Cover Lines Using Positive, Urgent, Unique Language Entice Moms to Read Health Communications

Crafting messages that capture consumer interest is a frequent challenge of health communicators. A better understanding of the techniques magazine editors use to create cover lines may aid health communicators in their efforts to arouse interest in their communiqués. This study (a) content-analyzed magazine cover lines, (b) used content analysis findings to create health-related cover lines, and (c) assessed the degree to which the health-related cover lines fostered motivation to read the health communication. Cover lines (N = 867) from 11 magazines published in 2012 frequently read by mothers of young children used a variety of themes, with those focusing on informative/how-to, control/improve, and unique/special being most common. Health communication experts used key descriptor terms corresponding to each theme and wrote 310 cover lines for topics focusing on childhood obesity prevention strategies. Unpaired t tests revealed that mothers of young children (N = 77) reported they were significantly (p < .05) more motivated to read a short, health-related magazine article when cover lines had a happiness/fun, unique/special, or quick/urgency theme and were significantly less motivated to read when cover lines used a control/improve theme. Study findings may help health communicators create cover lines that better attract reader attention.