title: Moving beyond the function of the health behaviour: the effect of message frame on behavioural decision-making.
abstract: Health messages that provide gain- or loss-framed arguments have a differential impact on behavioural decision-making (Rothman & Salovey, 1997). Typically, gain-framed messages more effectively promote preventive health behaviours, which maintain health and minimise the risk of a health problem, whereas loss-framed messages more effectively promote detection behaviours, which involve the risk of finding a health problem. Two experiments tested the thesis that the risk implications of the behaviour are an important determinant of the persuasive impact of gain- and loss-framed appeals. Results revealed that when the risk associated with a health behaviour (either a prevention behaviour in Experiment 1 or a detection behaviour in Experiment 2) was low, participants responded more favourably to gain-framed messages. However, when the risk associated with the health behaviour (either prevention or detection) was high, participants responded more favourably to loss-framed messages. Discussion focuses on the importance of taking into account how individuals construe a behaviour when constructing framed appeals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
authors.forename: Roger D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Bartels
authors.forename: Kristina M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.forename: Alexander J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Rothman
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D058015:Health Communication; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010565:Persuasive Communication; D012306:Risk; D053060:West Nile Virus Vaccines
chemical_list: D053060:West Nile Virus Vaccines