Visual and auditory message framing effects on tobacco smoking

Persuasive health messages can be framed to emphasize the benefits of adopt ing a health behavior (gains) or the risks of not adopting it (losses). Thi s study examined the effects of message framing on beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors relevant to cigarette smoking. in video presentations about tobac co smoking, visual images and auditory voiceover content were framed either as gains or losses, yielding 4 message conditions. Undergraduates (N = 437 ) attending a public university in New England were assigned randomly to vi ew one of these messages. Gain-framed messages about smoking in visual and auditory modalities shined smoking-related beliefs, attitudes, and behavior s in the direction of avoidance and cessation, Health-communication experts , when promoting prevention behaviors like smoking avoidance or cessation, may wish to diverge from the tradition of using loss-framed messages and fe ar appeals in this domain, and instead consider using gain-framed appeals t hat present the advantages of not smoking.