The effectiveness of health warning labels and environmental warning labels in different contexts of advertisements and public service announcements

Abstract

ABSTRACT Previous research has proposed the positive effects of warning health/safety labels. Nevertheless, their effectiveness compared to environmental warning labels (i.e., ecolabels), especially in limiting the harmful outcomes of health- and safety-related products, is still questioned. Two studies were conducted to investigate the effectiveness of different label messages in different context formats (contextually incongruent commercial advertisements (ads) vs. contextually congruent public service announcements (PSAs); Study 1, N = 332) and different context-induced moods (positive vs. negative; Study 2, N = 334). Findings indicated that PSAs were more effective than ads in influencing individuals’ attitudes toward labels and behavioral change intention. Furthermore, health warning labels are generally more effective than ecolabels. The interactions between label types and context formats, as well as label types and context-induced moods, were also explored and discussed. The current study contributed to the scarce literature on warning label comparison and advanced a comprehensive understanding of warning labels and ecolabels, as well as their effectiveness. Results provided important implications for practitioners and policymakers, particularly on how to effectively employ prevention- and/or promotion-oriented warning messages in their campaigns.