Effects of Framing on Neural Responses to Persuasive Messaging and Physical Activity

Persuasive health messages can adopt two distinct frames, one that highlights the potential benefits of participating in a health behavior (gain-frame) and another that emphasizes the disadvantages of not engaging in such behavior (loss-frame). We investigated whether neural responses to gain- vs. loss-framed messages that promote physical activity predict message effectiveness among individuals with varying baseline activity levels. We incorporated raw data from four studies (N=240) that linked fMRI responses to health messages with physical activity before and after message exposure. We found that gain-framed messages elicited increased activity in the anterior insula, dorsal striatum, and supplementary motor area, while loss-framed messages recruited key regions in the default mode system. Next, we examined the association between neural responses and physical activity before and after message exposure. Heightened responses in the medial prefrontal cortex, ventral striatum, and dorsal striatum to gain-framed messages were associated with higher post-intervention activity, but only in participants with lower baseline physical activity. In contrast, individuals with higher baseline activity were more influenced by messages when these brain regions exhibited stronger responses to loss-framed messages. The current mega-analysis underscores distinct neural processing of gain- vs. loss-framed messages, with message effectiveness contingent on individual behavioral differences.