Health campaigns, such as those against drug abuse or those promoting infection prevention measures during the coronavirus pandemic, are key public health tools and help protect the population. A recent campaign of the World Health Organization (WHO), for example, was launched in October 2024 under the motto “Redefine Alcohol”. This call to action encourages people in Europe to reflect on the health effects of alcohol consumption, which, according to the WHO is currently directly responsible for one in eleven deaths in the European region.

However, not all health campaigns achieve the desired effect. Having an objective measure of the effectiveness of health-related messages at the campaign development stage would thus be extremely valuable. To this end, psychologists from the Konstanz Cluster of Excellence “Collective Behaviour” led by Harald Schupp and Britta Renner are conducting studies measuring the brain activity of viewers who watch real video health messages against risky alcohol consumption.

In laboratory experiments using advanced imaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) or electroencephalography (EEG), the researchers have previously demonstrated that particularly strong messages lead to an increased synchronization of the viewers’ brain activity. This means that, when watching the video, the participants’ brain activity changes in a similar way – particularly in regions of the brain associated with higher-order processes such as attention, emotions and personal relevance.

From the lab to real-world application

The Konstanz researchers used simpler, portable EEGs for the first time in a recent study. They measured the brain waves of the viewers in a standard seminar room – i.e. outside an elaborately shielded laboratory – and of a whole group of participants at the same time. They demonstrated that the synchronization of brain waves while watching particularly strong video messages against risky alcohol consumption can also be measured under these real-world conditions and with the simplified, more cost-effective technical setup.

This is an important step toward making the method more practical for public health applications. In the future, EEG studies in small ‘neural’ focus groups conducted outside university laboratories could contribute to the evidence-based development and selection of campaign materials, ensuring greater effectiveness of health campaigns.”

Harald Schupp

Read more about the synchronization of brain waves in humans and the advantages of using neural measures in psychology over classical surveys in our Science Backstage series: https://www.campus.uni-konstanz.de/en/science-backstage-1/measuring-brain-waves-to-assess-the-effectiveness-of-health-campaigns