Temporal consequences and message framing - evidence for interactions in two samples and two behaviours

Abstract

Background. Message framing interventions have not yet consistently investigated how temporal consequences (short-term versus long-term) affects persuasion outcomes on (antecedents) of health behaviours, despite the fact that Construal Level Theory predicts that temporal distance affects if positive (or negative) consequences should be more persuasive. Methods. Data were collected in 278 adults (study 1, fruit intake) and 193 adolescents (study 2, hearing loss prevention). Participants were randomly allocated to read one of four messages and reported on intentions, attitudes, and risk perceptions. Data were analyzed using univariate analysis of variance (study 1) and repeated measures analysis of variance (study 2). Findings. In study 1, gain-framed messages were more persuasive when combined with long-term outcomes, whereas loss-framed messages were more persuasive when combined with short-term outcomes. In study 2, loss-framed messages were also more persuasive when combined with short-term outcomes, but no persuasive effect was found for gain-framed messages. Discussion. Combining temporal consequences with message framing results in more persuasive messages. Adolescents may not be as susceptible for long-term outcomes, potentially because of their lack of temporal discounting.