title: The relative persuasiveness of gain-framed and loss-framed messages for encouraging disease prevention behaviors: a meta-analytic review.
abstract: A meta-analytic review of 93 studies (N = 21,656) finds that in disease prevention messages, gain-framed appeals, which emphasize the advantages of compliance with the communicator's recommendation, are statistically significantly more persuasive than loss-framed appeals, which emphasize the disadvantages of noncompliance. This difference is quite small (corresponding to r = .03), however, and appears attributable to a relatively large (and statistically significant) effect for messages advocating dental hygiene behaviors. Despite very good statistical power, the analysis finds no statistically significant differences in persuasiveness between gain- and loss-framed messages concerning other preventive actions such as safer-sex behaviors, skin cancer prevention behaviors, or diet and nutrition behaviors.
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208-3545, USA. d-okeefe@northwestern.edu
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: O'Keefe
authors.forename: Jakob D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Jensen
mesh_terms: D016206:Databases, Bibliographic; D016021:Epidemiologic Studies; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000523:psychology*; D010565:Persuasive Communication; D011322:Primary Prevention / Q000379:methods*; D040241:Social Marketing