Age
The age of the target group influences information preferences for health promotion
messages. Factors such as the language or dialect that is used in a health promotion
intervention can have an effect on the target group. Different age groups use,
understand and interpret language differently.
Different age groups seek health information from different sources. Research
shows that television is cited by younger age groups as a health information preference
and there were decreasing reports of the use of television as a source of health
information with age (Kakai et al., 2003). Kakai et al. also found that newspapers
and magazines were perceived as an important source of information in younger
age groups, and health professional were seen as a valuable source of information
in older age Groups and this importance increased with age. Peterson et al. (2005)
found in a physical activity campaign that television was effective in reaching 18- to
30-year-olds, although it had less impact on intention to exercise than in those who
Saw the advertisements on billboards and bus wrap. This suggests careful analysis of
information preferences that are most likely to lead to action is valuable.
A study by Graff et al. (2004) found differences in attitudes to the Internet with lower
age groups (17-19) reporting more positive attitudes than older age groups (21-32).
Again, this highlights the need to consider the target group in detail, rather than making
estimations that everyone in the 'young adult' age range behaves identically. Age can
also correlate with knowledge and Marek et al, (2011) note that older age( and being female) correlate with better knowledge of sexually transmitted infection (STIs).
"-Age can influence reactions to message content. For example, Henley and Donovan
(2003) illustrate that scare tactics in the media have little effect on older females,
who respond significantly more to non-threats, whereas older males were seen to
respond more to scare tactics. Other research suggests age-related complexities.
For example in a drug use campaign different age groups reported different drug
use levels with campaign awareness (Scheier and Grenard,2010). The wording of
health promotion messages will also need consideration. How a health product is
labelled or packaged has an impact on different audiences. Latimer et al. (2012)
note that adolescent smokers find generic warning labels on cigarette packets
uninteresting and irrelevant, and only pay attention or think about these labels
some of the time suggesting other preventive strategies may need to be considered
for younger smokers.