The Effect of Persuasive Messages in Promoting Home-Based Physical Activity During COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

We tested the plausibility of a persuasion model to understand the effects of messages framed in terms of gain, non-loss, loss, and non-gain, and related to the physical, mental and social consequences of doing physical activity at home during the lockdown restrictions. 272 Italian participants responded to a questionnaire on their attitude and intention at Time 1, frequency of past behavior, and self-efficacy related to exercising at home. Then, participants were randomly assigned to four different message conditions: (a) gain messages focused on the positive outcomes associated with doing physical activity at home; (b) non-loss messages focused on the avoided negative outcomes associated with doing physical activity at home; (d) loss messages focused on the negative outcomes associated with not doing physical activity at home; (c) non-gain messages focused on the missed positive outcomes associated with not doing physical activity at home. After reading the messages, participants answered a series of questions regarding their perception of threat and fear, their evaluation of the messages, and their attitude and intention toward exercising at home at Time 2. Using multigroup structural equation modeling, we compared message conditions, and tested whether the effects of the messages on attitude and intention at Time 2 were mediated by message-induced threat, message-induced fear, and message evaluation. Results showed that the perception of the messages as not threatening was the key point to activate a positive evaluation of the recommendation. The highest persuasive effect was observed in the case of the non-loss frame, which did not threaten the receivers, triggered a moderated fear and, in turn, activated a positive evaluation of the recommendation, as well as higher attitude and intention to do home-based physical activity at Time 2. Overall, these results advance our comprehension of the effects of message framing on receivers' attitudes and intentions toward home-based physical activity.

Connecting Social Psychology and Deep Reinforcement Learning: A Probabilistic Predictor on the Intention to Do Home-Based Physical Activity After Message Exposure

“…Attitude had an influence on Intention Change via the mediation of message-induced threat and message evaluation. This result is consistent with previous studies on the influence of attitudes and message framing on intention change in health-related domains (e.g., Carfora and Catellani, 2021 ; Caso et al, 2021 ). Subjective norm had an impact on Intention Change via the mediation of message-induced threat.…”

“…After completing the first questionnaire, participants read an infographic with six messages describing the physical, psychological, and social consequences of doing home-based physical activity ( Figure 2 ). All messages were formulated in prefactual terms (i.e., “If … then”; see Carfora and Catellani, 2021 ) and approximately consisted of 14 words each. Messages were formulated differently, according to the experimental condition to which participants had been randomly assigned.…”

“…. then"; see Carfora and Catellani, 2021) and approximately consisted of 14 words each. Messages were formulated differently, according to the experimental condition to which participants had been randomly assigned.…”

Information about foot care provided to people with diabetes with or without their partners: Impact on recommended foot care behavior

“…While the intervention targeted at the dyad did not lead to increased daily checking of feet, the observed increase in detection behavior following receipt of the intervention by the dyad (mean 2.3 days vs 1.4 days when the intervention was received by the person with diabetes alone) is clinically meaningful given that it significantly increases the potential for early identification of signs of infection which can minimize or delay foot problems and reduce serious complications by up to 80% (Bus et al, 2016; Diabetes UK, 2015; World Health Organization, 2017). The intervention may be adapted to explore whether daily foot checking can be achieved with an “improved” intervention; for example through a more lengthy/detailed narrative (Hinyard & Kreuter, 2007) describing a less serious foot problem (Carfora & Catellani, 2021) with less explicit persuasive intent (Moyer‐Gusé & Nabi, 2010), or through the use of verbal/visual presentation (Schubbe et al, 2020) for those with reduced literacy levels (Koops van't Jagt et al, 2019).…”

Affective components in promoting physical activity: A randomized controlled trial of message framing

“…Psychological research is already engaged in investigating viable ways to promote physical activity through persuasive messages aimed at increasing a positive attitude toward it ( Gallagher and Updegraff, 2012 ; Carfora and Catellani, 2021 ; Catellani et al, 2021 ). The present paper builds upon this corpus of research to investigate how persuasive messaging interventions exert their influence in the context of physical activity by inducing peoples’ attitude change ( Petty and Cacioppo, 1986 ; Eagly and Chaiken, 1993 ; Petty and Briñol, 2015 ).…”