Effects of Message Framing and Exemplars on Promoting Organ Donation.
Chien Y, and Chang W.Psychological Reports 2015; 117(3): 692-702.
Aims
To examine the effect of message framing on the intentions of Taiwanese college students to register as an organ donor.
Interventions
Participants were randomly assigned to read one of four possible versions of an organ donation promotional message which included either, a gain–statistical message, loss–statistical message, gain–exemplar message, or loss–exemplar message.
Participants
189 Taiwanese college students aged 19-24 years
Outcomes
The primary outcomes were the intention to register as a donor, and to discuss the decision with relevant individuals. These were summed to create an intention scale, measured by gain/loss frame and statistical/exemplar appeal.
Follow-up
Immediately after reading the organ donation promotional message
CET Conclusions
This interesting study from Taiwan investigates the way in which the framing of organ donation messages affects the intention to become an organ donor. Two aspects of the message are investigated in 2x2 factorial design – exemplar vs. statistical and gain vs. loss. Exemplar messages use narrative examples, such as personal stories or testimony, to illustrate the effects of donation, whereas statistical messages use a more numbers-based approach to communicate information (e.g. number of people waiting for a transplant, dying on the waiting list). Gain messages highlight the positive effects of donation, whereas loss messages highlight the damage if people do not donate. 189 college students were randomly assigned to receive one of the four combinations, and their intention to register as an organ donor assessed after exposure. The authors found that whilst there was no difference between gain- and loss-framed messages, exemplar-framed messages elicited a greater intention to donate than statistical messages. This effect was largest in the loss-framed group. It should be noted that no power calculation is presented so it is unclear whether the lack of difference between the gain- and loss-framed groups is due to a lack of statistical power. Furthermore, the study only measures recorded intention to register as a donor, not actual registrations. It would be interesting to see if these results can be reproduced in another cohort, as they have implications for the way that donor promotional materials are presented.
Data analysis
Per protocol analysis
Trial registration
None