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Article
Publication date: 29 July 2014

Fay Cobb Payton, Lynette Kvasny and James Kiwanuka-Tondo

Two research questions are addressed: what are black female college students’ perceptions of current messages present on web sites about HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention?; and…

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Abstract

Purpose

Two research questions are addressed: what are black female college students’ perceptions of current messages present on web sites about HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention?; and what messages do black female college students find culturally relevant to them, and why? Results indicate that these women perceive several communication barriers including lack of trust and unfamiliarity with information sources, stigma ascribed to HIV, as well as misconceptions and traditional values held by some in the black community and health institutions. HIV prevention messages are perceived as relevant if they exhibit qualities including interactive features. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

To understand black collegiate women as health information seekers, it is important to engage paradigms that allow researchers to make sense of how group members construct their content needs, what helps shape this construction, and the meaning derived from the consumption of the information, focus groups are an effective qualitative method for enabling collective discussion and interaction between research participants that facilitates the exploration of under-researched topics like HIV prevention as well as the language commonly used by respondents to describe HIV from a socio-cultural perspective. The research team conducted three focus groups to appraise current black female college students’ attitudes and perceptions of messages presented on HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness web sites

Findings

HIV prevention messages are perceived as relevant if they exhibit qualities including interactive features, practical advice using non-technical vocabulary, content authored and disseminated by familiar and trustworthy individuals and institutions, and risk related to individual behaviors rather than the demographic group. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research on the design of health information systems are provided.

Research limitations/implications

This research is based on a small sample size based on one region of the USA.

Practical implications

Health communication materials should also provide strategies for dispelling myths, and combating feelings of stigma, and mistrust. In addition, practical advice such as questions to ask physicians may help to produce positive and desirable outcomes as black women seek services from the healthcare system. The message itself must take into account a number of factors include short and simple messages, clean web pages, navigation structures that make information easy to find, comprehensive information all found in a single web site, and interactive features to facilitate discussion and sharing. In particular, with social media, women can also play a role in the creation and dissemination of health messages in multiple modalities including text, spoken word, still and moving images, and music.

Social implications

“A major component of preventive health practice is the availability and provision of information regarding risks to health and promotional measures for enhancing the health status among this population” (Gollop, 1997, p. 142). However, as Dervin (2005) cautions, while information is necessary, it is insufficient to encourage behavior change. To combat the health disparities that differentially impact African-American women requires expertize and understanding from multiple perspectives. By providing insight into how black collegiate women perceive HIV prevention information needs, the women in the focus groups lend a necessary voice in the effort toward healthy equity through the creation of effective health interventions that will appeal to them.

Originality/value

The author seeks to create an online and socially connected experience characteristic of ongoing user input and active engagement in content development which targets the population. From a human-computer interaction viewpoint, the authors are seeking to avoid design divorced from context and meaning. In developing such an experience, the authors will need to triangulate the roles of culture, context, and design to reduce the content divide, yet amplify the notion of participatory web. Participatory web embodies a social justice movement to build web content from voices typically dampened in the discourse. It (re)shapes meaning, identity, and ecologies in the process of foci on particular social, health, and political causes (e.g. HIV/AIDS). Giving black women ownership over the creation of health information on the internet may improve the ability to provide targeted HIV prevention content that is culturally salient and more effective in reducing HIV infections in this community.

Details

Internet Research, vol. 24 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1066-2243

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Article
Publication date: 8 February 2013

James Kiwanuka‐Tondo, Kelly Fudge Albada, Richard D. Waters, Jessica Katz Jameson and Mark Hamilton

The purpose of this paper is to test a predictive model for organizational factors on the extent to which organizations involved in non‐governmental organizations (NGO) or…

877

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to test a predictive model for organizational factors on the extent to which organizations involved in non‐governmental organizations (NGO) or bilateral partnerships conduct campaign planning research.

Design/methodology/approach

In‐depth interviews with 120 heads of organizations running AIDS campaigns in Uganda were conducted. The interviewers queried the participants regarding characteristics of their organization and the extent to which they conducted campaign planning research during their last campaign. The information was assigned to quantitative categories, so that the predictive model could be tested using path modeling software.

Findings

The results of the path analysis indicated that the model fits the data well. An emergent finding from the path analysis involved the relationship between the number of trained staff workers and the tendency to solicit outreach worker feedback. Organizations with a greater number of trained staff workers sought outreach worker feedback to a greater extent during the campaign. The model also clarified that none of the tested variables predicted the organization's frequency of pretesting campaign messages.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations of the current study include its single‐issue and single‐country focus. Organizational factors were excluded in this study that may be relevant and should be considered in future research (e.g. size of the organization, management style, public versus private). The factors included in this study, however, are commonly studied characteristics of organizations. Regardless of location, organizations differ in terms of financial resources, formalization, and focus, and engage in formative research to varying extents. Research is also an important part of the campaign process, regardless of the issue or organization type.

