Effectiveness of Public Awareness Campaigns in Influencing University Students’ Attitudes and Behaviours

Abstract

Public awareness campaigns are a strategic tool to inform, educate, and influence behavioural outcomes within targeted populations. University students represent a valuable demographic for such campaigns because they represent a critical stage of cognitive, social, and identity development. 

This paper provides a study of the effectiveness of public awareness campaigns in shaping attitudes and behaviours of students in “Aleksander Moisiu” University of Durres, in Albania. Referring to behavioural science theories, recent empirical research, communication studies, and primary analysis deriving from students’ participation in an online questionnaire, the paper discusses factors that influence campaign success. These factors include credibility, message framing, delivery channels, and engagement strategies. 

The study highlights that public awareness campaigns can significantly influence university students’ attitudes and behaviours when addressing issues perceived as immediate or personally meaningful and designed with intentionality, relevance, and student engagement in mind. 

Recommendations for designing effective campaigns tailored to university contexts are also synthesized.