Effects of Message Framing and Critical Cognitions on Smokers' Intention to Quit Smoking

This study used the pre-test post-test no control group design. Results revealed that most of the respondents were male, middle-aged, married, fell in the category below the poverty line, reached only elementary level and were not affiliated in any organizations. The negatively framed message was more effective than the positively framed message in encouraging smokers to quit smoking. This is consistent with the Prospect Theory which postulates that negatively framed messages are more effective than the positively framed messages in encouraging individuals to do desirable health behaviors. It was found that there was significant difference between the pre-intervention and post-intervention risk severity perception scores and this was also true for intention to quit smoking. Results also showed that respondents' risk severity perception and subjective norm were significantly related to their intention to quit smoking. In addition, after exposure to the positively framed audio spot, the self-efficacy and risk severity perceptions of the respondents significantly increased. Likewise, the influence of subjective norm on the group exposed to the negatively framed message significantly increased. Finally, none of the respondents' socio-demographic characteristics such as age, sex, civil status, income, educational attainment and organizational affiliation was significantly related to respondents' intention to quit smoking.

Implications

Based on the findings of this study, negatively framed messages appeared to be more effective than positively framed messages in encouraging respondents to quit smoking. This suggests that it is important to develop messages for diverse group in terms of losses especially when failure to perform the recommended behavior would lead to health risks.

Risk severity was found to be significantly related to intention. This emphasized further that in positioning messages, campaign implementers could also consider the use of the severity of the risk involved if one would not perform the desired behavior.

Subjective norm was found to have a significant relationship to smokers' intention to quit smoking. This reinforces the role of peer groups and other influential individuals in bringing about behavior change.

The use of audio spots appears to be effective in relaying messages about smoking cessation to smokers. Since the study sites were mountain barangays where only few had access to television, the use of audio spots easily fits the context. And because most of the respondents had access to radio, elaborating messages and convincing them to adopt the desired behavior using radio spots is an effective approach.

More than that, results of this study showed that none of the socio-demographic characteristics tend to affect respondents' intention to quit smoking. This implies that people intend to quit smoking regardless of age, sex, income, civil status, educational attainment and organizational affiliation.

Recommendations

For future media campaigns

In designing a campaign on smoking cessation, the following are recommended:

In order to promote healthy behavior and to convince people to apply the desired behavior, messages may be framed in terms of losses, emphasizing the risk of not doing certain behavior. In this study, it was found that the risk of not doing the desired behavior would create a feeling of guilt, fear and anxiety among the respondents. The result of this study conforms to the results of the study done by Banks et al. (1995) which found that women who were exposed to the loss-framed video were about seven times more likely to obtain mammogram than those women who were exposed to the gain-framed video.

Risk severity perception and subjective norm were found to be significantly related to intention to quit smoking. People intend to do desired behaviors when they find that not doing desired behaviors would mean severe risk. Also, people tend to do desired behaviors due to the influence of their peers. They tend to imitate what people around them are doing and they tend to listen to the advice of their peers. Because of this, risk severity perception and subjective norm may be considered in developing communication campaigns aimed at behavioral change such as those topics pertaining to health.

For future communication researchers:

Since the respondents of this study were exposed to either of the framed audio spots only once, it is likely that respondents would not be able to capture or understand the messages or if these were understood, these would not be remembered. Because of this, future communication students may consider the use of other forms of communication media such as print, instructional video and interactive CD.

This study had a small sample. Only sixty smokers were randomly selected as survey respondents. Future studies should be conducted using a larger sample to ensure better representation.

This study only determined the effects of message framing and critical cognitions of perception on smokers' intention to quit smoking. Because the focus of this study was only to measure respondents' intention to quit smoking, perhaps future studies could ascertain whether or not smokers' intention to quit smoking was translated to practice.

Respondents' information sources and information exposure on smoking cessation must also be taken into consideration in determining their intention to quit smoking. It must be determined if level of information exposure is significantly related to their intention to quit smoking.