Social Diffusion of Campaign Effects

This study examines the role of campaign conversation in the generation and diffusion of campaign effects. Based on Hornik’s social diffusion model of campaign influence, this study tests whether campaign conversation, along with campaign exposure, can be a process through which a campaign affects a person’s health perceptions using secondary analyses of the Truth SM campaign data. The results of a multilevel modeling of the Legacy Media Tracking Survey (LMTS) data ( n = 10,357) show that the effect of the Truth SM campaign activity in the media on individuals’ smoking-related beliefs was conveyed through campaign exposure and campaign conversation. Theoretical and practical implications for campaign planning and evaluation are discussed in this article.