The Influence of Gain-Framed and Loss-Framed Health Messages on Nutrition and Physical Activity Knowledge

Fetter, Deborah S.; Dharmar, Madan; Lawry-Hall, Suzanne; Pressman, Jona; Chapman, Jamie; Scherr, Rachel E.

doi:10.1177/2333794x19857405

“…Roundtable participants reflected on some of the pitfalls of dietary guidance approaches that focus on cutting back or avoiding food sources of particular nutrients ( e.g. free sugars, saturates), given that it is believed that people are often more motivated by dietary advice that is framed in positive or permissive terms and linked to positive actions that can be adopted to prevent health problems, rather than negative and fear‐based messaging (Gallagher & Updegraff ; Fetter et al ). Examples discussed included the success of some popular weight loss programmes that promote diets based on low energy‐dense foods (Coe et al ).…”

Section: Roundtable Discussion – Current Public Health Nutrition Messmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proceedings of a roundtable event ‘Is communicating the concept of nutrient density important?’

Lockyer

¹

,

Cade

²

,

Darmon

³

et al. 2020

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The British Nutrition Foundation held a 1‐day roundtable event to gather views from a wide range of stakeholders on the relevance and importance of the concept of nutrient density in supporting and motivating people to make healthier dietary choices. The opportunities and barriers associated with the use of this concept were also explored. The roundtable involved experts from research, public health nutrition, dietetics, retail and nutrition science communication, and this report describes the main themes emerging from the discussions. High obesity prevalence rates indicate that, on average, we are consuming too many calories relative to energy requirements; yet, the quality of our diets, with respect to certain vitamins and minerals and fibre, seems to be falling somewhat short of recommendations. Addressing this issue may require a more holistic approach than the current focus on restricting single nutrients prevalent in public health messaging internationally. Most members of the roundtable felt that communicating the concept of nutrient density may help in encouraging healthier food choices and dietary patterns that are higher in nutritional quality. However, while nutrient profiling has been used to guide front‐of‐pack labelling and in restricting the advertising of less healthy foods to children, there is a lack of consensus on the precise definition of a ‘nutrient dense’ food or which nutrients should be used as markers of the ‘healthiness’ of foods/drinks, and the term seems to be poorly understood by consumers and health professionals alike. Therefore, further work is required if tools around this concept are to be developed to try and successfully promote behaviour change.

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“…The design of a message has the potential to alter an individual’s perception of the message content and can therefore influence their behavior and attitude towards the subject (Fetter et al, 2019 ). Following past research (e.g., Fetter et al, 2019 ; Tversky & Kahneman, 1981 ), the present study will employ gain-loss framing, a popular framing paradigm, to examine the effect it has on preventative behaviors. Gain and loss framing specifically tap into emotional responses to messages (Tversky & Kahneman, 1981 ).…”

Section: Framing Effect and The Covid-19 Pandemicmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gain frames are typically positive and emphasize benefits while loss frames lean more negative and emphasize costs of a particular decision (Holton et al, 2014 ). An example of gain and loss-framed messages that were used in an Obesity-prevention program from Fetter et al ( 2019 ) include “exercising regularly can help you lose weight” (gain) versus “not exercising regularly can make you gain weight” (loss).…”

Section: Framing Effect and The Covid-19 Pandemicmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of gain-loss framing and its interaction with political ideology on social distancing and mask wearing compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic

Steffen

¹

,

Cheng

²

2021

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The COVID-19 pandemic has caused millions of cases and over half a million deaths in the United States. While health experts urge citizens to adopt preventative measures such as social distancing and wearing a mask, these recommended behaviors are not always followed by the public. To find a way to promote preventative measures, the present study examined the role of gain-loss framing of COVID-19 related messages on social distancing and mask wearing compliance. Moreover, the study also tested potential moderating effects on framing with three individual characteristics: political ideology, subjective numeracy, and risk attitude. A sample of 375 U.S. adult residents were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk. Each participant read either a gain or loss-framed message related to practicing protective behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants also completed scales of preventative behaviors, risk attitude, subjective numeracy, political ideology, and other demographic variables. It was found that those who were more liberal, risk-averse and had greater subjective numeracy were more likely to wear a mask and/or follow social distancing. Furthermore, in the presence of demographic and psychological factors, the study found participants in the loss-framed condition than in the gain-framed condition were more likely to adopt both preventative measures, supporting the notion of loss aversion. Additionally, the framing effect was also moderated by political ideology on mask-wearing, with the effect being stronger in liberals than in conservatives. Collectively, the study implies message framing may be a useful means to promote preventative measures in the current pandemic.

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“…The design of a message has the potential to alter an individual's perception of the message content and can therefore influence their behavior and attitude towards the subject (Fetter et al, 2019). Following past research (e.g., Fetter et al, 2019;Tversky& Kahneman, 1981), the present study will employ gain-loss framing, a popular framing paradigm, to examine the effect it has on preventative behaviors. Gain and loss framing specifically tap into emotional responses to messages (Tversky & Kahneman, 1981).…”

Section: Framing Effect and The Covid-19 Pandemicmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gain frames are typically positive and emphasize benefits while loss frames lean more negative and emphasize costs of a particular decision (Holton, 2014). An example of gain and loss-framed messages that were used in an Obesity-prevention program from Fetter et al (2019) include "exercising regularly can help you lose weight" (gain) versus "not exercising regularly can make you gain weight" (loss).…”

Section: Framing Effect and The Covid-19 Pandemicmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Gain-Loss Framing and Its Interaction with Political Ideology on Social Distancing and Mask Wearing Compliance During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Steffen¹,

Cheng²

2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused millions of cases and over half a million deaths in the United States. While health experts urge citizens to adopt preventative measures such as social distancing and wearing a mask, these recommended behaviors are not always followed by the public. To find a way to promote preventative measures, the present study examined the role of gain-loss framing of COVID-19 related messages on social distancing and mask wearing compliance. Moreover, the study also tested potential moderating effects on framing with three individual characteristics: political ideology, subjective numeracy, and risk attitude. A sample of 375 U.S. adult residents were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk. Each participant read either a gain or loss-framed message related to practicing protective behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants also completed scales of preventative behaviors, risk attitude, subjective numeracy, political ideology, and other demographic variables. It was found that those who were more liberal, risk-averse and had greater subjective numeracy were more likely to wear a mask and/or follow social distancing. Furthermore, in the presence of demographic and psychological factors, the study found participants in the loss-framed condition than in the gain-framed condition were more likely to adopt both preventative measures, supporting the notion of loss aversion. Additionally, the framing effect was also moderated by political ideology on mask-wearing, with the effect being stronger in liberals than in conservatives. Collectively, the study implies message framing may be a useful means to promote preventative measures in the current pandemic.

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The Influence of Gain-Framed and Loss-Framed Health Messages on Nutrition and Physical Activity Knowledge

Cited by 7 publications

References 32 publications

Proceedings of a roundtable event ‘Is communicating the concept of nutrient density important?’

Proceedings of a roundtable event ‘Is communicating the concept of nutrient density important?’

The influence of gain-loss framing and its interaction with political ideology on social distancing and mask wearing compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic

The Influence of Gain-Loss Framing and Its Interaction with Political Ideology on Social Distancing and Mask Wearing Compliance During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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