Abstract
"Framing effects" has become a generic term to represent the idea that, holding all
else constant, the decision-making context (i.e., how the message is framed) can have
a profound effect on choice behaviours. Important applications have been found in
healthcare marketing, not least in terms of how advertising appeals may encourage
changes in health related behaviours and purchase behaviours. Prospect theory
(Kahneman and Tversky, 1979 and Tversky and Kahneman, 1981) and healthcare
studies (Banks et al., 1995; Rothman et al., 1999) explain preference behaviour based
on the way information is labelled or framed. However, past research yields
contradictory and inconsistent predictions as to whether positive or negative frames
are more persuasive. This study examines the most appropriate message framing to
present to consumers in print advertisements for healthcare products. Two
experimental studies were conducted to investigate the moderating effect of product
type, perceived innovativeness and perceived risk on the processing of framed
advertising messages. Individual differences in health cognition and mood were also
viewed as mediators in data analysis. Study 1 tested the relative effectiveness of
gain- and loss-framed messages to promote prevention and detection dental care
products with different degrees of product innovativeness in a 2 (message framing:
gain, loss) x 2 (product function: prevention, detection) x 2 (degree of perceived
product innovativeness: familiar, new) factorial design. The findings indicate that
messages for familiar products should be framed differently depending on perceived
product characteristics (prevention vs. detection) but positively framed messages
may be more persuasive for both new prevention and detection products. Health
consciousness was found to mediate framing effects in persuasion. Study 2 was
conducted with the objectives of testing the robustness of the moderating effect of
perceived product characteristics found in Study 1, considering multiple types of
message framing, as well as identifying more individual difference variables as
mediators. Travel healthcare products were tested to increase the external validity of
this research. The findings suggest that mixed (combining positive and negative)
frames could enhance message effectiveness only when subjects have prior
experience. Mood, perceived susceptibility and perceived severity of health threats
were also found to mediate framing effects on persuasion.
