Getting the message across
What makes us respond to certain messages about physical activity and not to others?
It's a well-known fact that exercise has considerable physical benefits. Despite this, many Canadians remain sedentary, putting themselves at risk for obesity, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. AHFMR Population Health Investigator Dr. Tanya Berry wants to know how to get people to tune in and adopt more active lifestyles.
An avid runner and soccer player, Dr. Berry carries her passion for exercise into her research. "I'm really trying to improve the effectiveness of physical-activity messages. It seems like a simple question—'What is the best message to get people moving?'—but it's actually quite difficult to answer," she says. Something that makes one person pay attention to a message may not get another's attention. Similarly, what motivates one person to become active may not motivate someone else. It's like a jigsaw puzzle of questions: only when all the questions are answered can the big picture—and the best messages—become clear.
Picture this . . .
One key to solving the puzzle may lie in how people visualize symptoms. "Symptoms that can be better visualized may make for more effective messages," says Dr. Berry. By way of illustration, she cites high blood pressure, a condition known as "the silent killer" because of its lack of apparent symptoms. People readily associate a heart attack with symptoms such as pain in the arm or tightness in the chest, but they find it difficult to visualize what it is to have high blood pressure, which makes it difficult to design a message that communicates effectively the benefits of physical activity as a means of reducing risk.
But for whom are these messages effective? People in their fifties and sixties who are prime candidates for high blood-pressure and its consequences—including heart attacks—will likely find risk reduction good motivation to become more active. Twenty-somethings may be less affected by this type of health-promotion message; they may be more susceptible to glossy images of glamorous models as physical ideals.
Knowing the competition
"Health-promotion messages are a small part of the whole advertising world," explains Dr. Berry. "There are a million other messages floating around out there, and we really don't know what effects these messages are having. Furthermore, we don't know whether we can compete with these messages or whether we should simply coexist with them."
This is of particular concern with younger people, who may be motivated to be active for reasons of appearance rather than improved health. Dr. Berry wants to determine how different forms of exercise-related advertising influence people. "Perhaps we can use the advertising that's out there to turn young adults on to physical activity for health reasons too. That's what all this work is about: creating a fit, healthy adult population."