Abstract
Health messages can emphasize the benefits of engaging in healthy behavior (gain-framed) or the costs of failing to engage in it (loss-framed). Previous research revealed that gain-framed messages tend to be more effective in motivating smokers to quit. As a supplement to previous studies, we questioned whether the ability to process health messages moderates the size of the gain-frame advantage. There were two competing theoretical ideas. First, some scholars have noted that a high ability to process a health message is a necessary precondition to observe the advantage of gain-framing. Second, risk aversiona central concept used in previous theorizing to explain the gain-frame advantageis associated with automatic processing and automatic processing has a stronger influence on decision making under a low ability to process. We utilized a 2 (exposure to gain- or loss-framed quit messages) x 2 (low or high ability to process) randomized controlled trial with a pre-post exposure change in quit intentions as the target outcome (N=182 smokers). Although the analysis revealed the hypothesized gain-frame advantage, the ability to process did not moderate the effect. We discuss the theoretical implications.
| Item Type: | Journal article |
|---|---|
| Faculties: | Social Sciences > Communication |
| Subjects: | 000 Computer science, information and general works > 070 News media, journalism and publishing |
| ISSN: | 1081-0730 |
| Language: | English |
| Item ID: | 66249 |
| Date Deposited: | 19. Jul 2019, 12:19 |
| Last Modified: | 04. Nov 2020, 13:47 |
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