The effects of gender and gain versus loss frame on processing breast cancer screening messages

Abstract

This current study investigated how the gain versus loss framing effect would be moderated by gender of message recipients in the context of breast cancer screening (BCS) intervention that promotes both men and women to recommend regular BCS to their close women. A 2 (male vs. female) x 2 (gain vs. loss) between-subject experiment was conducted using 128 African American participants (mean age = 45.9). The results showed that men and women processed the BCS messages with a different elaboration depth, and also perceived gain- versus loss-framed messages differently. For instance, compared to gain frame loss frame was more effective for women in increasing their message elaboration and supportive thoughts about BCS. In contrast, gain frame was more effective for men in increasing their memory of the BCS messages than loss frame. The findings provided practical implications for health communication practitioners in how to strategically use gain versus loss framing in accordance with their target population.