The effects of gain- and loss-framed nutritional messages on children's healthy eating behaviour
- Author(s)
- Alice Binder, Brigitte Naderer, Jörg Matthes
- Abstract
Objective: Despite extensive research on framing effects in public health communication, there is still a lack of knowledge on how gain frames v. loss frames can encourage healthy eating behaviour among children. Design: Drawing on the Prospect Theory as well as on the Reactivity of Embedded Food Cues in Advertising Model, an experiment exposed children to an audio-visual cartoon movie with gain-framed nutritional messages about eating fruit (gain condition), loss-framed nutritional messages about eating fruit (loss condition) or a message without any food (control group). Children's fruit intake was measured as the dependent variable. Children's awareness of gain- and loss-framed arguments was treated as mediators, while children's age and parents' self-reported food-related mediation styles were modelled as moderators. Setting: Vienna, Austria, in 2018. Participants: Children aged 6-10 years (N 161). Results: Children in the gain frame group were more aware of gain-framed arguments, and children in the loss frame group were more aware of loss-framed arguments than those in the control group. However, only the mediator awareness of gain-framed arguments increased fruit intake. Additionally, there was a direct effect of the gain-framed message on fruit intake compared to the control group. The loss condition did not reveal such an effect. Neither parent's food-related mediation styles nor children's age moderated those results. Conclusion: Gain-framing seems to be more effective in influencing children's healthy food choices compared to loss-framing. Implications for health communication strategies aimed at children are discussed.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Communication
- External organisation(s)
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
- Journal
- Public Health Nutrition
- Volume
- 23
- Pages
- 1726-1734
- No. of pages
- 9
- ISSN
- 1368-9800
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980019004683
- Publication date
- 07-2020
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 508007 Communication science, 508014 Journalism
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health, Nutrition and Dietetics, Medicine (miscellaneous)
- Portal url
- https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/the-effects-of-gain-and-lossframed-nutritional-messages-on-childrens-healthy-eating-behaviour(bd21b0e0-5386-4604-924c-245b60ec4a68).html