title: Being healthy or looking good? The effectiveness of health versus appearance-focused arguments in two-sided messages.
abstract: Two experimental studies test the effectiveness of health versus appearance-related arguments in two-sided messages. The first study shows that two-sided messages to discourage suntanning are more effective when using appearance-focused instead of health-focused arguments. Study 2 elaborates on the underlying mechanism and extends the generalization of the results of the first study, by investigating two-sided messages to promote physical exercise. The results show that for health-motivated consumers, a health-focused message is more effective, whereas for appearance-motivated consumers, an appearance-focused message is more effective. This matching effect is mediated by argument relevance.
authors.affiliation: Ghent University, Belgium erlinde.cornelis@ugent.be.
authors.forename: Erlinde
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cornelis
authors.affiliation: Ghent University, Belgium.
authors.forename: Verolien
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cauberghe
authors.affiliation: University of Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Pelsmacker
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D015444:Exercise / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010565:Persuasive Communication; D055108:Sunbathing / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: advertising; appearance; effectiveness; exercise; health; suntanning; two-sided messages