Processing health-related messages: The effects of involvement, source cue, and framing on responses to 'healthy' fast food

The present study empirically investigated how people process Web-based health information about the controversial social issues--obesity and fast food. The effects of personal value-relevant involvement, product involvement, messages' source cues, and message frames on participants' source credibility evaluations, risk perceptions, food-related attitude changes, and intentions were examined.; Participants were 232 college students. The experiment consisted of two sessions. In the initial session, all participants completed a questionnaire measuring individual value-relevant involvement, food consumption behavior, and food-related attitude. Questions about media uses and demographics were also included. In the next session, participants were asked to read a color-printed Web page and evaluate its source credibility, emotional responses, and product involvement. The Web page was manipulated via a 2 x 2 factorial design: source cue (corporate vs. nonprofit) and frame (loss vs. gain). The same questions of food-related attitudes and intentions were asked again in this session after exposure to the Web page.; Results indicated that low value-relevant involvement participants had greater positive attitude changes toward food nutrition when exposed to the nonprofit source cue than other treatments. The interaction effects between product involvement and source cue on source credibility evaluation, and between message frame and source cue on change of fast food consumption intention were found. Results also showed main effects of product involvement on change of fast food consumption intention, source cue on source credibility, source cue on negative emotional response, and message frame on negative emotional response. However, the present study did not find framing effects on participants' food-related attitude changes.; In conclusion, a nonprofit source has more opportunity to affect change in consumers than does a corporate source. Still, a corporate source may be able to influence consumer attitudes with appropriately framed messages. The effect of source cue may be moderated by the consumer's level of involvement.