Glenda B. Claborne
Comm 620 (Spring '98)
Paper # 4
Applying persuasion research on social problems.
(Rather, reflecting on health and faith billboard messages and how these can be used for alcohol prevention ad campaigns.)
Within the past four weeks, two articles on billboard messages appearing at major traffic intersections around Tucson were featured in the Arizona Daily Star's Metro/Region section (April 23, 1999 & May 7, 1999). One article featured the ban on cigarette billboards and the efforts of health professionals to put up their own billboard messages. The other article featured displays of faith, a nationwide "God Speaking" ad campaign to promote God as the "guy next door."
The first article showed a picture of a billboard about two robust, handsome cowboys on "strapping" horses against a background of "jeweled" mountains and a big, blue sky. All the requisite visual images for a cigarette ad but with a different message: one cowboy confiding to the other, "Bob, I've got emphysema."
The other article featured a picture of a simple, black and white billboard with the simple message, "You think it's hot here?" and signed, "- God." The article mentioned other messages being displayed and will be rotated around Tucson as in other cities in the U.S and which includes: "Keep using my name in vain, I'll make rush hour longer", "We need to talk", "Follow me", and, "I don't question your existence." All the messages are reported to be signed simply, "God."
What is striking about the "emphysema" billboard is the juxtaposition of robustness and disease through the popular and ingrained symbolism of cigarette advertising. The imagery has come a long way and the "disease" message successfully co-opts the imagery at its most vulnerable point: robust, handsome, smoking cowboys can have diseased lungs, too.
With the "God" billboard, its impact is in its stark simplicity. There is no visual imagery to drive home the message. Instead, the simplicity and straightforwardness of the message forces the receiver to take in the immediate visual environment surrounding the billboard and to take that into his cognitive processing of the message.
The messages work well through the medium. Big signs looming out of busy intersections where chances are that motors would idle long enough for commuters to look idly around them and that commuters would be exposed repeatedly to the signs. Messages on billboards are thrust onto commuters without them having to turn on a gadget or a speaker having to try his best to get their attention.
The apparent muteness and the imposing presence of billboards can induce both central and peripheral cognitive processing. The simplicity and succinctness of messages on billboards coupled with the solitariness (in many cases) of a commuter on a busy intersection set the stage for central cognitive processing. The visual symbols on the billboard become part of the total landscape on the highway but helps drive in the core message.
A possible approach to message construction for alcohol prevention suitable for billboards would be simple, straightforward questions that would make people think about the reasons why they drink? One of the problems of constructing alcohol-prevention messages is the fact that drinking is generally seen as the hallmark of hospitality and sociability. In some religions, alcohol is integrated into their rituals and traditions. These make it very hard to construct a balanced message that recognizes the medical and socio-economic consequences of excessive drinking as well as the social and emotional benefits of alcohol. It is also harder to stigmatize drinking than smoking because drinking is more often consumed in social functions and events. Because most people take their drinking habits for granted, a simple question like "Why do I drink?" makes people think about their habits without the message prescribing or proscribing in a way that overlooks the normativity and the dangers of alcohol use. Some people maybe induced to realize that their drinking habits are not so much for socializing but for coping with stress. Some people maybe induced to think about the role of alcohol in their religious practices and rituals and thus gain a better appreciation of the proper place of alcohol in their lives. In a way, a question like "Why do I drink?" is directed at the individual but also forces him/her to look at the communal context in which he/she drinks.
One side of any issue concerning addictive substances that is often overlooked is the larger segment of the population who do not smoke or drink. While prevention programs are designed to nip addiction in the bud before anyone starts smoking or drinking, nonsmokers and nondrinkers usually take preventive messages for granted because of their low involvement with the issue. They do not actively engage in thinking about alcohol use in their lives. One persuasive strategy would be to pose the simple question to abstainers on billboards, "Why do I abstain?" As with the question for drinkers, this question can induce abstainers to think about why they do not drink and may learn not to take their abstinence or moderation for granted. Perhaps the reasoning that is induced by the question can also lead to an appreciation of being able to solve problems and live well without leaning on addictive substances.