Time matters: framing antismoking messages using current smokers' preexisting perceptions of temporal distance to smoking-related health risks

Abstract

This study examined the effects of temporal framing used in messages about the future likelihood of developing smoking-related diseases on intention to quit smoking. Based on construal level theory (CLT), a causal model delineating the relationships among four variables—perceived temporal distance, personal relevance, perceived susceptibility, and behavioral intention—was proposed. The model was validated by an online experiment with a sample of 222 current smokers, revealing the effects of perceived temporal distance on behavioral intention via personal relevance and perceived susceptibility. Following the CLT-grounded model, the effects of different temporal frames (near future vs. distant future) on the four variables were tested. The near-future frame featured a risk perceived to be more temporally proximal (i.e., heart attack), and the distant-future frame featured a risk perceived to be more temporally distant (i.e., larynx cancer) among current smokers. Participants exposed to the near-future frame reported significantly shorter perceived temporal distance, greater personal relevance and perceived susceptibility to the risk portrayed in the message, and greater intention to quit smoking than participants exposed to the distant-future frame. Implications for antismoking communications are discussed.