Enhancing Selective Exposure to Health Messages and Health Intentions: Effects of Susceptibility Cues and Gain–Loss Framing

Insufficient message exposure is still a major obstacle for effective health communication activities, and little is known on how message features affect selective exposure and persuasion. This study examined the effects of two health message features, suggested susceptibility and gain–loss framing, on respondents’ selective exposure and subsequent health behavior intentions. Two personality traits, repression-sensitization and approach/avoidance motivation, were studied as moderators of the proposed relationships. An experimental 2 (suggested susceptibility: low vs. high) × 2 (gain–loss framing: gain- vs. loss-framed message) study was conducted. Participants browsed through an online health magazine while their message choices were unobtrusively logged. A subsequent online questionnaire assessed personality dispositions and behavioral intentions. High levels of message susceptibility increased both selective exposure to health messages and respondents’ motivation to engage in adaptive health behaviors. Gain–loss framing did not affect message exposure or behavioral intentions, with one exception: Avoidance-oriented low-anxious respondents selected more loss-framed than gain-framed articles for reading. Repression-sensitization and approach/avoidance motivation did not moderate health message effects, but partly influenced these measures directly or in combination. The number of articles to choose from was limited, and it is unclear to what extent the findings can be generalized to other, more familiar health topics. Emphasizing readers’ susceptibility to health threats appears very effective for increasing exposure to health messages and protective behavioral intentions. The effectiveness of gain–loss framing, by contrast, largely depends on moderating factors.