Understanding the perspectives of target audience members through audience research and developing messages in response to these perspectives is the surest way to ensure that the campaign will be effective. The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign is, and will continue to be, developed based on input from audience members at various stages in the message development process. Audience members will be consulted in a variety of ways before message strategies are developed, and again throughout the process of message execution.

Knowing how to transform audience research into effective messages is the "art" of the communication process. The insights of experienced communication professionals are critical in creating messages that touch hearts and minds, and move members of the target audience to action. Through its collaboration with the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, the National Youth Anti- Drug Media Campaign will harness the efforts of many of America's most experienced and talented communication professionals.

In addition to the insights provided by audience research and the artistry by which this information is translated into messages, there is also a "science" of effective message design as expressed in the literature in the fields of consumer marketing, advertising, public health communication, and social psychology (Maibach & Parrott, 1995). The science of message design arises from the fact that although people are diverse in myriad ways, there are consistent patterns in how they process information, and in the types of information that influence motivation and subsequent action. By understanding these processes, communication professionals can harness them to make their messages more effective.

The following message design considerations gleaned from the academic and professional literatures in various disciplines will be used to inform the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. Because of developmental differences between adolescents and adults, certain of these considerations pertain only to adolescents or adults.

Message Execution Considerations for All Audiences

• Messages should be tailored to match the age and the social and psychographic profile of the target audience (Flynn, Worden, et al., 1994; Maibach & Cotton, 1995; Palmgreen et al., 1995). As far as possible, however, messages should be designed to be sensitive to a wider variety of audience groups so that they have wider appeal and applicability.

• The more audience members can be engaged to actually think about the message (including imagined or actual rehearsal of the recommended behavior), the more likely they are to experience appropriate changes in knowledge, attitudes, and behavior (Maibach & Flora, 1993; Petty, Baker, & Fleischer, 1991). Characteristics of message executions that encourage active processing of messages include unusual, unfamiliar and novel presentations of the information, presentations in discrepant or unexpected contexts, and specific cues requesting audience members to attend to the information (Parrot, 1995).

• Clearly demonstrating peers modeling performances of the recommended behaviors and/or experiencing the (negative or positive) consequences of these actions is one of the most effective means of enhancing viewers' skills, confidence to use those skills, perceptions of consequences, and motivations (Bandura, 1997).

• Fear appeals can be effective, but only in combination with messages that heighten viewers' feelings of vulnerability to the threat and offer them a solution that is easy and effective (Hale & Dillard, 1995).

• Messages produced with high "sensation value" are effective in attracting the attention and interest of youth in the target audiences (Lorch et al., 1994). High "sensation value" production qualities include novelty, complexity, intensity, ambiguity, unconventionality, suspense, fast pace, and emotionality (Donohew, Palmgreen, & Lorch, 1994). However, message properties such as ambiguity and rapid pacing can, in some instances, inhibit comprehension of message content, particularly with younger children. Thus, the use of ambiguity and rapid pacing should be tempered by consideration of the age and cognitive capacities of the target audience.

• The use of peer models, especially socially attractive peer models, is an excellent means of gaining the attention and interest of youth audience members. The attributes of socially attractive peer models include good looks, a sense of humor, an outgoing personality, having many friends (including older friends), and being popular with members of the opposite sex, getting good grades, liking "cool music," and being good at sports and video games.⁸ However, the peer models used in messages should not be overly attractive "models" with whom the average teenager cannot identify.

• Young people tend to pattern their expectations and behaviors based on what they observe among slightly older peers (i.e., students one or several grades ahead). To take advantage of this "looking up" phenomenon, messages that use peer modeling should feature young people who are a few years older than members of the intended target audience.

• Peer togetherness is highly valued by young people. Conversely, separateness and being different are perceived as negatives. Themes of togetherness may be an effective means of communicating the positive social consequences of drug non-use, and themes of loneliness a means of communicating the negative consequences of use (Teenage Marketing and Lifestyle Study, 1995; Zollo, 1995).

• Although teenagers want to "belong" and "fit in" they don't want to be like everyone else (Zollo, 1995). Teenagers are striving to carve out a unique identity for themselves, and like to believe that they are independent thinkers who have reached their own conclusions. Thus, advertisements that place the facts before them without explicitly exhorting them to subscribe to the message are likely to be well received. Similarly, advertisements that present and market a certain image without explicitly stating the desirability or undesirability of that image are likely to have a better impact than messages that are too obvious.⁹

• Audience research suggests the following "rules" for teen advertising: be funny; be honest; be clear; be original; use music that audience members really like; say or show an important benefit of the product; don't talk down; don't try too hard to be cool; and feature people who are about the same age as the intended audience (Zollo, 1995).

• Messages should use language that is familiar to adolescents of that age group. However, there are large variations in slang among subgroups of teens, so that using anything but the most basic "teenspeak" can backfire and be perceived as inappropriate (Zollo, 1995). Also, teen slang should only come from the mouth of teens. Any adult efforts to appropriate teen terminology may be seen as condescending or ridiculous.

• Given the need for universal messages and the multicultural perspective of youth culture, where possible messages should feature youth from diverse ethnic backgrounds.

• Although risk analogies can be useful (i.e., explaining a poorly understood risk by comparing it to another more commonly understood risk), such comparisons must be done with caution. The two risks compared should have certain qualities in common, otherwise audience members are likely to reject both the risk comparison and the message (Holtgrave, Tinsley, & Kay, 1995).

• People often have difficulty understanding quantitative expressions of risk (e.g., "a one in three chance"), yet qualitative expressions of risk (e.g., "many") are understood in vastly different ways by different people. Messages that attempt to convey risk information should, when possible, use both quantitative and qualitative expressions to increase audience comprehension (Holtgrave, Tinsley, & Kay, 1995).

• People underestimate the cumulative probability that an event will occur (e.g., the odds of wrecking a car by the time you are 18 if you drive under the influence several times per year), even if they correctly understand the odds that the event will occur on any one occasion. Expressing cumulative probabilities can be an effective means of enhancing the perceived relevance of a risk (Holtgrave, Tinsley, & Kay, 1995).

• People are in varying stages of readiness to adopt the recommended behaviors. Messages intended for people who are not yet ready to adopt the behavior should focus mostly on enhancing the perceived relevance of the recommendations, and enhancing audience members' confidence in their ability to enact the recommendations. Messages intended for people who are ready to act should focus more on the skills and other information necessary to effectively perform the recommended behaviors (Maibach & Cotton, 1995).