142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Home Events & Meetings Annual Meeting Schedule & Program

Online Program

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

310740
"No One's Asking For It." Student Perceptions of a Sexual Consent Social Marketing Campaign

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Wednesday, November 19, 2014 : 11:30 AM - 11:45 AM

Amanda Mabry, M.P.H. , College of Communication, Department of Advertising, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
Erin Burrows, M.A. , Voices Against Violence, The University of Texas at Austin, Counseling and Mental Health Center, Austin, TX
Audio (mp3) recording Recorded Presentation (mp4)
Background: Sexual violence is a serious public health concern for college students. An estimated 30% of women and 6% of men report being a victim of attempted or completed sexual assault by the time they finish college. The prevalence and severity of sexual assault has spurred US colleges to institute education and prevention programs; many of which address sexual consent. However, while consent is considered a defining characteristic of sexual assault (sex without consent), there is no universal definition. An unclear understanding of consent complicates students' understanding of sexual violence.

Health educators must understand how students perceive and interpret sexual consent behaviors in order to implement effective sexual violence prevention programs. This project explores how students understand the concept of sexual consent, enact behaviors associated with giving and receiving consent, and perceive social marketing promoting a communicative model of consent.

Methods:  Students will be recruited for an online qualitative study via research participant pool or e-mail. The survey assesses perceptions of sexual consent behaviors in themselves and others, and evaluates the design and personal impact of a social marketing campaign called No One’s Asking for It.

Findings:  Data (N=200) will be collected in February 2014 and analyzed for presentation at the conference along with suggestions for social marketing strategies.

Conclusions:  The goal of this project is to understand perceptions of sexual consent among college students and identify perceived barriers and benefits of a communicative model of consent. Such research is critical to developing effective social marketing programs for sexual violence prevention.

Learning Areas:

Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Describe how undergraduate college students understand, interpret, and display sexual consent behaviors. Identify key elements recommended for developing social marketing messages about sexual consent and its importance to sexual assault prevention. Define a communicative model of sexual consent.

Keyword(s): Sexual Assault, College Students

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the principal investigator for this study evaluating student perceptions of a social marketing campaign. I have also presented research at international communication conferences on evaluating social marketing campaigns addressing sexual assault prevention using both qualitative and quantitative methodology. I am interested in social norms associated with sexual behaviors and have recently published research examining the social norms approach to social marketing in a peer-reviewed journal.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 5136.0: Social Marketing Campaigns (organized by HCWG)