Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 27, 2026
10:28
Dynamic Digital Biomarkers of Motor and Cognitive Function in Parkinson's Disease
Published on: July 24, 2019
16.5K
The Paradox of Tailored Messaging: When Precision Interferes with Privacy
Jessica Zier1, Qinghua Yang2, Nathan Walter1
1Department of Communication Studies, Northwestern University.
Health Communication
|March 25, 2026
Summary
Tailored health messages can backfire if perceived as invasive. Greater message specificity increases invasiveness, leading to anger and reduced behavioral intention, highlighting a key tradeoff in health communication.
Area of Science:
- Health Communication
- Behavioral Science
- Psychology
Background:
- Tailored health messages can improve behavioral outcomes due to relevance and involvement.
- However, perceived invasiveness can decrease message effectiveness, creating a contradictory effect.
- Understanding this discrepancy is crucial for optimizing health interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of message specificity (explicit vs. implicit) on behavioral intention.
- To disentangle the tradeoff between message precision and perceived invasiveness in health messaging.
- To examine the mediating role of anger and negative cognitions in this relationship.
Main Methods:
- An experiment was conducted with 451 participants.
- The study examined message specificity (explicit vs. implicit) across two health topics.
- Behavioral intention, perceived invasiveness, anger, and negative cognitions were measured.
Main Results:
- Increased tailoring precision led to higher perceived invasiveness.
- Perceived invasiveness mediated the negative effect of precision on behavioral intention.
- Anger and negative cognitions were triggered by invasiveness, reducing behavioral intention.
Conclusions:
- There is a tradeoff between tailoring precision and perceived invasiveness in health messaging.
- Highly specific tailored messages can decrease behavioral intention by eliciting negative emotions.
- Findings underscore the contingent effects of tailored health communication strategies.
Related Concept Videos
01:52Accuracy and Precision
3.1K
3.1K
01:52Accuracy and Precision
17.4K
Scientists typically make repeated measurements of a quantity to ensure the quality of their findings and to evaluate both the precision and the accuracy of their results. Measurements are said to be precise if they yield very similar results when repeated in the same manner. A measurement is considered accurate if it yields a result that is very close to the true or the accepted value. Precise values agree with each other; accurate values agree with a true value. Highly accurate...
17.4K
01:17Correspondence Bias
320
Correspondence bias, also referred to as the fundamental attribution error, describes the tendency to attribute another person’s behavior to internal characteristics rather than situational influences. This cognitive bias leads individuals to overlook external factors that may be influencing actions, thereby fostering potentially inaccurate assessments of others’ intentions and dispositions.Empirical Evidence for Correspondence BiasResearch has consistently demonstrated the...
320
03:37Uncertainty in Measurement: Accuracy and Precision
113.5K
Scientists typically make repeated measurements of a quantity to ensure the quality of their findings and to evaluate both the precision and the accuracy of their results. Measurements are said to be precise if they yield very similar results when repeated in the same manner. A measurement is considered accurate if it yields a result that is very close to the true or the accepted value. Precise values agree with each other; accurate values agree with a true value.
113.5K
01:29Impression Management Techniques III: Aligning Actions
206
Aligning actions are communicative strategies individuals employ to maintain social harmony and preserve personal identity in the face of potential disruptions to social norms. These actions are particularly important in managing social impressions when one's behavior might be seen as inappropriate, incompetent, or morally questionable.Types of Aligning ActionsThe three principal types of aligning actions are disclaimers, accounts, and apologies.DisclaimersDisclaimers are preventive; they are...
206
01:14Impression Management Techniques IV: Altercasting
238
Altercasting is a strategic communication technique in which an individual imposes a specific identity or social role onto another person to influence their behavior and shape the interaction. By presuming a role—such as “responsible leader” or “patient person”—altercasting encourages the target to conform to that identity, often aligning their behavior with the expectations associated with the role. The power of this tactic lies in its subtlety; once a role...
238