The Portrayal of AIDS in Mexico - Research Paper Example

Introduction The portrayal of AIDS in different countries is one that not only requires the basic understanding of the disease and the need to take preventative measures. Ensuring that advertising campaigns and messages are received by the public in the correct manner is essential to the success of different campaigns. The portrayal of AIDS in Mexico, and the different approaches that are required for this particular subject are essential to the success of the campaign. The sensitivity that is a part of the campaign is the primary importance that has to be given. The campaign needs to combine social expectations with cultural understanding of the disease and the surrounding context that is a part of this. Portraying the message in the correct manner will make a difference in the promotion of protection and safety of AIDS while providing a stronger basis for the communication and messages received by the public. Portrayal of AIDS in Mexico Before developing an advertising campaign about AIDS in Mexico, there needs to be an understanding of the target market. The perceptions about AIDS and the affiliations that are a part of the cultural and social concepts of the area will make a difference in the ability to respond effectively to the current trends in AIDS. More importantly, the understanding of the cultural and social aspects will create a response from society in a positive manner. The more that the message can communicate about the importance of understanding the disease, without a sense of offense or other complications, the more successful it can become in creating prevention and safety measures within Mexico. The beginning of the AIDs epidemic was focused on the individual relationships and practices that were a part of society. Specifically, there was a strong association with the way that individuals carried out specific relationships and the different concepts related to sexual practices. However, it was later found that there are also relationships to cultural and social attitudes toward AIDs and the practices that are a part of society. More importantly, the amount of information and the presentation of knowledge through the media make a difference in understanding of HIV, as well as the transmission of the disease. Different cultures will respond to the information differently and will have a different perception of the disease. The main attitudes that are a part of the Mexican culture are important to examine, specifically because the information that is presented will make a difference in how it is perceived by the public, as well as what the responses will be in society as a response for prevention and safety measures (Parker, 2001). The first concept that relates to AIDS and the development of awareness in Mexico is based on family relations and the expectations that are a part of sexuality in this region. It has been noted by researchers (Castro et al), that the concept of AIDS in different regions has both positive and negative connotations with family relations. Families in the region divide the experience of AIDS into four different categories, which includes life before AIDS, discovery with AIDS, living with a person with the disease and life after one dies of the disease. One of the problems that have resulted in each of these stages is a sense of marginalization from the family. After one has discovered that a family member has AIDS, they tend to move them outside of the family and become indifferent to them because of the disease. However, communities often respond differently to the disease and will adapt to individuals who have AIDs while providing support to those that are suffering from the disease. The social support and the lack of discrimination that is noted at this level shows that there are questions of understanding with the AIDs disease, as well as a lack of knowledge that comes from families who are not certain of how one in their household can be affected by the disease (Castro et al, 1998). The association with family and AIDS is not only linked to the acceptance or rejection of individuals that have this disease. Most of the information that is currently available is based on different social groups that are known to have the disease, as opposed to an understanding of how AIDs forms. The sexual behavior that is prevalent in Mexico has formed the associations with AIDs and the way that individuals respond to this particular disease. The first part of this is based on the gay and bisexual population, which is known to have a larger amount of AIDs than others that are in society. It has also been found that different populations of women are more subjected to AIDs. Prostitutes, for instance, have a higher subjectivity to the disease. College women rate second with the sexual practices and the AIDs that may be formed. Elder women, workers and housewives have a 1% rate of the disease, showing that it is a cultural lifestyle as well as a sexual disease. The cultural marginalization that is created between individuals then creates a stigma around the culture of sexual practices and the implications of what it means to get the disease of AIDs (Carrier, 1989). Developing AIDs Advertising and Campaigns The main focus of the AIDs advertising campaign in Mexico is to promote health practices and to spread concerns about safety against the sexual transmission of the disease. Because the culture also carries certain implications related to the culture and the marginalization of society, it is essential to look first at the cultural traits of Mexico and what is expected. It is important to first create a strategy that is based on the current mentalities and understanding of AIDS in Mexico. The effectiveness of the campaign will help to spread awareness about the disease as well as prevention measures that can be used for those that are looking at AIDs and that have a misunderstanding based on the current disease. The first concept to consider with Mexico and the way that the strategy is looked into is through the cultural aspects of the family. The individuals that are affected most by the disease include young college women, prostitutes and those who are practicing gay and bisexual behaviors in the community. However, the younger individuals that are a part of the culture still carry the same familial roles in the family and are closer to family. The main concept that is associated with this is the idea of collectivism. From the research, it was found that families will remain indifferent to a family member that has aids. If the marginalization does occur in the family, then the individual will still find support within the community as they move through the disease. The strategy that can be used