment. In the quasi-field experiment,
a comprehensive five-year campaign to reduce the availability of alcohol
and high-risk alcohol consumption patterns was conducted in three com-
munities. Outcomes in these communities were compared to outcomes in
matched control communities. A major element of the comprehensive
campaign was media advocacy, and news coverage of alcohol-related is-
sues was higher in the experimental communities.
The second conclusion is that there are strategies and tactics for gaining
media attention that have worked in multiple campaigns. A review of the
public health literature reveals a great deal of convergence regarding the