The Role of Targeted E-Mail Messaging at the Worksite

Abstract

Employers are vested in pursuing educational strategies that work to improve employee health and decrease health care utilization. The use of e-mail for health promotion efforts at the worksite presents the freedom to deliver messages outside the boundaries of time and location; preliminary studies suggest that it is an effective way to encourage health behavior (Tate, Wing, & Winett, 2001). This paper explores health behavior change, adult learning theory and media effects research regarding targeted e-mail messaging at the worksite to offer insight into how people perceive and interact with different forms of messages and what kinds of visual enhancements may positively impact perception of the message itself (Sundar & Kalyanaraman, 2004). Results of a study investigating employees’ interpretations of message meaning, perceptions of visual e-mail enhancements and associated health behavior change will be discussed as promising research in worksite health promotion.