Physical Activity Message Framing and Ethnicity Before and During COVID-19

Area of Science:

• Public health communication strategies
• Health behavior and motivation
• Epidemiology of infectious diseases

Background:

• Individuals of Black ethnicities experience disproportionately higher burdens and poorer health outcomes from coronavirus.
• Physical activity is encouraged for immune support during pandemics, yet Black populations often report not meeting recommended levels.
• The impact of health message framing on physical activity motivation, particularly concerning ethnicity during COVID-19, remains under-explored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of health message framing on physical activity motivation among different ethnicities.
• To examine how message framing effectiveness for physical activity motivation varied pre-pandemic versus during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• To determine if ethnicity moderates the relationship between message framing and physical activity motivation.

Main Methods:

• Two studies were conducted to assess the impact of message framing on physical activity motivation.
• The studies examined message effectiveness both prior to and at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Participant responses were analyzed to identify differences in motivation based on message frame and ethnicity.

Main Results:

• Gain-framed messages positively influenced physical activity motivation before the COVID-19 pandemic.
• During the pandemic, fear-framed messages demonstrated a positive effect on physical activity motivation.
• Crucially, neither gain- nor fear-framed message effects on physical activity motivation differed significantly across ethnic groups.

Conclusions:

• Message framing can influence physical activity motivation, with effectiveness varying depending on the pandemic context (pre- vs. during).
• Current findings suggest that ethnicity does not appear to be a significant factor in how individuals respond to gain- or fear-framed physical activity messages.
• Future public health campaigns should consider context-specific message framing, while acknowledging that ethnicity may not necessitate differential framing approaches for physical activity promotion.