Young men's perceptions of fear appeal versus neutral health messages: associations with everyday health information literacy, education, and health

Introduction. The aim of the study is to increase knowledge of the perceptions of the fear appeal message strategy as a factor affecting information use. The associations between perceptions and individual characteristics, namely education, everyday health information literacy, self-estimated and objectively measured physical health status, and the impact of context, health topic, were examined. Method. The empirical data were collected by means of a questionnaire survey, and anthropometric, aerobic fitness and muscle strength measurements administered at the Finnish Defence Forces' call-ups in the City of Oulu, Finland, in September 2012. The participants were asked to choose a more motivational message from neutral and fear appeal message alternatives. The message pairs focused on two health topics: inactivity and type 2 diabetes. Analysis. Statistical analysis included cross-tabulation with Pearson's chi square test and the Student's t-test. Results. The men who chose the fear appeal message that was related to a particular health topic were partly different from each other. Higher everyday health information literacy was associated with selecting the fear appeal message alternative in the context of inactivity. The mean body mass index, body fat percentage and waist circumference were significantly lower with men who chose the fear appeal message in the context of type 2 diabetes. Conclusions. Individual characteristics influence the perceptions of fear appeal message strategy. The results indicate that it matters whether the context is of high relevance or of low relevance to the information user. The differences found could be utilised as a basis to tailor health communication. For instance, fear appeal message strategy could be used for those with higher everyday health information literacy levels, especially in a high relevance context.