The Relevance of Citizen Co-Creation for the Effectiveness of Public Health Campaigns: Results from the Evaluation of a HIV Prevention Campaign in Switzerland

While decreasing public health budgets force campaign managers to spend money more wisely, many public health campaigns still use traditional communication channels and neglect the great potential of citizen co-creation, the active involvement of the target group. This article provides an overview of the issue of citizen co-creation in the context of public health campaigns and presents a case study of an HIV campaign in Switzerland as an example of applied citizen co-creation. The incremental effect of word of mouth on campaign effectiveness and efficiency is examined, showing how citizen co-creation can be quantified in the context of evaluating a campaign. Finally, the article suggests practical implications for the design and evaluation of future public health campaigns involving citizen co-creation.