Making Health Communications Meaningful for Women: Factors That Influence Involvement

Abstract

Focus groups and interviews were held with women from various ethnic, class, educational, and sexual backgrounds to explore antecedent factors that may characterize involvement, a key variable in the situational theory of publics. Findings revealed that a consciousness of everyday life, source preference, self-identity, a consciousness of personal health, and cognitive analyses of message content influenced involvement with health messages. Public relations practitioners can use findings to better tailor health messages to specific needs and lifestyles of different women.