Impacts of Message Framing and Social Distance in Health Campaign for Promoting Regular Physical Exercise

We investigated effects of message framing and social distance on individuals’ attitude toward health campaign and behavioral intention. Individuals who read a gain-framed message had better attitude toward the campaign and higher level of behavioral intention than those who read a loss-framed message. Perceived benefits mediated the relationship between message framing and behavioral intention. Perceived severity mediated the relationship between social distance and behavioral intention only in the loss framing condition. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.