Tailoring Temporal Message Frames to Individuals’ Time Orientation Strengthens the Relationship between Risk Perception and Behavioral Intention

Abstract

While health behavior theories conceptualize risk perception as a major factor motivating protective action against risk, empirical support for this widely-assumed proposition has been inconclusive. Given the inherent issue concerning the delay of desired outcomes in most health behaviors, this research proposes the congruence between temporal frame and individuals’ trait time orientation (i.e., consideration of future consequences; CFC) as an important moderator in the risk perception-behavioral intention relationship. Findings from two experiments concerning messages promoting adequate sleep (N = 227; Study 1) and plastic bottle recycling (N = 223; Study 2) showed that the relationship between risk perception and behavioral intention was significantly stronger when temporal frames and CFC were more congruent (i.e., tailored). Nuanced differences in the moderating effects of frame-CFC congruence were observed depending on how risk perception was operationalized (i.e., susceptibility only, severity only, or combination of the two). Implications for health communication message design are discussed.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments.

Notes

¹ First, getting adequate sleep is crucial for college health and safety (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016), but unhealthy sleep habits are widespread during college, making it personally relevant to participants (Robbins & Niederdeppe, 2015). Second, while recycling is considered as an important aspect of public and community health on campus, individuals tend to believe their lives are not directly impacted by the issue (Largo-Wight, Bian, & Lange, 2012).

² The manipulation of the present study focused on the benefits only because there are no clearly identified future costs associated with the two risk-reducing behaviors.

³ In Study 1, results of simple slope tests showed that when temporal message frame and CFC were more congruent – that is when higher-CFC individuals read the future-framed message (see the dotted lines on the left) and when lower-CFC individuals were exposed to the present-framed message (see the solid lines on the right) – the relationship between risk perception and behavioral intention was positive and significant across three different operationalizations of risk perception (higher-CFC: b_{susceptibility} = .31, p < .05; b_severity = .80, p < .001; b_combined = .06, p < .01; lower-CFC: b_{susceptibility} = .43, p < .01; b_severity = .60, p < .05; b_combined = .07, p < .01). The risk perception-behavioral intention relationship, however, became non-significant when the temporal message frame and CFC were less congruent: That is when higher-CFC individuals were exposed to the present-framed message (see the solid lines on the left: b_{susceptibility} = .01, p = .92; b_severity = .32, p = 13; b_combined = .01, p = .57) and when lower-CFC individuals read the future-framed message (see the dotted lines on the right: b_{susceptibility} = −.08, p = .59; b_severity = .01, p = .97; b_combined = −.01, p = .71).

Additional information

Funding

This work was in part supported by the Yonsei University Future-leading Research Initiative of 2019 [RMS2 2019-22-0215].