Practical implications

NGOs that involve community outreach workers for assistance in crafting campaign messages and test early messaging strategies with audience members are likely to see improved campaign effectiveness and improved cultural competencies.

Originality/value

By identifying the characteristics of local organizations that may facilitate formative research activities, this study makes a significant contribution to the literature on HIV/AIDs and health communication campaigns. As the context surrounding HIV/AIDS campaigns continues to evolve, NGOs and bi‐lateral organizations are in continued demand to develop new and more effective campaign messages to address emerging issues.

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Publication date: 19 September 2022

Abstract

Details

COVID-19 and the Media in Sub-Saharan Africa: Media Viability, Framing and Health Communication
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-272-3

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Article
Publication date: 24 February 2012

Fay Cobb Payton and Lynette Kvasny

This paper seeks to present the Black blogosphere's discussion of the Jena 6 case to uncover how ethnic identity is performed discursively to promote social activism.

922

Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to present the Black blogosphere's discussion of the Jena 6 case to uncover how ethnic identity is performed discursively to promote social activism.

Design/methodology/approach

Through an analysis of Black blog postings reporting on the Jena 6 case, this case study chronicles the way in which Black audiences responded to this news story. The research chronicles the ways in which Black audiences responded to the Jena 6 news story and how Black blogs expanded participation in the discussion of events related to Black interests.

Findings

The findings point to critiques of dominant cultural meanings about race relations and racial injustice. In addition, the findings suggest that social media has become an additional medium that is effectively used by African Americans' in their historical struggle for civil rights. By chronicling the ways in which Black audiences responded to this news story, the paper demonstrates that Black blogs provide a useful space for discussing perceived racial injustice from a diverse African American cultural perspective. Moreover, Black bloggers are able to raise awareness of racial injustice within both the Black community and the broader US society and mobilize collective action.

Practical implications

New divides may be emerging because of limitations on what you can do on a mobile device. This increase in mobile internet access and the accompanying differences in internet experience heightens the need for studies that examine culturally salient behavioral aspects of use and interpersonal relationships characterized by social support, communication, and resource sharing.

Originality/value

Through an analysis of Black blog postings reporting on the Jena 6 case, this study chronicles the way in which Black audiences responded to this news story. The findings point to critiques of dominant cultural meanings about race relations and racial injustice. In addition, our findings suggest that the momentum of this social movement was based in the political and economic dynamics of a community; however, social media is enabling critical global, yet vigorous conversion of activism

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 25 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 30 November 2020

Moty Amar, Yaniv Gvili and Aner Tal

This paper aims to offer social marketers an innovative method to promote healthy foods. This method demonstrates the effectiveness of indirect communication in attracting…

954

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to offer social marketers an innovative method to promote healthy foods. This method demonstrates the effectiveness of indirect communication in attracting consumers to healthy foods. Further, it aims to offer a way to promote food as healthier with no detrimental effects on its perceived appeal, which are a likely side effect of advertising food as healthy.

Design/methodology/approach

Four between-participant lab studies (N = 50, 80, 80, 102) included manipulations of food motion vs stillness and then compared ratings of food freshness, healthiness and appeal using self-report measures.

Findings

Motion increases healthiness evaluation. This increase in healthiness evaluation occurs without reductions in food appeal. These effects are mediated by evaluations of freshness. This occurred across three different food types and two mediums (still images and digital videos).

Research limitations/implications

The paper provides an effective tool for social marketers wishing to encourage healthier eating. Specifically, it helps address two problems: low effectiveness of prevalent, information-based appeals to encourage healthy eating; and reduced evaluations of tastiness that normally occur when consumers are convinced food is healthy.

Social implications

Social marketers can use motion as an effective tool to promote food as healthy. Importantly, this indirect communication avoids the potential pitfall of reduced food appeal. This should help encourage healthier eating. The findings also supports the use of indirect cues as an effective approach to promoting social ends.

Originality/value

Offering a novel, indirect method of enhancing judgments of food healthiness via a simple visual cue. Demonstrating the effect and its underlying mechanism. Providing a way to counter the prevalent “unhealthy = tasty” intuition, a major obstacle to promoting healthy eating. Supporting social marketers’ use of indirect communication to increase the appeal of desirable societal goals. Finally, showing that sensory visual cues can serve as a source of heuristic thinking.

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