Language matters: effects of linguistic agency assignment on HPV prevention advocacy in Chinese public health education materials

Abstract

This study was conducted to examine the effects of linguistic agency assignment on human papillomavirus (HPV) prevention advocacy in Chinese public health education materials. The participants (N = 481) were asked to read one of four versions of an article about the HPV infection. The results indicated that the linguistic agency assignment of threat used in the context of health education in the English language functioned similarly in the Chinese context with only minor differences. In the Chinese language context, the respondents tended to report higher levels of personal susceptibility when the linguistic agency was assigned to the HPV vaccine and not human factors. Minor cross-cultural issues are discussed. The findings of this study contribute to the health communication literature by explicating the persuasive power of language and demonstrating that the concept of linguistic agency assignment is applicable across cultures for the effective promotion of public health education.