Message Strategies Research Articles

Examining Audiences' Psychological Reactance to Christian-Sourced Excessive Alcohol Consumption Messages in the United States.

This study experimentally investigated the effect of dogmatic and suggestive language in Christian-sourced excessive alcohol consumption messages among college-aged participants who identify as Christians or non-Christians, as well as the role of perceived similarity with the message source, on their self-reported freedom-threat, psychological reactance, and behavioral intentions to consume alcohol. The results from this study support psychological reactance theory and demonstrate the various message strategies to effectively communicate the negative health effects of excessive alcohol consumption to individuals who identify either as Christians or non-Christians.

ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 VACCINATION ON INDIA'S ELDERLY AND CHILDREN: ACCEPTANCE, COVERAGE, AND PUBLIC CONCERNS

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges globally, with vulnerable populations such as the elderly and children facing heightened risks. In India, the vaccination campaign against COVID-19 has been a critical component of the public health response. This study aims to assess the impact of COVID-19 vaccination specifically on India's elderly and children, focusing on acceptance, coverage, and public concerns. Through a comprehensive literature review and analysis of available data, this study examines the acceptance levels of COVID-19 vaccines among the elderly and caregivers of children in India. It explores factors influencing vaccine acceptance, including trust in vaccine efficacy and safety, accessibility of vaccination centers, and government messaging strategies. Moreover, the study investigates the coverage rates among these populations, identifying any disparities in vaccine distribution and access.

Preventive behavior intention for a viral outbreak among college students: The case of Mpox

Objective Examine college students’ behavior intention to reduce viral outbreak transmission in the context of Mpox, and what preventive messaging strategies would be most effective in future transmissible disease outbreaks based on the Reasoned Action Approach (RAA). Participants Undergraduates at a mid-Atlantic U.S. University. Methods An online survey (n = 266) conducted at the height of the recent Mpox outbreak in the U.S., asked about five target behaviors to reduce Mpox transmission, including RAA determinants for each behavior. Results Highest intention was safe sex practices, lowest were vaccination and sexual abstinence, and sharing dishes and fabrics were in between. RAA determinants differed by target behavior, although attitudes were significantly positively associated with intention for all five behaviors. Conclusions College students are potentially open to preventative behaviors to reduce viral transmission during an outbreak. However, specific target behavior matters and messaging should focus on differing RAA determinants depending on target behavior.

Inoculation theory

ABSTRACT Inoculation theory is a theory of resistance to influence that builds on analogous relationships with medical vaccination. In short: Exposure to weakened forms of challenges motivates resistance to stronger challenges encountered later. Throughout its 60 + year lifespan, scholars have applied inoculation theory as a messaging strategy across issues and contexts, including politics, health, and commerce. Additionally, inoculation theory scholarship has clarified how inoculation messaging confers resistance, moving beyond the traditional components (threat and refutational preemption) to consider other factors, including emotions. This article reviews key findings in inoculation theory research and then proposes particularly promising areas for future research.

Patient and public understanding of antimicrobial resistance: a systematic review and meta-ethnography.

To further develop an understanding of laypeople's (adult patients and public) beliefs and attitudes toward antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by developing a conceptual model derived from identifying and synthesizing primary qualitative research. A systematic search of 12 electronic databases, including CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PubMed and Web of Science to identify qualitative primary studies exploring patient and public understanding of AMR published between 2012 and 2022. Included studies were quality appraised and synthesized using Noblit and Hare's meta-ethnographic approach and reported using eMERGe guidance. Thirteen papers reporting 12 qualitative studies were synthesized. Studies reported data from 466 participants aged 18-90 years. Five themes were identified from these original studies: the responsible patient; when words become meaningless; patient-prescriber relationship; past experience drives antibiotic use; and reframing public perception. These themes supported the development of a conceptual model that illustrates the tension between two different assumptions, that is, how can antibiotics be used for the collective good whilst balancing the immediate needs of individual patients. Findings suggest that AMR is a distinct ethical issue and should not be viewed purely as a prescribing problem. The meta-ethnography-generated conceptual model illustrates many factors affecting the public's perception of AMR. These include laypeople's own knowledge, beliefs and attitudes around antibiotic use, the relationship with the healthcare provider and the wider context, including the overwhelming influence of the media and public health campaigns. Future research is needed to explore effective health messaging strategies to increase laypeople's baseline awareness of AMR as a public threat.

