Temple Risk Communication Laboratory

Temple University Risk Communication Laboratory is a state of the art laboratory housing a cohort of educators, researchers, students, and public health professionals. Our mission is to advance public health through the design and testing of effective health communication messages and public health campaigns, developed using commercial marketing methods. Our team has made many advancements in the field of health communications, including the use of psycho marketing methods to understand perceptions and decision making barriers and physiological measures to test the effect of interventions. Utilizing perceptual mapping and vector modeling, a multi-dimensional scaling analysis method, we are using three dimensional models to understand how people think and feel about health related decisions. This allows for highly targeted messages that we then can use to develop messages, materials or other types of decision aids or appeals. Our research features new health applications using a variety of technologies ( e.g. mHealth, the Internet, and Web 2.0) and assessing their impact on patient/public self-efficacy and behavior intention. We are also utilizing eye tracking, gaze pattern analysis, EKG and skin conductance measures to assess and understand how physiological response may affect intake and understanding of tailored messages. Visit our website (linked below) to learn more about our publications, staff, and current projects!