On the Need for a Life-Span Approach to Health Campaign Evaluation

Abstract

Campaign evaluation researchers should investigate age not just as an audience segmentation variable but also as a potentially valuable moderator of measure validity and campaign effects. Although researchers interested in physician–patient interaction and family communication have long considered aging dynamics, media campaign evaluation research has insufficiently addressed changes over the life span. In this article, I summarize some examples illustrating the importance of such work and propose additional theoretical possibilities.