Effects of Gain- and Loss-Framed Quit Messages on Smokers: Test of the Ability to Process the Health Message as a Moderator

Abstract

Health messages can emphasize the benefits of engaging in healthy behavior (gain-framed) or the costs of failing to engage in it (loss-framed). Previous research revealed that gain-framed messages tend to be more effective in motivating smokers to quit. As a supplement to previous studies, we questioned whether the ability to process health messages moderates the size of the gain-frame advantage. There were two competing theoretical ideas. First, some scholars have noted that a high ability to process a health message is a necessary precondition to observe the advantage of gain-framing. Second, risk aversion—a central concept used in previous theorizing to explain the gain-frame advantage—is associated with automatic processing and automatic processing has a stronger influence on decision making under a low ability to process. We utilized a 2 (exposure to gain- or loss-framed quit messages) × 2 (low or high ability to process) randomized controlled trial with a pre–post exposure change in quit intentions as the target outcome (N = 182 smokers). Although the analysis revealed the hypothesized gain-frame advantage, the ability to process did not moderate the effect. We discuss the theoretical implications.