Communicating Healthy Lifestyle Choices in Primetime TV Advertisements
Article

Mass media continue to provide important channels for communicating information about personal health. This study aims to describe the knowledge, attitude and behavior of viewers regarding healthy lifestyle; explore whether the portrayals and messages in TV advertisements can influence people’s attitudes and behaviors toward leading a healthy lifestyle; and find out how the viewers’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviors regarding healthy lifestyles vary across subgroups by sex, age and socio-economic status. The paper reports on a survey of 200 prime-time viewers in Quezon City and key informant interviews of 36 prime-time viewers in Metro Manila. Results show that viewers are able to acquire information from the health advertisements that are relevant to them. They have a positive attitude towards these health messages and are willing to adopt some of the aspects of healthy lifestyle portrayed, however this does not translate to willingness to buy the product advertised.