Evaluation of the 'A walk can work wonders' mass media campaign in South Australia

Few population-wide efforts have targeted physical activity in Australia. Mass media campaigns are used to promote physical activity and walking, and World Health Organisation recommends their linkage to broader cross-government initiatives. This project evaluates a South Australian (SA) walking mass media campaign linked to the overall SA Walking Strategy.

Between January and June 2022, Wellbeing SA (a SA government agency) conducted two waves of a mass media campaign, 'A walk can work wonders', to promote walking. The campaign was part of the SA Walking Strategy, targeting the goal to change the 'community culture towards recognising walking' as convenient, affordable and health-promoting. Evaluation was formative (pre-campaign), process (campaign implementation and delivery) and impact. Formative evaluation comprised concept and tagline testing with adult SAs to develop the campaign messages and theme. Process evaluation was comprised of media monitoring of social media, mainstream media and other media monitoring metrics. The process evaluation was dominated by social media marketing in Wave 1, with substantially more paid TV media and radio in Wave 2. The impact evaluation comprised two independent sample surveys of adult SAs (n = 800 each) following each wave of the campaign. Measures included generic and prompted campaign recall and attitudes to physical activity. An independent South Australian Population Health Survey (SAPHS) tracked walking and physical activity behaviours from 2021 to the end of 2022.

Process evaluation showed intensive social media usage in Wave 1, and through increased paid television and radio in Wave 2. Generic recall of any walking message (23.9%) and prompted recall of the specific campaign message (27.8%) reached most socio-demographic groups, especially those with chronic health problems. Increases in intention to increase activity and increased self-reported activity were seen between the campaign Wave 1 and Wave 2 notable as the Wave 2 increase followed substantial television advertising. The SAPHS data showed increased population walking following the campaign waves, compared to the same period in 2021.

Detailed and structured evaluation of a comprehensive mass media campaign showed good reach, and population changes in intentions and walking behaviour amongst SAs. SO WHAT?: It is likely that comprehensive approaches are needed to support mass media campaigns and amplify their effects. Serial, sustained campaigns are needed to monitor ongoing effects.