Conversations among Coal Miners in a Campaign to Promote Hearing Protection

Although working in a coal mine can diminish one's hearing capabilities by 50%, not until 2000 did federal laws require companies to establish noise standards in order to help prevent hearing loss among their employees. Since then, researchers have worked with safety administrators to develop effective messages promoting hearing protection and testing. This research assessed the effects of campaign messages on discussing campaign postcards and talking with others about a helmet-sticker incentive. The results, which are discussed with a focus on future campaigns, indicate that hearing-related attitudes, intentions, and behaviors are the most influenced by messages that were affectively neutral and least influenced by messages that were affectively negative.