How Does Physician (Non)accommodation Affect Patient Behavioral Intention? Using a Web-Based Experiment to Examine Indirect Effects of Language Type on Behavioral Intention Through Goal Inferences and Source Appraisals.

Drawing on communication accommodation theory (CAT), we investigated how physician (non)accommodation indirectly affects participants' intention to engage in advocated health behaviors through participant goal inferences and source appraisals. We conducted a 3 (language type: medical jargon, analogies, literal language) × 2 (health topic: coronary artery disease, influenza vaccine) web-based experiment. Participants recruited from an online research panel ( = 545) were randomly assigned to a condition and watched a video featuring a physician explaining medical information and providing health recommendations.

Information Seeking and Risk Reduction Intentions in Response to Environmental Threat Messages: The Role of Message Processing.

Communicating complex information about environmental health risks in a single message is impossible. Thus, message designers hope that risk messages encourage people to think more about the message and risks, look for more information, and ultimately make behavior changes. The presentation of information about environmental risks using threat appeals is a common message design strategy thought to increase message engagement and influence attitudes, information seeking, and risk reduction behaviors.

Information Seeking Behaviors and Intentions in Response to Environmental Health Risk Messages: A Test of A Reduced Risk Information Seeking Model.

This study tests the effects of environmental health risk messages on perceived risk, information needs and decisions to seek information, testing a reduced risk information seeking and processing model (R-RISP). Participants ( = 1,823) were randomized to one of three risk conditions (arsenic, bisphenol A [BPA] or volatile organic compounds [VOCs]) and one of the three message conditions (high threat, low threat or no message); participants in the high and low threat message conditions were also randomly assigned to a seeking cue to action condition (with or without seeking cue). Overall, the results support the R-RISP model, demonstrating the importance of current knowledge perceptions and informational subjective norms in information acquisition decisions.