George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA.
Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA.
Health Educ Behav. 2023 Oct;50(5):683-692. doi: 10.1177/10901981221148965. Epub 2023 Feb 1.
Electronic cigarettes are the most widely used tobacco product among youth in the United States. Although rapidly growing, research on effective message strategies for e-cigarette use prevention is still limited. This study examined the relative effectiveness of gain framing versus loss framing in youth-targeting prevention text messages delivered either as individual expository texts or simulated text exchanges between a youth patient and a pediatrician. A national sample of 1,084 youth susceptible to future e-cigarette use was randomized to condition in an online message testing experiment featuring a 2 (framing: gain vs. loss) × 2 (format: individual texts vs. simulated exchange) factorial design. Results revealed a consistent interaction between framing and messaging format in message liking, positive affect, attitude toward e-cigarette use, and future e-cigarette use intentions. The gain frame outperformed the loss frame in the simulated exchange conditions while the reverse trend was true for the individual text conditions. Furthermore, the main effect of messaging format was significant on multiple outcomes in favor of simulated text exchanges. The main effect of framing was only significant on negative affective response with the loss frame eliciting stronger responses. These findings suggest that the relative effectiveness of gain framing versus loss framing depends on how messages are presented in youth-targeting text messaging interventions. When messages are likely to be delivered in a discrete manner, the loss frame should be preferred. When greater interactivity and narrative development are possible, the gain frame should be favored. E-cigarette prevention efforts should leverage these insights to enhance message effectiveness.
电子烟是美国青少年使用最广泛的烟草产品。尽管电子烟的使用呈快速增长趋势，但有关电子烟使用预防的有效信息策略的研究仍然有限。本研究考察了在针对青少年的预防短信中，增益框架与损失框架在单独呈现的说明文和青少年患者与儿科医生之间的模拟短信交流中呈现时的相对效果。一项针对未来可能使用电子烟的 1084 名青少年的全国性抽样调查，在线参与了一项短信测试实验，该实验采用 2（框架：增益与损失）×2（格式：单独文本与模拟交流）的因子设计进行条件随机分配。结果表明，在短信喜好、积极情绪、对电子烟使用的态度和未来使用电子烟的意愿等方面，框架和信息格式之间存在一致的相互作用。在模拟交流条件下，增益框架的表现优于损失框架，而在单独文本条件下则相反。此外，信息格式的主要效应在多个结果上都是显著的，支持模拟文本交流。框架的主要效应仅在消极情感反应上显著，损失框架引起的反应更强。这些发现表明，增益框架与损失框架的相对效果取决于在面向青少年的短信干预中如何呈现信息。当消息可能以离散的方式呈现时，应选择损失框架。当更有可能进行互动和叙述发展时，应倾向于增益框架。电子烟预防工作应利用这些见解来提高信息的有效性。
