ABSTRACT
This chapter is a literature review of the conceptual landscape upon which health campaign research is based, and discusses some recent ideas to advance scholarship in the field. It also briefly describes some common research variables. Some of the diseases, conditions and public health challenges that health communication campaign researchers have addressed are mentioned. The evolution of the conceptual frameworks underlying health communication research, and some widely used theoretical models, are introduced with accompanying challenges and opportunities for future research. The chapter focuses on the development of research about health behaviour
decisions when non-fiction mass media are used and where campaigns are supplemented by interpersonal support systems. Most of the research cited here is from the USA, where health campaign research has been active for more than 30 years. The chapter’s focal point is the conceptual underpinnings of research as there have been recent overviews describing and critiquing the primary findings from health communication campaigns (Atkin 2001; Rice and Katz 2001; Hornik 2002a; Thompson et al. 2003; Dutta-Bergman 2005; Murero and Rice 2006; Noar 2006).
