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Cited by 17Media Influence and HealthBehavioral Health and InterventionsNutritional Studies and Diet

The Effect of Message Framing in Promoting the Mediterranean Diet: The Moderating Role of Eating Self-Efficacy

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Carfora, Valentina, Morandi, Maria, Catellani, Patrizia·2022·Foods
DOI 10.3390/foods11101454PMC PMC9140873
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Abstract

Although a Mediterranean diet (MeDiet) provides several psychophysical health benefits, research on how to effectively promote MeDiet adherence is still lacking. In the present study, we tested the effectiveness of a messaging intervention aimed at promoting the adherence to the Mediterranean diet. A total of 435 Italian participants responded to a questionnaire on their eating self-efficacy and adherence to the MeDiet at Time 1. Then, participants were randomly assigned to three different conditions: (a) gain messages focused on the positive outcomes of MeDiet adherence; (b) non-loss messages focused on the avoided negative outcomes associated with MeDiet adherence; (c) no messages (control). After the 2 week intervention, participants answered some questions regarding their perception of threat and distress, evaluation of the messages, and adherence to the MeDiet at Time 2. We also tested whether the messaging intervention influenced participants’ MeDiet adherence at Time 2. Results confirmed that the messaging intervention enhanced the MeDiet adherence (F(2,432) = 4.61; p = 0.01, ηp2 = 0.02), with no difference between exposure to gain or non-loss messages (95% LLCI = −0.32; 95% ULCI = 0.54). We then tested whether message framing effectiveness was influenced by eating self-efficacy, and results showed that gain messages were more persuasive for participants with low eating self-efficacy (effect size = 0.01; p for interaction = 0.03). Discussion suggests that tailoring messages according to receivers’ psychological characteristics seems to be pivotal to enhance the persuasiveness of messages aimed at promoting the MeDiet adherence.

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  • Gain-framed messages tend to be more persuasive for individuals with low levels of self-efficacy.

    “Research has shown that gain-framed messages tend to be more persuasive for individuals with low levels of self-efficacy [46].”

    From The power of loss: message framing, climate anxiety, and engagement in personal carbon trading (2025) · cites this paper as [46]

    The Results (§4.3) and Discussion (§5) find that gain-framed messages were more effective than non-loss messages for people with low eating self-efficacy in promoting Mediterranean-diet adherence. The citing sentence omits those bounds, making the finding sound applicable to low self-efficacy and gain-framed messages generally. (LLM, conf=0.83)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Carfora, V., Morandi, M., & Catellani, P.
Affiliations
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (IT)
Corresponding author
Carfora, Valentina
ORCID
Venue
Foods
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2022-05-17
Volume
11
Issue
10
Pages
1454
ISSN
2304-8158 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3390/foods11101454
PMC
PMC9140873
OpenAlex
W4280595317
Cited by
17
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3
FWCI
29.45
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Foods (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
  • PubliCatt (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (D1-R1084500297)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › Media Influence and Health
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
Keywords
Mediterranean diet, dietary adherence, message framing, dietary self-efficacy, persuasive messages, health promotion, message tailoring

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