The substituting relationship between presumed media influence and interpersonal health communication for health prevention

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background Based on the influence of presumed influence hypothesis (IPI hypothesis), this study elaborates the processes through which people’s perception of the effect of health media messages on others affects their own intention to engage in health behaviors. This study also examines how interpersonal health communication interacts with presumed media influence on intentions for HIV testing and fruit and vegetable consumption. Methods Data were collected using a self-administrated online survey with college students (N = 235) in a large Midwestern university in the United States. Results The results support the IPI hypothesis that one’s exposure to media content promoting health behaviors predicts their perceptions of the media’s influence on other people, which in turn affects their own intention to engage in the health behaviors. The findings also indicate that there is a substituting relationship between perception of media influence and interpersonal health communication. The effect of presumed media influence was greater for people who were less likely to talk about the health issues, but presumed media influence had no significant effect on intentions for those who frequently engaged in interpersonal health communication. Conclusion This study provides a novel finding that perceived influence of health media messages on others and interpersonal health communication are substituting each other in affecting intention for health behaviors. Promoting perception of media influence can affect normative perception and behavioral intention for people who less frequently discuss health issues with others.