Applying Common Latino Magazine Cover Line Themes to Health Communications
Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Published online on July 18, 2016
Abstract
This study aimed to describe strategies used in magazine cover lines to capture the attention of Latino consumers. A content analysis of cover lines (n = 581) from six top-selling Latino women’s and parenting magazines (n = 217 issues) sold in the United States identified 12 common themes: great/inspiring, beauty/health, bad/negative, love/passion, family/protective, strength/power, daring, informative/how-to, newness/uniqueness, improve/organize, happiness/fun, and easy/simple, with the first seven being unique to Latino-targeted magazines. Theses unique themes may be related to certain Latino cultural constructs, such as familismo, machismo, and respeto. Cover lines for nutrition education information mini-magazines were written using the strategies identified in the content analysis, then cognitive tested with 112 Spanish-speaking Latino parents. Parents felt the cover lines matched the guide content, were attention grabbing and catchy, and would motivate parents to read the mini-magazine. Findings can assist health communicators in creating brief Latino-targeted messages that are culturally responsive and capture reader interest.