Posters

POSTERS

Posters are an effective means of publicizing issues of importance to public health and serve a role in both education and intervention campaigns. In the 1980s and 1990s, antitobacco campaigns made a prominent use of posters. Among the several content analyses of health communications, one on antitobacco posters assessed the shift in the thematic content of such posters over time. There has been an evolution in antitobacco posters from an emphasis on disseminating knowledge to one on stimulating action among the public. The former approach was aimed at effecting change at the individual level, the second aims more at social action. This follows a basic tenet in social marketing theory that market segmentation is important, though many posters do not demonstrate a clear understanding of this approach.

TOM ABERNATHY

(SEE ALSO: Communication for Health; Communication Theory; Health Promotion and Education; Mass Media and Tobacco Control)