Applying Common Latino Magazine Cover Line Themes to Health Communications

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.