The Semiotics of Public Health Mascots: Influencing Adolescent Behaviour in Middle-to-High Income Urban Areas of Delhi

Anshika Jain , Harsh Mehta

Semiotics; Public Health Mascots; Adolescent Mental Health; Delhi; Visual Communication; Behavior Change Communication; Cultural Resonance; Quantitative Analysis.

Background: Mental health challenges among adolescents are a growing and significant public health burden in urban India. In a high-media-exposure environment such as Delhi and NCR, the prevalence rate of mental health problems among school-attending adolescents is estimated to be quite high, at about 23.33%. BCC often deploys anthropomorphic mascots as persuasive visual signs that are intended to simplify complex concepts and establish trust. However, the differential impact that variable semiotic structures-in particular, the design of the mascot, the cultural context, and the linguistic tone-have on youth perception and behavioral intent remains critically under-researched in the Indian context. This paper employs the framework of Visual Social Semiotics to deconstruct how localized cultural codes influence the persuasive efficacy of public health messaging aimed at the prevention of mental health and help-seeking behavior. Objectives and Methodology: The study attempts to investigate the differential effect of four types of public health mascot prototypes (Mascots A, B, C, D) on attitude and behavioral intent among urban Delhi adolescents, aged 13-19 years. The four conditions of the mascot vary essentially in their semiotic tonality and messages that accompany them: Emotional, Practical, Casual, and Authoritative. A quantitative, experimental-comparative, cross-sectional survey design was implemented in which a structured questionnaire containing several 5-point Likert scale items was administered to measure each key construct: Trust in Advice, Cultural Resonance, and Positive Attitude. Each participant was randomly exposed to one of the four mascot conditions. The analysis will compare the Mean Scores and Medians for each perception variable across the four mascot groups to descriptively assess which semiotic strategy produced the greatest efficacy. Outcomes and Conclusion: The central hypothesis is that mascots using culturally resonant visual signifiers and a relational, non-authoritative linguistic tone by the Casual or Practical approaches-will be significantly more effective in Trust and Behavioral Interest than will mascots using an institutional or directive tone-Mascot D. These findings are expected to provide empirical support for the view that Cultural Resonance serves as an important mediator because, without it, identification and trust cannot be established and because of the associated risk of negative identity outcomes mentioned earlier for mascots that are culturally dissonant. The findings will be used to develop evidence-based guidelines on how best to design effective, non-stigmatizing mental health mascots for the media-savvy, urban Indian youth demographic.

Volume 13 Issue 11, November-2025

Pages : f218-f225