Improving Communication Messages by Using Perceptual Mapping: Family Planning Survey in East Java and West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

OBJECTIVES: Contraceptive methods vary in effectiveness, actions required of users, and side effects. This article aims to analyze the perceptions about contraceptive methods among family planning clients of the East Java and West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) provinces in Indonesia. METHODS: The data were obtained from the operational research of the Improving Contraceptive Method Mix Project in Indonesia, conducted in 2015–2016 in six districts in East Java and West Nusa Tenggara. The total sample size was 12,190 women aged 15–49 years. The perceptual mapping method uses cross-sectional surveys that require the respondent to rate the level to which they associate specific elements with each other, based on similarities and differences of perceived association. The correlation matrices for six contraceptive methods and five attributes were subjected to a multidimensional scaling analysis. RESULTS: The results showed injectable to be the most preferred method, which was positioned closest to the attributes ‘easy to use’ and ‘easy to get’, followed by pills. Implants ranked higher than other long-acting and permanent method. CONCLUSION: Injectables and pills were the most preferred because people believe that they were ‘easy to use’ and ‘easy to get’. The least preferred methods were tubectomy and vasectomy because the respondents thought those were not close to any attributes at all. To increase the demand for the long-acting and permanent method choice in the provinces of East Java and West Nusa Tenggara, the attributes ‘easy to use’ and ‘easy to get’ should be emphasized in the long-acting and permanent method Information Education and Communication messages.