How health message framing and targets affect distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
Standard
In: Health Psychology, Vol. 41, No. 9, 01.09.2022, p. 630-641.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
Harvard
APA
Vancouver
Bibtex
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
T1 - How health message framing and targets affect distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic
AU - Neumer, Anna
AU - Schweitzer, Therese
AU - Bogdanic, Vita
AU - Boecker, Lea
AU - Loschelder, David
N1 - Copyright: @American Psychological Association, Year: 2022
PY - 2022/9/1
Y1 - 2022/9/1
N2 - Objective: Maintaining safe physical distance is paramount to slowing the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)/coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), particularly indoors (e.g., while shopping). We used a health message intervention to motivate grocery store customers to engage in distancing behavior. Method: In an online experiment (N = 206) and a field experiment (N = 268; preregistered on OSF), we used a 2 × 2 between-subjects design and manipulated health messages (a) as gain-framed (“to foster health”) versus loss-framed (“it could be deadly”) and (b) as targeting different beneficiaries (customers themselves versus fellow citizens). In the field experiment, observers rated customers’ distancing behavior during a random confederate encounter and a subsequent interview. We assessed customers’ perceptions of risk and worry, perspective-taking, and state optimism as concurrent psychological processes to investigate customers’ distancing behavior in correlational mediation analyses. Results: Contrary to previous research, the intervention was more effective when pertaining to customers themselves than to their fellow citizens (Experiments 1–2). In addition, loss-framed messages were more effective than gain-framed ones (Experiment 2). The former behavioral effect was accompanied (and statistically mediated) by a concurrent psychological increase in customers’ perceived risk and worry. Conclusions: Owing to their low cost and easy implementation, health messages constitute a promising means to promote physical distancing. Our results show that their effectiveness significantly depends on the framing and target of the health behavior. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
AB - Objective: Maintaining safe physical distance is paramount to slowing the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)/coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), particularly indoors (e.g., while shopping). We used a health message intervention to motivate grocery store customers to engage in distancing behavior. Method: In an online experiment (N = 206) and a field experiment (N = 268; preregistered on OSF), we used a 2 × 2 between-subjects design and manipulated health messages (a) as gain-framed (“to foster health”) versus loss-framed (“it could be deadly”) and (b) as targeting different beneficiaries (customers themselves versus fellow citizens). In the field experiment, observers rated customers’ distancing behavior during a random confederate encounter and a subsequent interview. We assessed customers’ perceptions of risk and worry, perspective-taking, and state optimism as concurrent psychological processes to investigate customers’ distancing behavior in correlational mediation analyses. Results: Contrary to previous research, the intervention was more effective when pertaining to customers themselves than to their fellow citizens (Experiments 1–2). In addition, loss-framed messages were more effective than gain-framed ones (Experiment 2). The former behavioral effect was accompanied (and statistically mediated) by a concurrent psychological increase in customers’ perceived risk and worry. Conclusions: Owing to their low cost and easy implementation, health messages constitute a promising means to promote physical distancing. Our results show that their effectiveness significantly depends on the framing and target of the health behavior. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
KW - Business psychology
KW - covid-19
KW - field experiment
KW - framing
KW - health messages
KW - risk
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85135946564&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/4aa429fc-3773-3d96-bfae-1607e146cf44/
U2 - 10.1037/hea0001203
DO - 10.1037/hea0001203
M3 - Journal articles
C2 - 36006701
VL - 41
SP - 630
EP - 641
JO - Health Psychology
JF - Health Psychology
SN - 0278-6133
IS - 9
ER -