You've only got your looks to lose: the effects of message framing and individual-level differences on selective exposure to health messages
Date
2018
Authors
Grace, Jesse N., author
Long, Marilee, advisor
Anderson, Ashley, committee member
Graham, Dan, committee member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract
This study investigated how individual differences, such as exercise and healthy nutrition involvement, attitudes, and motivations, affect selective exposure to variously framed health messages. The study starts to bridge a gap in the social marketing literature, which mainly focuses on message effectiveness. Yet, it is not possible for a message to successfully promote healthy behavior change if it is not selected in the first place. The study utilized a split-plot, quasi-experimental design. The participants were shown four article headlines per topic; the two topics were healthy nutrition and exercise. For each topic, the article headlines were manipulated in a 2 (motivation frame: appearance vs. health) x 2 (strategy frame: gain vs. loss) within-subjects design. Selective exposure was measured unobtrusively by noting the order in which participants chose articles to read and the amount of time participants spent reading each article they chose. The results show individual differences influence message selection, therefore providing evidence for the importance of individual differences with regard to message framing. The study contributes to selective exposure, strategic communication, and health communication literature, as well as contributing to our knowledge of message tailoring for social marketing of healthy behavior changes and maintenance.