Conducted a groundbreaking study in the field of mental health

Challenge
Countries worldwide spend millions of dollars on Myth & Fact marketing campaigns aiming to reduce mental illness stigma. However, their efficacy has never been tested.

Approach

  • Secondary research to explore existing studies and current understanding

  • Utilized secondary research to categorize stigma into 3 categories: avoidance, accountability, and perceived danger

  • Developed a Myth & Fact flyer (as seen above) drawing from existing campaigns and psychology textbooks

  • Formed 4 test groups with varying time delays: control (immediate response), 30-minute delay, 2-day delay, and 7-day delay, to simulate real-world conditions

  • Created a Qualtrics survey and a sensitive Likert scale to mitigate social desirability bias

  • Administered the Qualtrics survey in a laboratory setting to collect initial responses from 359 participants

Impact

The results indicated stigma did not change for the dimensions of avoidance and responsibility, but increased of perceptions of danger particularly in the shortest delay group. These results imply that the “Myth and Fact” social marketing strategy is at best ineffective and may actually increase mental illness stigma. A different marketing approach is recommended.