Stimulating the demand for dental care: An application of Ajzen and Fishbein's theory of reasoned action.

Applied I. Ajzen and M. Fishbein's (1980) attitude-behavior model to the problem of stimulating the demand for dental care with 329 members (aged 21-50 yrs) of health insurance companies who had not received regular dental treatment and/or certificate of dental fitness for at least 2 1/2 yrs. Applying for treatment and acquiring a dental certificate were the behavioral measures. The effectiveness of a message based on Ajzen and Fishbein's model was compared with the effectiveness of messages based on I. M. Rosenstock's (1974) health-belief model and the notion that knowledge of rights and obligations is a prerequisite for seeking dental care. Results support the validity of the Ajzen and Fishbein model. Relationships between the components of the model were moderate to strong, both before and after Ss were exposed to the message. The message proved effective in changing beliefs about seeking dental treatment. Ajzen and Fishbein's claim that their approach has exclusive merits, however, was refuted in that a differential effectiveness of the 3 messages was absent. In all, 47.4% of the Ss applied for treatment. No control Ss applied. 15 mo later, 70% of the applicants had obtained a dental certificate. Contrary to expectations, the no-message, application-form-only condition proved equally effective as the message conditions.