Consumers’ perception toward the content and marketing strategies of disease prevention PSAs in Hong Kong

The purpose of the paper is to examine consumers’ perception toward the content and marketing strategies of disease prevention public service advertisements (PSAs) as a means of health promotion and how the attitudes varied among different demographic groups in Hong Kong. A survey using quota sampling was conducted in April 2013. Eight hundred and thirty questionnaires were successfully submitted by respondents aged 10–40 or older. Results demonstrated that consumers have favorable attitudes toward disease prevention PSAs in general. Respondents who are females, older people (aged 40 or older), married and heavy television viewers tended to show more positive attitudes toward disease prevention PSAs. Although men under 40 were not seen as receptive, yet, they are heavy users of social media. Thus, policy-makers might consider to use both television and social media as the methods of communication in the future. Endorsements by professionals, such as doctors, are perceived as more effective than PSAs that feature a famous celebrity. Fear appeals are perceived as effective in PSAs. To the best knowledge of the researchers, this is the first study to examine consumers’ perception toward the content and marketing strategies of disease prevention PSAs in a Chinese context.