An Almost Empty Scoping Review: State of the Research on Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Messaging Strategies for Black and/or Latine LGBTQ+ Youth and Young Adults

ABSTRACT Research has yet to offer strong recommendations for effective tobacco prevention and cessation messaging that can reduce tobacco-related health disparities among Black and/or Latine LGBTQ+ youth and young adults. As a result of predatory marketing strategies and community stressors, among other factors, LGBTQ+ youth and young adults use tobacco products at higher rates than their non-LGBTQ+ peers. These disparities are uniquely complex among Black and/or Latine youth and young adults within the LGBTQ+ community, but there has been little research addressing the communication strategies that can promote tobacco prevention and cessation for these groups. Given the promise and history of successful health communication campaigns for tobacco control, this research is crucial. We thus conducted a scoping review to identify trends and gaps in the empirical research published from 2002–2022 that analyzed tobacco prevention and cessation communication strategies for Black and/or Latine LGBTQ+ youth and young adults (ages 12–30) living in the United States. Despite an initial search query of 3,182 articles after deleting duplicates, only five articles were eligible for inclusion, three of which evaluated the This Free Life campaign. Accordingly, we view our scoping review as an almost empty review. Although our results offer preliminary insight into messaging strategies used in these campaigns, our larger contribution is to expose the scarcity of tobacco-related communication research being conducted among Black and/or Latine LGBTQ+ communities. Given the marginalization these communities face, we issue a call to action for researchers and campaign designers and offer a series of suggestions for future research.

Understanding Organ Donation Messaging: A Qualitative Inquiry

Promoting health communication about organ donation remains a crucial objective within Native American communities. The goals of the current study were to communicate with young adult Native Americans about the Organ Donation Willingness Model (ODWM; Horton & Horton, 1991) to gain their responses to materials from campaigns about donation strategies tailored to Native American communities. Six focus groups were conducted with a total of 31 participants. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2019, 2022) and following Smith’s guidelines (2008), which include showing deep respect for the group participants, conducting the study in a face-to-face setting, and being active listeners of the group and their cultural norms, exercising special attention towards those norms. The analysis generated four themes: (1) knowledge and transplantation support emerging from family and community factors; (2) conflicting cultural beliefs; (3) geographic opportunities for improved health care, and finally, (4) the presence of Native Americans as tokenized people in campaign messages. Future collaboration with rural communities and campaign messages could focus on approaches that emphasize communal voice, social representations theory, and clear message strategies.

Watchful, skeptics, and system distrusters: Characteristics associated with different types of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among U.S. working-age adults

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is complex, with adults identifying various reasons for not getting vaccinated. Using data from the 2022 National Wellbeing Survey on 7612 U.S. adults aged 18–64, we identified how age, race/ethnicity, sex, marital status, education, income, employment status, partisanship, and metropolitan status are associated with COVID-19 vaccination status and three non-mutually exclusive types of vaccine hesitancy: 1) watchful, concerned about vaccine side effects and efficacy; 2) skeptics, distrust the vaccine, and 3) system distrusters, distrust government. A third of respondents overall (N = 2643) had not received at least one dose at the time of the survey. Among respondents who were not vaccinated, 67 % are classified as watchful, 53 % are skeptics, and 32 % are system distrusters. Results from logistic regression show that concerns about side effects and safety (watchfulness) appear to be major drivers for not getting vaccinated among females and among non-Hispanic Black and unmarried adults, whereas skepticism and distrust appear to be more important barriers among ages 25–44. All three types of hesitancy appear to be important contributors to lower vaccination uptake among low-income, low-education, and unemployed adults, and among individuals who voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 election (with skepticism and distrust being most endorsed by this group). Findings suggest that universal messaging and intervention strategies are unlikely to be effective in reducing vaccine hesitancy. Different messages, messengers, and tactics must be used with different groups.

