Premium
Persuasive Appeals and the Reduction of Skin Cancer Risk: The Roles of Appearance Concern, Perceived Benefits of a Tan, and Efficacy Information
Author(s) -
PrenticeDunn Steven,
Jones Jody L.,
Floyd Donna L.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1997.tb00285.x
Subject(s) - psychology , social psychology , health benefits , medicine , traditional medicine
This experiment compared the effectiveness of appearance‐based messages focusing on the benefits of tanning and the efficacy of preventive measures on students' intentions to protect themselves against sun‐induced skin damage. Subjects who were high or low on a dispositional measure of appearance concern responded to 1 of 4 essays providing either high or low benefits information, and high or low efficacy information. Overall, subjects low in appearance concern expressed greater intentions to take precautionary measures than did those high in appearance concern. Additionally, the low benefits of tanning message produced greater intentions to take precautions than did the high benefits message. The benefits results suggest 1 mechanism through which sun protection behaviors may be encouraged.