Abstract
This article examines the moderating influence of personal relevance on the persuasive effects of gain- and loss-framed messages. We assessed current behaviour as a proxy for personal relevance, provided 169 participants with gain- and loss-framed messages advocating skin self-examination (SSE) and assessed intention to engage in SSE as the outcome measure. The results showed that loss-framed information was more persuasive than gain-framed information, but only for low-relevance participants. This suggests that loss-framed information might be mainly effective for recipients who need little persuading and, in fact, runs the risk of 'preaching to the choir'.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 712-723 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Journal of Health Psychology |
Volume | 17 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jul 2012 |
Keywords
- Message framing
- personal relevance
- defensiveness
- motivated reasoning
- PARALLEL PROCESS MODEL
- SELF-AFFIRMATION
- FEAR APPEALS
- COLLEGE-STUDENTS
- BEHAVIOR
- METAANALYSIS
- RISK
- INFORMATION
- PERCEPTIONS
- PERSUASION