title: Framing Effects in Narrative and Non-Narrative Risk Messages.
abstract: Narrative messages are increasingly popular in health and risk campaigns, yet gain/loss framing effects have never been tested with such messages. Three experiments examined framing in narrative messages. Experiment 1 found that only the character's decision, not framing, influenced judgments about characters in a narrative derived from a prospect theory context. Experiment 2 found that a framing effect that occurred when presented in a decision format did not occur when the same situation was presented as a narrative. Using a different story/decision context, Experiment 3 found no significant difference in preference for surgery over radiation therapy in a narrative presentation compared to a non-narrative presentation. The results suggest that health and risk campaigns cannot assume that framing effects will be the same in narrative messages and non-narrative messages. Potential reasons for these differences and suggestions for future research are discussed.
authors: Department of Communication, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
authors: Joseph
authors: J
authors: Steinhardt
authors: Department of Communication, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
authors: Michael A
authors: MA
authors: Shapiro
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D033262:Narration; D010565:Persuasive Communication; D012309:Risk-Taking; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Framing effects; narratives; risk communication