From Fear to Optimism: How Health Messaging Has Evolved

"We live in an age in which videos are a dominant communication medium. This has roots in the emergence of broadcast TV many decades ago, but has surged as a result of advances of digital technology. As a university professor I have made use of videos that convey information on topics related to the psychology of health. These include health-related behavior, stress and emotion, chronic pain, and obesity, among others. Over the years, I have acquired a collection of these."

"The ad attempts to create a need by conveying the idea that the viewer is missing out on a source of pleasure if they are not smoking the advertised brand of cigarettes. It also addresses a possible barrier to its use, the expectation of a harsh, unpleasant taste, by promising that this will not occur. All this is done explicitly through the words of the narrator. Implicitly, through what has been referred to as peripheral persuasion, the cigarette is associated with youth, lively fun."

Videos have become a dominant mode of communication, driven by the rise of broadcast television and recent digital-technology advances. Video materials can convey psychology of health topics such as health-related behavior, stress and emotion, chronic pain, and obesity. Advertising historically used persuasive techniques to create desire, reduce perceived barriers, and employ peripheral cues linking products to youth and pleasure. Early public-health videos often relied on threat-based scare tactics to motivate change. Contemporary health-promotion videos increasingly emphasize concrete, doable action plans and content that conveys positive emotion and optimism to support behavior change.

Read at Psychology Today