Do loss-framed persuasive messages engender greater message processing than do gain-framed messages? A meta-analytic review

D. J. O'Keefe, J. D. Jensen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

157 Scopus citations

Abstract

Greater fear arousal is associated with greater engagement with persuasive messages, and negative information and events are more potent than their positive counterparts. Hence loss-framed persuasive appeals, which emphasize the undesirable outcomes of noncompliance with the communicator's recommendations, should elicit greater message processing than do gain-framed appeals, which emphasize the desirable outcomes of compliance. But a meta-analytic review (based on 42 effect sizes, N = 6,378) finds that gain-framed messages engender slightly but significantly greater message engagement than do loss-framed messages. This effect is apparently not a result of whether the appeals refer to obtaining or averting negative (e.g., “skin cancer”) rather than positive (e.g., “attractive skin”) outcomes.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)51-67
JournalCommunication Studies
Volume59
DOIs
StatePublished - 2008

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