A deep understanding of influencer marketing in the tourism industry: a structural analysis of unstructured text

ABSTRACT Using both a word frequency approach and a cutting-edge transfer learning technique for natural language processing with BERTopic, the present study analysed the entire texts from the top 40 travel influencers’ Instagram posts (n = 23,223). Among the 256 features that we initially extracted, we ranked the top 19 features using the machine learning algorithm XGBoost and estimated the effects of these features on consumer engagement using Negative Binomial regression. The results show that seasonal trips, travel destination recommendations, recommendations for fashion during the trip, and emphasising travel-related emotion generate a higher level of engagement. For message strategy, specifically focusing on linguistic features, it is recommended that influencers use analytic, authentic, want-related, and space-related words in the caption but should avoid using too many hashtags. Also, overall, influencers should avoid sending messages during the night, with messages that are too long or with too many emojis.

Impact of product packaging messages on consumer perceptions and choice: The role of health claims and bonus pack promotions

This study used mixed methods to explore the impact of front-of-package health claims and bonus pack messages on consumer evaluations. First, a comprehensive audit of cereal box packages at the world's largest retailer examined how these messages are presented in practice. It was found that negative claims are more frequent and positive claims are less frequent on products with a bonus pack message compared to those without. A subsequent experiment investigated how combinations of health claims and bonus pack messages influence consumer evaluations. It also found that health claims significantly influenced consumer preferences, while bonus pack messages diminished perceptions of food healthiness but increased perceived value. Pairing positive health claims with bonus pack messages, such as “Family Size,” improved perceptions of healthiness. Moreover, positive health claims made products seem of lower value, whereas negative health claims did not affect perceived value. Health claims negatively affected value perceptions, even when paired with bonus pack messages like “Large Size.” However, the negative effect of health claims on tastiness perceptions was mitigated with “Large Size”. The study underscores the complexity of consumer decision-making, and offer insights for food marketers, emphasizing the need of a strategic approach in crafting health-related messaging and promotional strategies for product packaging.

Cutting through the noise to motivate people: A comprehensive analysis of COVID-19 social media posts de/motivating vaccination

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed significant weaknesses in the healthcare information system. The overwhelming volume of misinformation on social media and other socioeconomic factors created extraordinary challenges to motivate people to take proper precautions and get vaccinated. In this context, our work explored a novel direction by analyzing an extensive dataset collected over two years, identifying the topics de/motivating the public about COVID-19 vaccination. We analyzed these topics based on time, geographic location, and political orientation. We noticed that while the motivating topics remain the same over time and geographic location, the demotivating topics change rapidly. We also identified that intrinsic motivation, rather than external mandate, is more advantageous to inspire the public. This study addresses scientific communication and public motivation in social media. It can help public health officials, policymakers, and social media platforms develop more effective messaging strategies to cut through the noise of misinformation and educate the public about scientific findings.

Food Safety Risk and Visual Attention: The Moderating Effect of Prototype Perception and Social Distance

ABSTRACT This study examines the relationship between food safety risk perception (FSRP) and social similarity, utilizing eye-tracking to uncover how consumers process information on food labels. Central to our inquiry is that perceived similarity influences how individuals assess and react to food safety risks. Our research posits that individuals who see a high degree of similarity with others in their social circles are more attentive to food safety risks. We conducted two food label experiments, one focusing on safety labels and the other on nutritional information. Findings indicate that heightened perceptions of social similarity (prototype perception and social distance) enhance the impact of food labels (safety labels and nutritional information) on food safety risk assessments (decision-making process and product choice), manifesting in increased visual attention to these labels. This revelation underscores the significance of social factors in shaping food safety behaviors and offers a new perspective for designing more effective food safety communication. Our work contributes to the academic discourse on food safety and social psychology and provides practical insights for public health messaging strategies.

Multiple Messaging Strategies for Increasing HPV Vaccination Intentions among English- and Spanish-Speaking Parents in the United States and Mexico.

