Message framing and sunscreen use: Gain-framed messages motivate beach-goers

Prospect theory suggests that people respond differentially to factually eq uivalent messages depending on how these messages are framed (A. Tversky & D. Kahneman, 1981). A. J. Rothman and P. Salovey (1997) relied on prospect theory to predict that messages highlighting potential "gains" should promo te prevention behaviors such as sunscreen use best. This experiment compare d the effectiveness of 4 differently framed messages (2 highlighting gains, 2 highlighting losses) to persuade 217 beach-goers to obtain and use sunsc reen. Attitudes and intentions were measured before and immediately followi ng the delivery of the framed information, and after completing the questio nnaire participants were given a coupon redeemable for a small bottle of su nscreen later that same day. People who read either of the 2 gain-framed br ochures, compared with those who read either of the 2 loss-framed brochures , were significantly more likely to (a) request sunscreen, (b) intend to re peatedly apply sunscreen while at the beach, and (c) intend to use sunscree n with a sun protection factor of 15 or higher.