Mass media and interpersonal influence in a reproductive health communication campaign in Bolivia

Valente, T. W., & Saba, W. P. (1998). Mass media and interpersonal influence in a reproductive
health communication campaign in Bolivia. Communication Research, 25, 96-124.


This study compared mass media and interpersonal influence during a reproductive health communication campaign in Bolivia using the following six behavior change steps: awareness, detailed knowledge, attitudes, intention, interpersonal communication, and family planning method use. The authors found that the main terms of mass media campaign and personal network exposure were associated with behavior change, whereas the multiplicative interaction term was not. Further analysis showed that the mass media campaign was associated with contraceptive adoption for individuals with personal networks composed of few contraceptive users (as perceived by the respondent) and not for individuals with personal networks containing a majority of users. These findings indicate that the mass media may substitute for personal network influences and speed social change by accelerating the behavior change process.