The reported study compared the impact of four influence strategies (agency assignment, enhanced active choice, deviance regulation marking, and temporal framing) on English- and Spanish-speaking parents' reported intention to vaccinate their children for HPV. An online experiment was conducted to examine the impact of the strategies. In a fractional factorial design, participating parents (N = 1663) were exposed to combinations of influence strategies in text messages presented as reminders they might receive from a healthcare provider about their child's eligibility for the vaccine series. The results indicated small but significant impacts of agency assignment, enhanced active choice, and deviance regulation marking on parents' reported vaccination intentions. The study adds to the research literature on HPV vaccination communication in two important respects. First, it demonstrated how incorporating evidence-based influence strategies into reminder messages can increase parents' vaccination intentions, an important precursor and predictor of actual vaccine uptake. Second, it sets an important precedent by examining the effects of influence strategies on vaccination intentions across different languages.

Tasty or sustainable? Goal conflict in plant-based food choice

Marketers and policymakers navigate an evolving landscape where an increasing number of consumers are willing to consider the environmental impacts of meat consumption and shift towards plant-based proteins. This trend is exemplified by the increasing number of individuals who identify as flexitarians, preferring plant-forward diets though still consuming meat. Nevertheless, consumers juggle the conflicting desire for healthy and sustainable choices with the enjoyment of tasty food, which varies across contexts. Consequently, determining the appropriate framing for plant-based meat alternatives — when to emphasize health and sustainability or taste — poses a challenge not adequately addressed by previous research. This study delves into the nuanced impact of modifying goal salience by tailoring product attribute frames to align with contextual consumer goals, offering insights into engaging consumers with plant-based alternatives. These findings reveal that aligning a hedonic attribute frame with an active hedonic goal significantly enhances product engagement. Conversely, introducing a sustainability attribute frame in the presence of an active hedonic goal adversely influences taste expectations, leading to a decline in intentions to engage with the product. These insights offer valuable guidance for navigating the complexities of sustainable food choices and underscore the need to align messaging strategies with consumers’ active goals.

Planning Facebook message strategy and creative appeal for effective ad engagement – an exploratory study

PurposeStudying the effect of social media advertising on consumer engagement, this study analyzes the impact of shared-experience versus personal message strategies, informational versus transformational creative appeals and low-involvement products versus high-involvement products. It aims to determine how best to combine ad elements to affect consumer engagement on different levels.Design/methodology/approachUsing an online survey among 448 Facebook users, an experimental factorial design of 2 (message strategy conditions) X 2 (creative appeal conditions) X 2 (product types: TV vs. frozen pizza) was used. Each advertisement was evaluated on three facets of engagement: cognitive, psychological and behavioral.FindingsResults indicate that informational appeal is preferable for all conditions. The effectiveness of message strategy differs by product type, and interactions between message and appeal are significant only for the high-involvement product. Additionally, it indicates that message strategy is most significant in affecting behavioral engagement and not necessarily cognitive or psychological engagement.Practical implicationsTo develop effective Facebook ads, practitioners should use a personal/informational combination when working with high-involvement products and a shared-experience/informational combination when working with low-involvement products.Originality/valueAn original grid for integrating message strategy and creative appeal is constructed in this paper. Besides behavioral engagement, it also evaluates cognitive and psychological engagement. By comparing products with a high and low involvement level, it provides marketers with actionable recommendations to increase social media campaign effectiveness.

Signalling media professionalism: comparative social constructions of RT and CGTN

ABSTRACT The messaging content of Russia Today (RT) and China Global Television Network (CGTN) provides alternatives to those offered in mainstream western media. Comparative studies point to RT’s aggressive, ideological rhetoric and CGTN’s more tacit, celebratory, and culture-focused approach. This study adds to these understandings by examining how messaging strategies construct media professionalism – one of the four historic pillars of media systems analysis – to delegitimize media systems of rival states and build credibility of their own platforms and by assessing the dialectical role of key oppositional voices to Western media hegemony in the digital sphere. Using a mixed methods approach, we analyzed thousands of RT and CGTN’s Facebook posts across language accounts between 2017 and 2022. The study documents that RT and CGTN utilise arguments by comparison to assess competing news outlets and redefine scholarly modes of assessing media professionalism. The study identified four metrics used by RT and CGTN to evaluate media professionalism: source attribution, adherence to positive news values, distinctions from negative news standards of competing outlets, and relative commitment levels to free expression. It further reveals differences in RT and CGTN’s language-based, message targeting in relation to media professionalism.

