Impacts of a national mass media campaign on walking in Scotland

Abstract

The promotion of walking as a form of exercise holds considerable potential, both in terms of health benefits and its wide appeal to inactive groups. This paper presents the results of the evaluation of a national mass media walking campaign in Scotland which involved a 40s television advertisement and a telephone helpline. The target population consisted of people aged 30-55 who are not regular exercisers. The campaign impact was assessed in terms of awareness of the campaign and pre- and post-campaign changes in knowledge and beliefs about walking as a good form of exercise, in motivations and intentions regarding walking/exercise and in walking/exercise behaviour. The evaluation involved two population surveys and baseline and follow-up surveys of the helpline callers. Awareness levels for the television advertisement peaked at 70% of the adult population during the first 4-week burst of advertising, falling to 54% during the non-broadcast period. The evaluation findings show that, at a population level, the campaign had a notable positive impact on knowledge about walking as a form of exercise but no impact on walking behaviour. Among the helpline callers the campaign had a substantial impact at the level of intentions and behaviour. 48% of the callers followed up at 1 year claimed to be more physically active and there was an overall shift from the 'contemplation' stage of change at baseline towards the 'action' stage at the 10-week and 1-year follow-ups. The proportion of adults aware of the telephone helpline rose from 5% at the start of the campaign to 16% 4 months later, but only 5% of these respondents used the service. This level of use represents 0.1% coverage at the start of the campaign rising to 1% 4 months later.