with this is based on creating a campaign that targets the family. The more that a family can understand about AIDs, the more they can promote the practices by teaching their children and by spreading awareness to others. Helping younger generations to have safe, sexual practices, can provide a different opportunity for those that are in the community (Gregory, Munch, 1998). The awareness of AIDs through the community can be continued with campaigns that are based on social marketing and networking. Social marketing will help with the communal living that is a part of Mexico and will create a stronger support system between families as well as social arenas that may not have the knowledge of safe practice and the importance of prevention of AIDs. The social marketing messages work best through advertisements, partner clinics, websites and referral hotlines. The more that the community can tap into the clinics and live areas, the more likely that prevention measures can be given, as well as testing that is required for the campaigns. When doing this, there will need to be several target groups that are asked to be a part of the intervention program. The first will be the family that is a part of the communal base. This will be combined with a target of college students who have higher susceptibility to AIDs. The third group will be based on the homosexual population that has different sexual practices. By targeting three different groups, alternative support groups and community measures can be taken while producing more substantial results for the prevention of AIDs (Olshefsky, 2007). To ensure that the advertising and campaign is effective, there will need to be several dimensions that are a part of the program. The foundational part of this will need to be based on the educational and prevention measures that are available. Having different areas that provide education for the community will need to be established, all which provide a different context to the community. These will be combined with clinics that offer AIDs testing and which will be a part of the communal concept of the community and the way that it functions. Both of these aspects of the program will provide direct understanding of AIDs and the different dangers that are a part of the disease. More importantly, this will help to target different groups that can come to the educational centers or clinics to get the information that is needed about AIDs. Having confidential information and making sure that different groups of individuals are able to easily associate with the areas will make a difference in the effectiveness of the campaign. The second part of the campaign that will be used will be based on the lack of education as well as the lack of prevention measures available. It has been found that in smaller towns, transit centers and in the outskirts of larger cities, there is less knowledge available about AIDs. More importantly, the social context has led to violent behaviors and corrupt authorities that take the wrong provision with sexuality and the understanding of different diseases. Since there is a relationship to violence and corruption in these areas, there will need to be indirect methods that are used in different areas. While cities will easily be able to work with knowledge centers and clinics, the other areas that have more needs for AIDs prevention but don’t have the knowledge won’t be able to receive the direct methods. Instead, the campaign will need to be based on sensitivity to the violence, surrounding culture and the communal relations. It will also need to relate to the prevention practices without creating a direct association with violent behaviors, corruption or the sensitivity that comes with some of the sexual practices of the region. To do this effectively, there will need to be more intervention areas available as well as community support groups that will indirectly state the needs of prevention and assistance (Bronfman et al, 2002). The sensitivity that is a part of different groups, as well as the lack of information that is a part of each region, needs to be considered with the advertising campaigns. The best way to approach this is to create a rational approach that is a part of the campaign. Since many of the families are not familiar with AIDs, and since it is often associated with violence and corruption, the idea of using emotional responses will cause more complications in society. The emotions may lead to a fear base and a negative response that doesn’t allow individuals to investigate into the information needed or to go to the necessary clinics. To work correctly with what is needed, there will be the need to create a rational campaign. This will present information in an indirect way while urging individuals to go to a clinic or to an educational center. As more information that can be given on the different advertisements, individuals will be able to respond positively. The main agenda will be to get individuals and communities to move to the next step of awareness and prevention. The persuasion that will need to be used as a part of this will be based on getting individuals to go to clinics and to begin using different prevention measures against AIDs. Developing a Well – Rounded AIDs Campaign A complete marketing mix will be developed with AIDs and the approach to the Mexican community, all which will be used to create preventative sources that are easily accessible to those that are in the community. The more outlets that can be used with AIDs and the prevention measures that are required, the more likely there will be an effective response that is a part of Mexico and the complications that are occurring. The campaign will need to include a series of developments that subtly give those in Mexico the information needed while moving them into more direct informational areas and places where they can get tested and take prevention measures, such as through clinics. The first area that will be targeted with AIDs is the media. Radio programs, TV shows, news programs and newspapers will all be targeted. Each of these media outlets will not have any direct advertisements, but will instead have informational resources about AIDs and the current status of the disease. Making sure that this is subtle when intertwined in areas such as TV shows will provide individuals with more opportunities to directly respond to the epidemic. When included in radio and news programs, there will be the need to provide direct information about the disease. However, the main initiative will not be to make individuals believe that they may be subjected to the disease by being around an individual that has AIDs, which was one of the common problems of the culture. Instead, individuals will be