Coping and Construal Level Matching Drives Health Message Effectiveness viaResponse Efficacy or Self-Efficacy Enhancement

DaHee Han, Adam Duhachek and Nidhi Agrawal

Journal of Consumer Research, 2016, vol. 43, issue 3, 429-447

Abstract: Five experiments examine the nature of different coping strategies and their subsequenteffects on the effectiveness of health messages. We theorize that the two strategies ofproblem-focused versus emotion-focused coping are systematically associated with distinctconstrual levels (lower vs. higher), and thus messages cast at different levels ofconstrual are differentially effective when a particular coping strategy is beingactivated. Specifically, we demonstrate that consumers primed with problem-focusedstrategies are more persuaded by messages presented at lower levels of construal, whereasconsumers primed with emotion-focused strategies are more persuaded by messages presentedat higher levels of construal. In addition, we posit that matching with each differenttype of coping strategy (problem-focused vs. emotion-focused coping) is driven by distincttypes of efficacy processes. In particular, we demonstrate that the effects of a matchwith problem-focused coping are driven by self-efficacy, and the effects of a match withemotion-focused coping are driven by response efficacy. These findings make a significantcontribution by building bridges between three theoretical traditions: coping, construallevel, and efficacy in the context of health messaging.

Keywords: coping; construal level; self-efficacy; response efficacy; persuasion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (18)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:jconrs:v:43:y:2016:i:3:p:429-447.

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