Assessing Transportation into Entertainment Television Programs for Audiences with Previous Health-Related Experience

• In Event: Building Bridges Between Fun and Learning: Edutainment in Action

Abstract

Where traditional public health campaign strategies fall short, might entertainment television be more effective with ‘hard-to-reach’ audiences? Using an experimental design, this study examined belief change among participants with varying levels of experience with high-risk health issues. Participants with more previous problem-eating experience showed significant belief change after exposure to a broadcast television program. From communications and public health perspectives, potential applications of entertainment television programs and implications for health issues are discussed.

Author

• Carmen Stitt, California State Univ, Sacramento