Effects of a Personal Narrative in Messages Designed to Promote Healthy Fish Consumption Among Women of Childbearing Age

ABSTRACT

Women of childbearing age (WCBA) can attain health benefits of fish consumption while minimizing risks by following state and federal fish consumption guidelines, but many women avoid fish out of concerns about mercury exposure. This study tested the impact of brochures, informed by communication theory and research, to promote healthy fish consumption among licensed female anglers. We conducted a randomized, two-wave longitudinal experiment between May 2014 and September 2015 among 1,135 women ages 18–48 years (at baseline), drawn from a sample of licensed anglers in the Great Lakes region of the United States. We randomly assigned women to one of five groups, to either be sent one of four brochures in spring 2015 using a two (including a short personal narrative or not) by two (using certain or uncertain language) factorial design, or to a no-exposure control arm. Participants reported their fish consumption in summer 2014 and summer 2015 via an online diary. Exposure to brochure versions that included a short personal narrative helped move women whose baseline levels of fish consumption were furthest from federal recommendations closer to these guidelines; effects were clearest among women confirmed, by self-report or web tracking, to have seen the brochure. Narratives hold promise as a strategy to communicate effectively about the benefits of healthy fish consumption and risks of overconsumption among WCBA, but widespread dissemination may be necessary to achieve these effects.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Pat McCann and members of the Great Lakes Consortium for Fish Consumption Advisories for their help with study design, providing access to survey samples, and reviewing results, and to Rebecca Shohet for research assistance in gathering relevant literature in writing this article. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Grant Number GL00E01283) funded all aspects of this study under a grant to the Minnesota Department of Health, as part of the Great Lakes Health Collaboration to Reduce Toxics Exposures project. None of the authors received any other funding for their work on the project. The EPA had no role in study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, writing the report, or the decision to submit the report for publication. The research presented in this article is that of the authors and does not reflect the official policy of the EPA. The authors declare they have no actual or potential competing financial interests.