Background-Although theories of health behavior have guided thousands of studies, relatively few studies have compared these theories against one another.

Findings highlight characteristics of the message recipient that may affect the success of framed messages promoting vaccine acceptance. This study has practical implications for the development of health communications promoting vaccination.

The current study highlights key correlates of vaccine acceptability that may inform HPV vaccination campaigns for underserved populations.

This study provides an important exception to the commonly observed gain-framed advantage for preventive health behaviors. Loss-framed appeals appear to be particularly effective in promoting interest in low-frequency prevention behaviors such as HPV vaccination.

Objective Perceived barriers are one of the strongest determinants of health behavior. The current study presents a novel conceptualization of perceived barriers by testing the following hypotheses: (a) perceived barriers are multidimensional and thus should cluster into distinct factors; (b) practical barriers should be salient for individuals intending to engage in a particular health behavior, whereas global barriers should be salient for individuals not intending to enact the behavior; and (c) whereas global barriers should be negatively associated with behavioral intentions, practical barriers should be positively related to intentions. Methods The context for this investigation was young adult women’s perceived barriers to human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. Two months after viewing an educational video about HPV vaccination, women (aged 18-26) who had not initiated the series (n = 703) reported their perceived barriers to HPV vaccination and intentions to receive the vaccine. Results Relative to the conventional single factor approach, a five-factor model provided better fit to the data and accounted for a larger proportion of variance in vaccination intentions. The relative salience of different perceived barriers varied as a function of women’s intentions. Participants who were not intending to get vaccinated cited global concerns about vaccine safety and low perceived need for the vaccine. In contrast, participants intending to get vaccinated cited practical concerns (cost, logistical barriers) related to carrying out their intentions. Moreover, whereas global perceived barriers were associated with lower intentions, practical barriers were associated with higher intentions. Conclusions Perceived barriers are multidimensional and vary systematically as a function of people’s behavioral intentions.