Public communication is an umbrella term for all kinds of activities and products used to voluntarily bring about a lasting change in knowledge, attitude or behaviour. Voluntary here means that people themselves choose to behave in the preferred way, as opposed to more repressive measures such as enforcement (see also SWOV fact sheet Traffic enforcement). This may still involve (refraining from) behaviour that is prohibited by law, such as drink-driving or speeding. In a publicity campaign, various activities and products are deployed in a given period, forming a coherent whole around a given theme.
Within road safety, public communication is used for different purposes (see the question What is public road safety communication used for), and in different forms (see the question What types of public communication are there and how effective are they?) with different strategies (see the question What public communication strategies are there?).
