Media Development for

Social and Behavior Change Communication

Dien Anshari, Ph.D

Dept. of Health Education and Behavioral Sciences
Faculty of Public Health – Universitas Indonesia

dienanshari@gmail.com @dienanshari anshari

Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC)

SBCC is an approach that uses the power of

communication to change behaviors by influencing
people’s knowledge, attitudes and social norms for
the better.

SBCC coordinates messaging across a variety of communication

channels, reaching multiple level of society (e.g., individual,
community, policy makers), so people receive the right
information, at the right time, from sources they know and trust.
Prerequisites in Media Development for SBCC:

1. Situation Analysis
2. Audience Analysis
3. Program Analysis
4. Channel Mix
5. Creative Brief
6. Message Design
Situation Analysis
A situation analysis guides the identification of priorities and informs all the
following steps in a SBCC program.
 It involves a systematic collection and study of health and demographic
data, study findings and other contextual information to identify and
understand the specific health issue.
 It examines the current status of the health issue as well as the social,
economic, and political context in which the health issue exists and
establishes the vision for the SBCC program.
 It establishes a clear, detailed and realistic picture of the opportunities,
resources, challenges and barriers regarding a particular health issue or
behavior.

A complete situation analysis gathers information on four areas:

 The problem, its severity and its causes.
 The people affected by the problem (potential audiences).
 The broad context in which the problem exists.
 Factors inhibiting or facilitating behavior change.
Audience Analysis
A complete audience analysis looks at:
 Socio-demographic characteristics (e.g., sex, age, language and religion).
 Geographic characteristics like where the audience lives and how that might
impact behavior.
 Psychographic characteristics such as needs, hopes, and concerns.
 Audience thoughts, beliefs, knowledge and current actions related to the
health or social issue.
 Barriers and facilitators that prevent or encourage audience members to
adopt the desired behavior change.
 Gender and how it impacts audience members’ behavior change.
 Effective communication channels for reaching the audience.

An audience analysis is a process used to identify and understand the

priority and influencing audiences for a SBCC strategy.
The priority and influencing audiences are those people whose behavior
must change in order to improve the health situation. An audience
analysis informs the design of materials, messages, media selection and
activities of a SBCC strategy.
Program Analysis
A program analysis is used as a planning tool when the program is under
development and helps the program team explore the following factors
that may enhance or constrain the planned SBCC program and then
utilizes the findings for program design:
 Human and Physical Resources
 Political Environment and Trends
 Programmatic and Management Structure
 Community and Client Dynamics
 Technological Resources
 Financial Resources and Funding

A program analysis is the process of identifying enabling and

limiting factors for successful implementation of an SBCC program.
Findings from the program analysis inform the design of the
program/campaign strategy and identify clear actions to be taken
to enhance the potential for success.
Channel Mix
 Identify communication channels that best reach the priority
audience to deliver the messages
 Find the optimal blend of channels that maximizes reach and
effectiveness of the messages. Using a strategic blend of
multiple channels (e.g., mass media, community and
interpersonal channels), increases an audience’s exposure to
messages and repetition of the message, allowing different
channels to reinforce meaning. Repeat exposure improves the
likelihood that a message will be understood and accepted.

An effective channel mix plan ensures that

messages appear in the right place and at the
right time to reach the priority audience.
Channel Mix (cont.)
A channel mix plan includes:
 Information on what channels are most effective for the
priority audience, based on past impact, audience needs and
preferences, and channel availability.
 Recommendations for how the program should combine
different channels based on their pros and cons, the fit
between the message and the channel, as well as the
appropriate timing and scheduling of the messages.
 Information on resources available and how they will be
allocated to different channels.

Ultimately, the channel mix depends on the

communication landscape, audience characteristics, the
program’s objectives and messages, reach and intensity,
and budget.
Creative Brief
A creative brief is a short, written document used by project
managers and creative professionals to guide the development
of creative materials (e.g. movie, story book, infographic, social
media content, advertising materials, websites, slogans, etc.).

It sets the direction, defines the audience(s), focuses on the key

messages and shows the desired results for an SBCC campaign
or materials.

The creative brief includes:

The priority and influencing audiences;
The importance of reaching those audiences.
The key behaviors to promote.
The reason the audience(s) should adopt a specific behavior.
The benefits of taking that action.
 Key Messages Design
“The process of connecting
what we know about our priority audiences
with key information that they need to know
so they can make the change as the program desires.”

Successful, well-designed key messages are:

o Simple
o Memorable
o Easily understood
o Culturally appropriate, and
o Meaningful to the audiences.

The design stems from a clear creative brief that outlines what
the communication intervention aims to achieve.
Message Design (cont.)
In social and behavior change communication (SBCC),
a message is a statement containing key points of information
that a program wants to communicate to an audience to
encourage behavior change.

To be effective, a message needs to:

 include a clear call to action, and
 address the behavioral determinant of interest.

A message to a key audience, therefore, typically reflects:

1) a desired action (which should be small and applicable) from
the audience,
2) the key promise or benefit if they perform the action, and
3) supporting information associated with the benefit.
Key Messages Design (Examples)

Audience Audience Characteristics Desired behavior Barriers Key Message

Married Needs validation from Give a complete To be respected Vaccination is
women ages husband and family. and on time by family and religiously
18-25 with Motivated by peers vaccination for peers, you have to acceptable and
one baby. recognition. the baby. be religious. safe.
Aspires to be religious.

Key Promise Support Points Key Message

If you give a complete • Vaccination protects a baby from With vaccination, you and
vaccination for your baby, serious diseases which can incur death your children are in control
he/she will grow up or economic lost (Fact). of your life.
healthy. • Aisha gave a complete vaccination for
her daughter Annisa and feels secure to
pursue her career without worrying
about her daughter getting sick
(Testimonial).
Effective Communication Checklist
7 C's Description Message Check
Command Attention Attract and hold the audience’s attention. Does the message stand out?
Make it memorable.
Clarify the Message Ensure the message is clear and easily Is the message simple and
understood. Less is more! direct?
Communicate a Stress the advantages of adopting the Is it clear what benefit the
Benefit new behavior being promoted. audience receives if they take
the action?
Consistency Counts Repeat the same message consistently to Are all messages consistent?
avoid confusion and enhance the impact Can the message be conveyed
of the message. across different media?
Create Trust The credibility of the message is Is the message credible? What
important. Without trust and credibility, source will make the message
the message will go unheeded. most credible?
Cater to the Heart People are swayed by both facts and Does the message use
and Head emotions. Use both to maximize the emotion, as well as logic and
persuasiveness of the message. facts?
Call to Action Include a clear call to action. Tell the Does the message clearly
audience precisely what they should do. communicate what the
audience should do?
Pretesting the Message
Share the key messages with a
small group or sample of the
priority audience for their
reaction and opinions.
 Prepare test versions of the
messages.
 Pretest messages.
 Revise the messages based on
pretest results and the
creative and technical teams’
professional opinions.
 Finalize messages in
preparation for materials
development.
Material Development (example: audio visual)

Both creative brief and key

messages will be used to develop
various materials according to
the channel mix plan. Example
Creative brief Key messages below is for a video production.

Synopsis Storyboard Shooting Video editing

Pretest the synopsis and storyboard

References and Free Resources
SBCC Guideline and materials:
Health Compass
https://www.thehealthcompass.org

Online story idea maker:

Plot Generator
https://www.plot-generator.org.uk
Synopsis

Online free storyboard maker:

Storyboard That http://www.storyboardthat.com
Canva https://www.canva.com/create/storyboards/
Storyboard