H2FLO

H2FLO
Dental carries are one of the most common oral diseases in human beings, and it is prevalent in the developed countries. Notably, dental carries have be0en contended to be a costly burden to the heal6th care services. Three in five adolescents often aged between 12-19 years’ experience dental carries in permanent tooth decay while 15% had untreated tooth decay. The common causes of tooth decay include demineralization from the tooth’s enamel layer when there is acids outbreak at the enamel. Among most college students, dental carries are associated with some of the habits that they have adopted in their lifestyles. These habits include the consumption of energy drinks as well as snacks during their long night studies, poor oral health practices, and binge drinking. These factors are coupled with the lack of knowledge regarding oral health. A significant number of adolescents are not aware of the benefits of fluoride despite the various programs that have been initiated to ensure that fluoride can be acquired. The campaign H2FLO seeks to spread awareness to all the young students, working with residential life as well as the Maryland dining program. The advantages of using filtered water stations hall be highlighted.
Just like any other effort to inform or persuade a large group of people, the H2FLO campaign required a careful analysis of the target audience features, including the current behaviors, as well as the reasons for their current practices. The campaign seeks to impact the University of Maryland, College Park students who are aged 18-25.

The target audience will be the freshman during their orientation. This shall ensure that they develop the habit of using tap water and also the water bottle. Despite the fact that tooth decay has declined in in the United States, every person still faces a risk of developing dental carries in their lifetime. Therefore, the young adults who have permanent teeth are still affected by tooth decay which affects their quality of life. Considering that fluoridation can still continue to benefit those who consume tap water, it is important to sensitize the young people about the advantages of consuming water with fluoride. Notably, the target population is credited for being wireless internet users. Moreover, the number of youth who engage in traditional television watching has declined. Therefore, most young people acquire information regarding the current affairs, politics, as well as health and dieting and the physical fitness from the internet. Consequently, the internet proves to be a vital component, if the campaign information is tailored to the characteristics of the audience members and provided online.
According to research conducted at the University of Nevada where more than one million students participated in the American College Association-National College Health Assessment. Notably, the findings from the evaluation indicated that dental care hygiene awareness started to decline after the freshman year. Although most of the students knew the role of fluorides which aided in mineralizing the tooth enamel, none of the students mentioned tap water as a way of administering fluoride to the teeth. Such is the case at the University of Maryland who do not seem to acknowledge the importance of tap water. The students of the University of Maryland exhibit different attitudes. These attitudes include learned predispositions that may be relatively enduring. Therefore, even though they comprise of values as well as beliefs, the attitudes are also capable of affecting behavior. It is important to note that most of the students have reusable water bottles that they can utilize in fetching tap water from different water stations. However, they prefer bottled water due to the notion that it tastes better and it is easily accessible.
An audience analysis of the variety of the characteristics of the audience members that are closely associated with the campaign health issue will help the campaign designers gain a better understanding of how it influences them. Therefore, the campaign needs accurate as well as precise measurements of how the audience views or feels when using tap water. The strategy to be employed is to generate questionnaires with simple questions such as Do you drink tap water or prefer bottled water? Do you use a reusable water bottle? Do you know the health benefits of drinking tap water? Do you think bottled water is safer than tap water? It has proved to be an impossible task to disseminate questionnaires to the entire target population of the University of Maryland because the population is too large. Therefore, the surveys may be conducted through using a sample of various individuals who are a representative of the larger population. The main feature of the samples will be that they ought to be representative of the larger target population. Therefore, the focus groups shall determine the opinions of a selected group of people regarding a particular topic. Consequently, the campaign designers will be able to acquire information regarding the motivations of the students as well as how they perceive tap water.
Message framing can be employed as a persuasive technique because the information shall be given in a context which can be easily understood. Moreover, framed messages become more interesting as well as palatable to the audience. Notably, the frame itself has been credited for having a direct effect on how a person hears, processes as well as acts on information, consequently, it proves to be ideal for persuasive health communication. In the persuasion the natural tendencies to perceive information through gain as well as loss frames. The gain-framed appeals state the advantages of taking action for, instance; drinking H2FLO can assist in having healthy teeth, along with regular visits to the dentist. On the other hand, the loss-framed appeals state the shortcomings of not taking action, for the case of the campaign, images with decayed teeth are displayed.
The formative evaluation will be critical to the campaign development. Moreover, the increasing utilization of processes, as well as outcome evaluation, further contributes to the refinement of the campaign as it proceeds. Formative evaluation entails undertaking research as well as product testing before the implementation of the campaign. Consequently, the perfect message, medium as well as the technique available within the existing resource materials shall be established. Moreover, the formative evaluation shall entail testing of the marketing mix with the intended target audience, including the product, place as well as promotion. It is important to note that this shall be undertaken with the help of focus groups, surveys, as well as in-depth interviews. Ultimately, this will offer insight to how campaigns should be developed. Additionally, the processes, output, and outcome evaluation can also be employed to improve the health campaign in line with the intended objectives.