The Influence Of Message Frame And Message Appeal On The Effectiveness Of Social Media

As people recognize the values of a healthy lifestyle, they are effectively attempting to enhance eating habits and they have a tendency to promote a healthier dietary behavior or strict diet to lose weight. Social media is an important source that people use to learn and obtain information about health and healthy life. Even though social media has the potential to be a crucial source for health information and issues, very few studies of the effectiveness of social media in this area have been investigated. The purpose of this research is to examine how different types of messages can contribute to the effectiveness of social media in health communication. The sample consisted of 159 participants who use social media. 2 (message frame: positive vs. negative) * 2 (message appeals: body image vs. health) between subject experimental design was used to test the hypotheses. The study shows that a positively framed message paired with a health focused message and a negatively framed message paired with a body image focused message exhibit a positive eWOM and message perception. This research offers direction for development of appropriate message types to improve social media effectiveness.