Propagating wellness: understanding the communication mechanisms of yoga and Wuqinxi (five animal frolics) via Lasswell's 5W framework.

Mind-body practices are increasingly used in public health promotion and cross-cultural communication, yet comparative evidence on how different practices are disseminated remains limited. This study used a sequential mixed-methods design to compare yoga, a mature transnational practice, with Wuqinxi (Five Animal Frolics), a traditional Chinese practice that has also gained international recognition but remains more regionally concentrated in its grassroots practice. Semi-structured interviews with yoga studio managers, a Wuqinxi inheritor, and practitioners informed questionnaire development and interpretation; the quantitative phase analyzed 389 valid survey responses from yoga (n = 210) and Wuqinxi (n = 179) practitioners through regression, mediation, and moderation models guided by Lasswell's 5W framework. Content diversity showed the largest positive association with dissemination effectiveness (B = 0.6464), followed by instructor professionalism (B = 0.5222), venue facilities (B = 0.3706), and channel modernization (B = 0.1793). Practitioners' consumption behavior served as a partial statistical mediator, with direct pathways accounting for 81% of the instructor effect, 79% of the content effect, 60% of the venue effect, and 51% of the channel effect. Exercise type moderated the associations for instructor professionalism, content diversity, and channel modernization: corresponding coefficients were stronger for Wuqinxi than for yoga, whereas venue-facility moderation was unsupported. The main contribution is a bounded 5W-based comparison showing that Wuqinxi dissemination may benefit most from professionalized instruction, diversified content, and modern communication channels, while consumption behavior serves as a limited statistical mediator of engagement. This contributes to cross-cultural communication research by revealing how a transnational practice and an indigenous practice differ in dissemination mechanisms, offering a transferable framework for comparing health communication across cultural contexts.