How to encourage non-donors to be more willing to donate blood? Testing of binding communication based interventions

Objectives: Our study aims to test the effectiveness of binding communication based interventions (vs classical persuasive communication based ones) inciting non-donors to act in favour of blood donation.

Background: The implementation of effective communication interventions represents a major public health issue. Nevertheless, persuasive media campaigns appear to have little effect on behaviours. Even though non-donors hold a positive attitude towards blood donation, they are not inclined to donate. As an alternative to producing behavioural changes, many recent studies have shown the superiority of binding communication over persuasive communication.

Methods: All participants, non-donors, were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions of a 2 (type of communication: persuasive vs binding) × 2 (source credibility: low vs high) factorial design. Then, they were asked to report their intention to donate blood, and their intention to distribute leaflets regarding blood donation.

Results: Binding communication is a more effective strategy for increasing intention towards blood donation compared with persuasive communication, especially when combined with high credibility source.

Discussion: Accordingly this study calls for more consideration of knowledge of social psychology to design effective communication interventions and increase the number of donations.