title: The influence of organizational characteristics and campaign design elements on communication campaign quality: evidence from 91 Ugandan AIDS campaigns.
abstract: This research proposes and tests a model of the relationship between organizational factors, campaign design elements, and campaign quality of communication campaigns. It is the first quantitative study to test these relationships across many organizations. The context for the study was AIDS education and outreach campaigns in Uganda, during a time of successful decrease in the spread of HIV infection. Ninety-one organizations were surveyed. Since only 14% of the organizations collected exposure or outcome data, the study focused on the factors affecting campaign quality. Quality was examined by measuring goal specificity, execution quality, and message quality. The results show that financial resources, professional training, participation of outreach workers in planning the campaign, and audience participation in planning and executing the campaign were key organizational variables affecting the quality of the campaigns. The important campaign design elements affecting campaign quality were conducting research, using multiple channels, targeting only a few groups, and pretesting messages. The results have import for campaign planners, managers of organizations conducting campaigns, and funders. In addition, it is vital that organizations collect exposure and outcome data in the future to provide feedback on each campaign.
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Sciences, University of Connecticut Storrs 06269, USA. kiwanukaj@hotmail.com
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kiwanuka-Tondo
authors.forename: Leslie B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Snyder
mesh_terms: D003153:Community Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006266:Health Education / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D010565:Persuasive Communication; D015397:Program Evaluation; D014454:Uganda / Q000453:epidemiology