To Your Health: Self-Regulation of Health Behavior Through Selective Exposure to Online Health Messages

Reaching target audiences is of crucial importance for the success of health communication campaigns, but individuals may avoid health messages if they challenge their beliefs or behaviors. A lab study (N=419) examined effects of messages' consistency with participants' behavior and source credibility on selective exposure for 4 health lifestyle topics. Drawing on self-regulation theory and dissonance theory, 3 motivations were examined: self-bolstering, self-motivating, and self-defending. Prior behavior predicted selective exposure across topics, reflecting self-bolstering. Standard-behavior discrepancies also affected selective exposure, consistent with self-motivating rather than self-defending. Selective exposure to high-credibility sources advocating for organic food, fruits and vegetable consumption, exercise, and limiting coffee all fostered accessibility of related standards, whereas messages from low-credibility sources showed no such impact.