EFFECTS OF HEALTH MESSAGE FRAMES AND CULTURAL APPEALS ON INFLUENZA PREVENTION: A CROSS-COUNTRY INVESTIGATION
Open Access
- Author:
- Yu, Nan
- Graduate Program:
- Mass Communications
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- May 12, 2009
- Committee Members:
- Fuyuan Shen, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Fuyuan Shen, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Mary Beth Oliver, Committee Member
S. Shyam Sundar, Committee Member
Roxanne Louise Parrott, Committee Member - Keywords:
- disease prevention
influenza
health
culture
message framing - Abstract:
- This dissertation was designed to advance the understanding of communication strategies for disease prevention by considering the combined effects of health message frames (loss versus gain frames) and cultural appeals (individualistic versus collectivistic appeals). Furthermore, it aimed to investigate the effects of these persuasive messages among members from different societies (the United States and Hong Kong). The results of the two studies (the United States and Hong Kong) showed that exposure to gain-self and loss-other messages could heighten people’s intention to get a flu vaccination. The significant interaction between message frames and cultural appeals indicated that the effect of message framing in motivating preventive behaviors could be moderated by the cultural values embedded in the messages. Messages focusing on individualistic gains and collectivistic losses successfully increased people’s intention to get a flu vaccination. Moreover, the study in the United States found that the behavioral intention driven by the gain-self and loss-other messages were mediated by a set of variables. Specifically, for Americans, in order to promote preventive behaviors against influenza, the messages should be able to generate more favorable thoughts and positive attitudes toward the preventive behavior. For Hong Kong Chinese, the advantage of the gain-self and loss-other messages in promoting the preventive behavior against influenza lies in making people believe that influenza is a severe health problem, and enhancing their favorable attitudes toward the flu vaccination. Additionally, behavioral intention could be motivated only if Hong Kong Chinese could process the message easily. Theoretical and practical implications of the study were discussed.