How Does Health-Related Advertising with a Regulatory Focus and Goal Framing Affect Attitudes toward Ads and Healthy Behavior Intentions?

Wei-Ju Yeh,Chia-Yen Lin

doi:10.3390/ijerph14121507

Abstract

The health costs of colorectal cancer have increased over the years in Taiwan. The National Health Insurance Administration (NHI) and the Health Promotion Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) in Taiwan advocate that people have to change their unhealthy behaviors; however, the number of patients of colorectal cancer is increasing annually. This research discussed the effects of healthy diet advocacy advertisements (ads) on healthy diet behavior intentions as influenced by the interactions between regulatory focus theory (RFT) and message framing effects. Both regulatory focus theory and message framing effect were discussed for the relationship between advertisement and behavior change in many fields, such as health-related behavior, pro-environmental behavior, consumer choice, etc. We executed an experiment with four different types of public health advocacy ads. A 2 (regulatory focus: promotion vs. prevention) × 2 (message framing: gain framing vs. loss framing) two-factor experiment was adopted, and 201 valid participants responded to the questionnaire. Results indicated that if the ad’s regulatory focus is promotion focus, viewers’ attitudes toward the ad and their behavior intentions are more positive when the slogan of the ad is gain framing rather than loss framing via the multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA), and vice versa. Respondents found the communication easier to comprehend when the ads evoked the respondents’ regulatory focus and applied the appropriate message framing, thus improving the efficacy of health-related advertising. We offer suggestions regarding the future use of health-related advertising for the MOHW.

Highlights

Unhealthy eating behavior and obesity are closely associated with cancer
Based on the finding that regulatory focus was significantly correlated with message framing, we argue that future health-related advertisements should contain content that elicits various types of regulatory focus in viewers, and message framing and graphical and textual content should be adjusted according to the state of focus, which allows people to understand the message, thereby enhancing the overall advertisement effect
Our research results differed slightly from those reported by Keller & Lehmann [52]. In their meta-analysis on health communication messages, the authors observed that the interaction effect between regulatory focus and message framing on behavior intention was superior only when promotion was the regulatory focus, whereas the behavior intention involving loss framing was not significant when prevention was the regulatory focus

Summary

Introduction

Unhealthy eating behavior and obesity are closely associated with cancer. In Western societies, cancer is thought to be related to the customary consumption of animal products, fats, and carbohydrates [1].With the Westernization of eating behavior in Taiwan, the number of colorectal cancer patients has increased rapidly. Unhealthy eating behavior and obesity are closely associated with cancer. In Western societies, cancer is thought to be related to the customary consumption of animal products, fats, and carbohydrates [1]. With the Westernization of eating behavior in Taiwan, the number of colorectal cancer patients has increased rapidly. According to the registry data in 2013 and 2014, 15,140 and 19,315 people were newly diagnosed with colorectal cancer, which are both the second highest among all cancers in Taiwan [2]. Colorectal cancer among men/women increased by an average of 21.5%/9.7% based on the analysis of the standardized colorectal cancer incidence rate from 2004 to 2013 [3]. The Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has advised people to change their dietary habits and to reduce their potential dietary risks (in addition to undergoing early screening tests). Several colorectal cancer prevention organizations—including the Taiwan Colorectal Cancer Alliance, Colorectal Cancer Care

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Conclusion