Message Framing and Regulatory Focus: COVID-19 Vaccination Intentions for Young Children Among Vaccine-Hesitant Parents

Based on regulatory focus theory and framing theory, this study employed a 2 (message framing: gain vs. loss) × 2 (regulatory focus: promotion vs. prevention) between-subjects experiment to examine American parents' willingness to vaccinate their 5- to 11-year-old children against COVID-19. Our findings indicate that the direct effect of message framing was minimal. Messages were more persuasive when framing valence was matched with participants' chronic regulatory focus. Loss-framed messages when matched with a prevention focus-and gain-framed messages matched with a promotion focus-were more effective in increasing risk perception, vaccination attitude, and intention than mismatched conditions. Furthermore, processing fluency mediated the relationship between regulatory fit and persuasive outcomes. This study contributed to the existing literature on health behavioral change and offers important practical implications for health communication practitioners and policymakers. Limitations were acknowledged, and directions for future research were proposed.