Tailored and targeted health communication: strategies for enhancing information relevance
Matthew W Kreuter1, Ricardo J Wray
1Health Communication Research Laboratory, School of Public Health, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO 63104, USA. kreuter@slu.edu
Objective:
To discuss tailored messages in the broader context of communication strategies designed to enhance the relevance of health information to a given audience.
Methods:
Describe specific mechanisms through which tailored health communication can enhance message relevance and identify situations in which the use of tailoring is most appropriate.
Results:
Overall, tailored messages appear to stimulate greater cognitive activity than do messages that are not tailored. However, non-tailored messages that happen to be a good fit for a given individual also have similar effects.
Conclusion:
Health communication programs and materials that succeed in making information relevant to their intended audience will be more effective than those that do not. Tailoring is a proven approach to enhancing message relevance, but not the only approach to do so, and under many circumstances may not be the preferred choice.
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