Report finds ‘trusted messengers’ play vital role in 988 support

Responding to earlier research that found individuals who struggle with mental health issues tend to turn to their loved ones and others close to them to seek support through the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, two organizations have partnered on follow‐up research and a tool kit that provides specific messaging strategies tailored for these “trusted messengers.”

Health Messaging Strategies for Vaping Prevention and Cessation Among Youth and Young Adults: A Systematic Review

ABSTRACT This systematic review evaluates health messaging strategies for the prevention and cessation of e-cigarette use among youth and young adults. Health messaging strategies were defined as the strategic process of developing messages with the intent to shape, reinforce, or change recipients’ health attitudes and behaviors. McGuire’s Communication/Persuasion Model guided the analysis of the messaging strategies, focusing on the model’s five communication inputs (i.e. source, message, channel, audience, destination) and 14 persuasive outcomes. Nine databases were searched from January 2007 to September 2023. The inclusion criteria encompassed studies in English that presented quantitative data on messaging strategies aimed at discouraging vaping among youth and young adults. Each study was also coded for study characteristics and the utilization of theory. Out of 6,045 studies, 25 met the inclusion criteria. The reviewed studies exhibit a diverse array of research methods and a consistent integration of theories. The review emphasizes the nuanced main and interaction effects of various communication inputs, such as message features and audience characteristics, while also pointing out a research gap in message sources. In addition, the utilization of social media for effective messaging to engage the audience requires further research. Only one study specifically evaluated messaging strategies for vaping cessation. More research is imperative to develop targeted and tailored messages that effectively prevent and reduce vaping, especially among populations at higher risk of vaping-related harms, while also leveraging effective channels and innovative communication technologies to engage the audience.

Political familiarity vs. journalism background: insights from three Israeli prime ministers on social media

PurposeTo explore a potential relationship between politicians’ media background and social media success through an analysis of content and engagement strategies adopted by three consecutive Israeli prime ministers on their official Facebook pages.Design/methodology/approachA detailed comparative content analysis of a total of 1,242 posts published by three Israeli prime ministers – Benjamin Netanyahu, Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett – on the same official Facebook account, “the Prime Minister of Israel,” during their respective terms. Metrics like engagement rates, content distribution and media type utilization were considered.FindingsAll analyzed prime ministers exhibited consistent messaging strategies, suggesting a standardized approach to digital political communication. However, we found no correlation between a politician’s media background and their success on social media. Instead, decisive determinants of engagement outcomes were factors like longstanding political exposure and familiarity.Practical implicationsThe observed uniformity in leaders’ messaging strategies indicates a prevalent standardized approach in digital political communication, revealing potential avenues for innovation and diversification.Originality/valueThis research challenges the prevailing notion that background in media inherently benefits digital political engagement, emphasizing the significance of political experience. The results provide new insights into the evolving landscape of political communication. Using signaling theory to evaluate how digital content reveals leaders’ intentions and credibility, our findings provide new insights into political communication in the digital era.

Communication Strategies to Promote COVID-19 Vaccination Intention: How Effective are Source, Appeal, Framing, and Evidence Type Approaches?

ABSTRACT This systematic review analyzed the effectiveness of key persuasive strategies – source, appeal, framing, and evidence (SAFE) – on COVID-19 vaccination intention. Quantitative studies were searched in Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed following the PRISMA guidelines. From the 61 studies that met inclusion criteria, source and framing are the most commonly applied SAFE strategies. However, source characteristics are a more consistent influence on vaccine intentions than message framing strategies, with expert sources and general practitioners emerging as the key sources contributing to greater vaccine intentions. In addition, a range of mediators and moderators influence the process through which SAFE message strategies impact vaccine intentions. Framing effects, in particular, are moderated by political identity, source characteristics, and vaccine perceptions. Tests of mediating processes highlight how health behavior judgments (e.g. perceived vaccine benefits, risks, trust in vaccination, perceived severity) and message response/perceptions (e.g. counterarguing, perceived similarity/empathy) operate as key intervening factors between SAFE message strategies and vaccine intentions. Overall, when practitioners apply various structural approaches (narrative elements, fear appeals, framing cues) to vaccine promotion campaigns, they should be cognizant of who is providing that appeal. Targeted populations may benefit most from different structural elements if they are integrated with sources that resonate with the audience.