Effectiveness of health messages based on the transtheoretical model from a public campaign perspective

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] This study applied the transtheoretical model (TTM) to public health campaign messages to promote regular exercise. Recognizing that one of the key construct of the model, processes of change, needs to be tested in a controlled manner, the relationship between the stages of change and the processes of change was examined through an experiment. Decisional balance and self-efficacy were also assessed to determine if the patterns in exercise behavior confirm previous findings on the constructs. The results showed that stages of change were significantly related to attitudes toward regular exercise and intentions to make changes in exercise behavior. The patterns of decisional balance and self-efficacy were fairly consistent with literature. The findings contribute to advancing the TTM and to building more tailored public health campaign strategies for promoting exercise as well as other positive health behaviors.