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The cultural congruency effect: Culture, regulatory focus, and the effectiveness of gain- vs. loss-framed health messages

Uskul, Ayse K., Sherman, David K., Fitzgibbon, John (2009) The cultural congruency effect: Culture, regulatory focus, and the effectiveness of gain- vs. loss-framed health messages. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45 (3). pp. 535-541. ISSN 0022-1031. (doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2008.12.005) (KAR id:32386)

Abstract

The present study contributes a cultural analysis to the literature on the persuasive effects of matching message frame to individuals’ motivational orientations. One experiment examines how members of cul- tural groups that are likely to differ in their regulatory focus respond to health messages focusing on either the benefits of flossing or the costs of not flossing. White British participants, who had a stronger promotion focus, were more persuaded by the gain-framed message, whereas East-Asian participants, who had a stronger prevention focus, were more persuaded by the loss-framed message. This cultural dif- ference in persuasion was mediated by an interaction between individuals’ self-regulatory focus and type of health message. Thus health messages framed to be culturally congruent led participants to have more positive attitudes and stronger intentions to perform the health behaviors, and the interaction between self-regulatory focus and message frame emerged as the pathway through which the observed cultural difference occurs. Discussion focuses on the integration of individual difference, socio-cultural, and situ- ational factors into models of health persuasion.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1016/j.jesp.2008.12.005
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Psychology
Depositing User: Ayse Uskul
Date Deposited: 06 Dec 2012 16:07 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:10 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/32386 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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