title: The effects of narrative and message framing on engagement and eating intention among a sample of adult Hispanics.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To test the effect of narrative messages and gain- and loss-framed messages on persuasive outcomes with a sample of Hispanic adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 2 (message type: narrative, non-narrative) × 2 (message frame: gain-framed, loss-framed) between subjects posttest only. Data were collected at 2 outdoor festivals in West Texas. Participants were a convenience sample of 72 Hispanic adults (mean age, 40.6 years). Main outcome measures were message engagement, message relevance, attitude toward message, healthy eating intention, and physical activity intention. Data analysis included analysis of variance and multivariate analysis of variance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no significant difference between narrative and non-narrative messages. Gain-framed messages were rated more positively, whereas loss-framed messages were considered more engaging and also produced higher intentions to eat healthy and to become physically active. The interaction between message type and message framing was not significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Loss-framed messages produced the unanticipated effect of higher message engagement and higher intention. This finding suggests that messages emphasizing losses associated with unhealthy eating and lack of physical activity may be more effective when targeting Hispanic adults than messages emphasizing potential gains. The lack of difference between narrative and non-narrative messages suggests there is no disadvantage to using narratives, but also no advantage.
authors: College of Media, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL. Electronic address: jwirtz@illinois.edu.
authors: John G
authors: JG
authors: Wirtz
authors: College of Media, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL.
authors: Supathida
authors: S
authors: Kulpavaropas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D033262:Narration; D013781:Texas
keywords: Hispanics; healthy eating; message framing; narrative; physical activity