pushed to get preventative measures and an educational background on the disease. This will require a push toward a behavior change that is a part of the culture and background of individuals. The media outlets that are used indirectly and for information will be combined with more direct campaigns for the larger cities, homosexual populations and for the younger generations. Targeting these specific groups of individuals with practical and rational methods, as well as the same push to get the communities to clinics and educational centers will be the main concept. However, there will be the use of different magazines and news outlets to spread the information about AIDs. As this is done, individuals will be able to respond practically while given the information that they need about AIDs. Since the attitudes of homosexuals, younger individuals and those that are in the cities are often not as conservative, it will be easier to provide a direct message to these target groups. At the same time, these direct messages may influence others in the family and community with the indirect messages used through other media outlets. The media outlets that will be used with the campaign will be combined with initiatives by the clinics and educational centers. The promotion of prevention for AIDs can easily be initiated with different promotions. For instance, offering free prevention measures and spreading the word about the clinics among individuals can provide a stronger response in communities. The clinics and educational centers will need to become a central focus for AIDs prevention and will need to create an alternative response to individuals that are not certain about the disease and the different proponents that are combined with this. As different audiences find out about the prevention measures in clinics, the word of mouth will spread through the communities. Since Mexico has a communal base as a part of the set – up, this will help to provide more preventative measures and will create a stronger response from those that are in the community. Even though this is more indirect, it will provide a stronger initiative and response that will work effectively in this type of culture (Torres, Cernada, 2003). The main effect of the different levels of the advertising campaign will be to move toward prevention as the last step of the campaign. It has been found through several campaigns that the best way to work on sensitive issues is to focus on education and information. The sensitivity of the subject is one that has several layers dependent on culture as well as lifestyle practices. In terms of culture, there are several stigmas that have to be broken in relation to fear and the way that individuals look at AIDs. Many who believe someone has AIDs will not touch them and will often not offer them the same treatment as others. This fear shows that there is a lack of understanding with AIDs. The fear is combined with misunderstandings and a lack of knowledge on AIDs and the epidemic, as well as the different associations with this particular disease. A second aspect of the campaign that needs to be considered is the relationship to sexual preferences and the culture. Most that are in the older generation in Mexico still are reserved with sexual practices as well as speaking about the sensitive issues that are related to this. While targeting younger populations and homosexuals can be done directly, most in the culture are still not open to the ideas of sexuality as a community preference for speaking with others. The strategy that has to be used in this instance is one that needs to be tied into the lifestyle of Mexico as well as what is accepted when speaking about more sensitive issues and the problems that may arise as a result. By focusing on education, there is the ability to stop the sensitivity of the subject from becoming a barrier to getting the right help or prevention methods. Combining this with community measures will ensure that individuals will have the capacity of getting substantial results when gaining knowledge on AIDs. At the same time, it will respect the boundaries of culture and won’t step over the line with the disease and the cultural concepts that are associated with this (Amor et al, 1992). Conclusion Working with an advertising campaign for sensitive topics, such as AIDS, is one that needs to be considered from various perspectives. The culture of Mexico and the different assumptions that are related to this disease lead to different levels of communication that needs to be used for advertising and campaigns. Focusing on rational, direct and informative presentations of AIDs and working toward education and prevention can all help with the campaign. More importantly, there is the need to create a specific approach to eliminate the myths of AIDs and the culture that is surrounding the cultural beliefs. Doing this effectively requires using the cultural aspect of community to begin to change the stigmas surrounding AIDs and the way that this disease is spread. The last aspect of this will be to work with different market segments, such as homosexuals, younger aged groups and family relations. By dividing these different areas for messages, there will be the ability to relay the message about AIDs on multiple dimensions. These different areas of focus through the media and informational centers will help to change the stigma surrounding AIDs and can begin to create intervention and educational methods that become a part of the community. References Amor, Jaime, Jamie Sepulveda, Harvey Fineberg, Jonathan Mann. (1992). AIDS: Prevention through Education: a World View. New York: Oxford University Press. Bronfman, Mario, Rene Leyva, Mirka Negroni, Celina Rueda. (2002). Mobile Populations and HIV / AIDs in Central America and Mexico: research for action. AIDS (16). Carrier, JM. (1989). Sexual Behavior and Spread of AIDS in Mexico. Medical Anthropology (10), (2). Castro, Robert, Emanuel Orozco, Peter Aggleton, Enrique Eroza, Juan Hernandez. (1998). Family Responses to HIV / AIDS in Mexico. Social Science and Medicine (47), (10). Gregory, Gary, James Munch. (1998). Cultural Values in International Advertising: an Examination of Familial Norms and Roles in Mexico. Psychology and Marketing (14), (2). Olshefsky, Alisa, Michelle Zive, Rosana Scolari, Maria Zuniga. (2007). Promoting HIV Risk Awareness and Testing in Latinos Living in the US – Mexico Border. AIDS Education and Prevention (19), (5). Parker, Richard. (2001). Sexuality, Culture, and Power in HIV / AIDs Research. Annual Review of Anthropology. (30). Torres, M Idali, George Cernada. (2003). Sexual and Reproductive Health Promotion In Latino Populations: Case Studies. New York: Baywood Publishing Company. Read More