pink-book

BENEFITS AND LIMITATIONS OF PRETESTING
Benefits
Examples of benefits derived from pretests include:
• Assess attention. Central location intercept interviews conducted by the National Heart,
Lung, and Blood Institute showed that using symbols/analogies was a promising way to
gain attention and to convey a message. However, the message itself must be fairly
simple, or the use of an analogy becomes a complicating liability. For example, using a
freeze frame and reverse action to “reverse” the risk of high blood pressure was attention
getting, but no analogies for multiple risk factor messages proved straightforward
enough to work successfully.
• Assess comprehensibility. When developing the USDA food pyramid, extensive pretesting
revealed that the pyramid shape conveyed key concepts more clearly than a bowl or
other shapes. In addition, planners learned that representing fats, oils, and sugars as a
bottle of salad dressing, a can of soda, and a bowl of sugar created widespread
misunderstanding. Substituting a stick of butter, a droplet of oil, and a spoonful of sugar
improved comprehension.
• Assess motivation. Research conducted for the National Bone Health Campaign, Powerful
Bones, Powerful Girls, explored campaign concepts designed to increase calcium
consumption and weight-bearing physical activity among 9- to 12-year-old girls. Girls
identified strength—in the form of self-confidence and physical strength—as a key
benefit of bone-healthy behaviors. The campaign theme, “Powerful Bones, Powerful
Girls,” was perceived as motivating, as were examples set in real-world settings and
during social activities.
• Assess recall. In a test of a booklet on lung cancer, patients could recall on average 2 out
of 12 ideas presented; half the patients could recall none. Too many technical terms, the
density of concepts, and too little differentiation between diagnostic and treatment
procedures inhibited intended audience recall. Another problem was the inclusion of
concepts unimportant to readers. Although they wanted more information on outcomes
and treatment, they had no interest in a description of the disease.
• Determine personal relevance. When the National Bone Health Campaign research team
explored the credibility of a spokesperson among girls 9–12 years old, the intended
audience wanted to hear from “a girl like me.” Girls said they wanted to hear the
message from a female who was strong, bold, confident, active, healthy, and popular.
This guided the development of Carla, a cartoon spokes-character whose name means
strong. Carla speaks to girls as a peer working to build powerful bones. In the pretesting
of a Web site featuring Carla, girls from varied backgrounds described her as “powerful,”
“fun,” “busy like girls I know,” and “someone who feels good about herself”—someone
they'd like to know and be like.
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80 Developing and Pretesting Concepts, Messages, and Materials