Elements of Family Planning Success

Three short films, promoting a national contraception campaign, were broadcast on French television in January 2000. As media interventions alone have little impact on behavior, we evaluated this campaign by focusing on intermediary indicators (identification and discussion) to measure factors known to favor the adoption of preventive behaviors.  The films did not generate much conversation, with only one in four people reporting having talked about them. Although this campaign was well received, it had a limited impact. Moreover, it did not have a greater impact on people who experienced difficulties with their contraception. The short projection time and the scenarios used (which gave an immediate answer to women’s questions) might have limited these effects.