The Effectiveness of Narrative Messages for Promoting End-of-Life Communication

Engaging in an end-of-life (EOL) conversation with a close other has multiple advantages, yet persuading individuals to have an EOL conversation remains a challenge. We examined how narrative messages shape attitudes and behavioral intentions to initiate an EOL conversation compared to informational messages. We conducted an online experiment using a between-subjects design with four conditions: (a) a narrative with role modeling, (b) a narrative without role modeling, (c) information-only, and (d) no-message control. All message conditions produced more favorable EOL attitudes than the no-message control, whereas only narratives produced higher EOL behavioral intentions. The role modeling effect was not supported in the current study. Transportation and identification were positively associated with EOL attitudes and EOL behavioral intentions, although only transportation statistically significantly predicted behavioral intentions in a regression including both variables. Findings suggested that narrative messages may be especially useful for motivating intentions to initiate difficult conversations.