The influence of health messages framing on unrealistic optimism, behavioral intention and remembering: The role of behavioral inhibition/approach systems

Objective (s): Health messages should be able to create behavioral intention and remembering in the context of the health recommendation given in a message, along with the reduction of unrealistic optimism. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of health messages framing on optimism, behavioral intention and remebering. A sample of students (550) screened based on the motivational systems from Zanjan University by stratified cluster sampling and 72 students (38 with behavioral activating system, and 34 with behavioral inhibition system) were selected as the final sample. Data analysis showed that the impact of stress-relief message framing on optimism, behavioral intention, and memory of audiences after controlling for working memory scores was influenced by their motivational systems. The behavioral activating group was most influenced when they received the gain-framed message. The inhibition group was most influenced when they received the loss-framed message. However, these effects were not observed in dental floss messages. The results showed that consideration of the correspondence between the type of audience's motivational system and the message framing, and the novelty of the topic, are two important factors in the effectiveness of a health message. Indeed I seems that the topic and novelty in both gain-framed and loss-framed frameworks could make the most impact on the audience.