Combining gain-loss frame and background color to increase the effectiveness of online oral health messages: Differences among decision stages.

BACKGROUND: Gain-loss framing is one of the most popular verbal techniques for increasing message persuasiveness. Color is believed to be a compelling visual cue for persuasion purposes. The verbal and visual elements of online health messages are often studied and applied independently of each other, although they may be mutually supportive in a communication process. OBJECTIVE: Drawing on the protection motivation theory, this study aims to examine the effects of the gain-loss frame and background color of online messages as well as their combination on users' threat appraisal and coping appraisal in the context of oral health. The health action process approach, a theoretical model of behavior change, is further introduced to test whether the decision stage moderates the effects of message design on readers' protection motivation. METHODS: An online experiment involving 258 participants, including 119 non-intenders, 47 intenders, and 92 actors, was conducted based on a 2 × 2 between-subject design. Each participant was instructed to read an online oral health message that was communicated with either gain- or loss-framing and displayed on a either red or blue background. The change in one's protection motivation was elicited with the reading task and measured with the differences between the ratings in the pretest and posttest. RESULTS: While there was no significant main effect of gain-loss frame on the participants' oral health protection motivation, the red background was more effective in increasing the participants' coping appraisal than the blue background. In particular, displaying the loss-framed message on a red background was effective in increasing the non-intenders' coping appraisal, but not effective for intenders or actors. CONCLUSIONS: Humans' automous and rapid responses to visual elements (e.g., background color) of messages can be enhanced with the combination of verbal elements and harnessed to achieve message effectiveness. It is also necessary to tailor message visual/verbal design to suit individual decision stage.

Using Innovation-Decision Model to Describe the Adoption to Utilization of HIV-Data for Decision-Making in LMICs.

Data informed decision-making (DIDM) plays a fundamental role in the fight against HIV and AIDS in Low-and-Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). Despite the scale-up of HIV care services, supported by health information systems (HIS), cases of under-utilization of data in decision-making are still being reported at different levels of the health system. Literature revealing the process involved in data users' decision to adopt DIDM in LMICs is meager. To fill this gap, we employ the innovation-decision model to describe the stages of adoption of DIDM by data users. Thus, we extract reports on efforts to promote DIDM in HIV from existing literature, and map this to the model. We then identify important stages, which require emphasis in the adoption process. Hence, implementers could benefit from use of the innovation-decision model in understanding adoption process of DIDM.

Specific Barriers and Drivers in Different Stages of Decision-Making about Energy Efficiency Upgrades in Private Homes.

Energy efficiency upgrades of privately owned homes like adding to the insulation layers in the walls, roof or floor, or replacing windows with more efficiently insulated versions can contribute significantly to reducing the energy impact of the building sector and thus also the CO2 footprint of a household. However, even in countries like Norway that have a rather high rate of renovation, energy upgrades are not always integrated into such a refurbishment project. This study tests which structural and internal psychological barriers hinder and which drivers foster decision-making to implement such measures, once a renovation project is planned. With a theoretical background in stage-based models of decision-making 24 barriers and drivers were tested for their specific effect in the stages of decision-making. The four stages of decision-making assumed in this study were (1) "not being in a decision mode," (2) "deciding what to do," (3) "deciding how to do it," and (4) "planning implementation." Based on an online survey of 3787 Norwegian households, it was found that the most important barriers toward deciding to implement energy efficiency upgrades were not owning the dwelling and feeling the right time had not come yet. The most important drivers of starting to decide were higher expected comfort levels, better expected living conditions, and an expected reduction of energy costs. For the transition from deciding what to do to how to do it, not managing to make a decision and feeling the right point in time has not come yet were the strongest barriers, easily accessible information and an expected reduction of energy costs were the most important drivers. The final transition from deciding how to do the upgrades to planning implementation was driven by expecting a payoff within a reasonable time frame and higher expected comfort levels; the most important barriers were time demands for supervising contractors and-again-a feeling that the right point in time has not come yet. Implications for policy-making and marketing are discussed.