The effectiveness of health messages in countering advertising of unhealthy food : the role of regulatory fit

Food consumption is a major contributing factor to the rise of obesity, with poor dietary patterns persisting despite public education on the importance of eating healthily. Health researchers have attributed the continued consumption of high-caloried foods to the cumulative exposure of television v...

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Main Author: Yeo, Su Lin
Other Authors: May Oo Lwin
Format: Theses and Dissertations
Language:English
Published: 2013
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-548632020-03-20T17:12:37Z The effectiveness of health messages in countering advertising of unhealthy food : the role of regulatory fit Yeo, Su Lin May Oo Lwin Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Hong Ying-yi DRNTU::Social sciences::Mass media Food consumption is a major contributing factor to the rise of obesity, with poor dietary patterns persisting despite public education on the importance of eating healthily. Health researchers have attributed the continued consumption of high-caloried foods to the cumulative exposure of television viewers to unhealthy food advertising. This has led some governments to impose regulations requiring unhealthy food advertisements to carry health messages. This research seeks to investigate the effectiveness of these health messages on attitudes and intentions related to unhealthy food consumption. A pre-study was first conducted to assess the amount of food advertising content on prime-time television in US, China and Singapore. A theoretical framework guided by the Regulatory Fit Theory was subsequently developed from the findings of the pre-study. It informed two quasi-experimental studies that tested two different formats - simultaneous and sequential - each presenting two sets of health messages alongside an unhealthy food commercial. The health messages were crafted to match either the individuals’ prevention or promotion regulatory orientation. Study 1 tested the effects of fit when both sets of health messages were presented in a simultaneous format; while Study 2 introduced an additional variable (message positioning) and tested the same sets of health messages in a sequential format. Results of Study 1 showed significant two-way interaction effects only for promotion-fit but not for prevention-fit on intentions to eat healthily. Study 2, on the other hand, found significant three-way interaction effects for both prevention- and promotion-fit and provides support for the moderating influence of message positioning on regulatory fit. Findings from the studies together with strategic considerations for health authorities are discussed. This research highlights the importance of regulatory fit and presentation formats of health messages on intentions to eat healthily and presents their implications for public health policy and intervention. It is hoped that the research findings will inform health practitioners in designing better public health campaigns. DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (WKWSCI) 2013-09-30T07:57:16Z 2013-09-30T07:57:16Z 2013 2013 Thesis Yeo, S. L. (2013). The effectiveness of health messages in countering advertising of unhealthy food : the role of regulatory fit. Doctoral thesis, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. 10356/54863 10.32657/10356/54863 en Nanyang Technological University 186 p. application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
country Singapore
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic DRNTU::Social sciences::Mass media
spellingShingle DRNTU::Social sciences::Mass media
Yeo, Su Lin
The effectiveness of health messages in countering advertising of unhealthy food : the role of regulatory fit
description Food consumption is a major contributing factor to the rise of obesity, with poor dietary patterns persisting despite public education on the importance of eating healthily. Health researchers have attributed the continued consumption of high-caloried foods to the cumulative exposure of television viewers to unhealthy food advertising. This has led some governments to impose regulations requiring unhealthy food advertisements to carry health messages. This research seeks to investigate the effectiveness of these health messages on attitudes and intentions related to unhealthy food consumption. A pre-study was first conducted to assess the amount of food advertising content on prime-time television in US, China and Singapore. A theoretical framework guided by the Regulatory Fit Theory was subsequently developed from the findings of the pre-study. It informed two quasi-experimental studies that tested two different formats - simultaneous and sequential - each presenting two sets of health messages alongside an unhealthy food commercial. The health messages were crafted to match either the individuals’ prevention or promotion regulatory orientation. Study 1 tested the effects of fit when both sets of health messages were presented in a simultaneous format; while Study 2 introduced an additional variable (message positioning) and tested the same sets of health messages in a sequential format. Results of Study 1 showed significant two-way interaction effects only for promotion-fit but not for prevention-fit on intentions to eat healthily. Study 2, on the other hand, found significant three-way interaction effects for both prevention- and promotion-fit and provides support for the moderating influence of message positioning on regulatory fit. Findings from the studies together with strategic considerations for health authorities are discussed. This research highlights the importance of regulatory fit and presentation formats of health messages on intentions to eat healthily and presents their implications for public health policy and intervention. It is hoped that the research findings will inform health practitioners in designing better public health campaigns.
author2 May Oo Lwin
author_facet May Oo Lwin
Yeo, Su Lin
format Theses and Dissertations
author Yeo, Su Lin
author_sort Yeo, Su Lin
title The effectiveness of health messages in countering advertising of unhealthy food : the role of regulatory fit
title_short The effectiveness of health messages in countering advertising of unhealthy food : the role of regulatory fit
title_full The effectiveness of health messages in countering advertising of unhealthy food : the role of regulatory fit
title_fullStr The effectiveness of health messages in countering advertising of unhealthy food : the role of regulatory fit
title_full_unstemmed The effectiveness of health messages in countering advertising of unhealthy food : the role of regulatory fit
title_sort effectiveness of health messages in countering advertising of unhealthy food : the role of regulatory fit
publishDate 2013
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