Tailoring

Tailoring is a term that is used in different ways in social behavioral research. It often is used to describe health behavior and health education messages that have been crafted to appeal to and influence the individual, with the intent of modifying the individual's attitudes and behavior such that he or she engages in healthier endeavors. A message that is tailored is a personalized message that attempts to speak to the individual as an individual and not as a member of any group or stratum. Additionally, a tailored message attempts to create a customized, personally meaningful communication—based on knowledge (data and information) about individuals. A more formal definition comes from M. W. Kreuter and C. S. Skinner and indicates that a tailored message is any ...