Funny Enough: Incorporating Humor Into Health Messages to Promote Breast Self-Examination Behavior

Authors

  • Sijia Liu Northwestern University
  • Liang Chen Tsinghua University

Keywords:

health messages, humor, breast cancer prevention

Abstract

Using the extended parallel process model (PPM), this research examines whether and how humor functions to influence women’s breast self-examination (BSE) intention. We conducted a 2 (humor: present vs. absent) × 2 (threat: high vs. low) × 2 (efficacy: high vs. low) between-subjects experiment in which we measured individual differences in BSE intention. The sample includes 480 Chinese women aged 20–50 years old. Results suggest that the 2-way interaction effect between threat and efficacy was significant, indicating that women who received messages containing high threat and high efficacy had the highest intention of BSE. In addition, the 3-way interaction effect between threat, efficacy, and humor was significant. The results indicate that if women perceive the threat of getting breast cancer as mild and believe that they are incapable of preventing it, messages with humor can significantly enhance their intention to engage in BSE when compared with messages without humor. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Author Biographies

Sijia Liu, Northwestern University

Sijia Liu (MA, Tsinghua University, 2024) is currently a PhD student in the School of Communication at Northwestern University. Her research interests center around persuasion, health communication, and communication technology.

Liang Chen, Tsinghua University

Liang Chen (PhD, Nanyang Technological University, 2017) is an Associate Professor in the School of Journalism and Communication at Tsinghua University, China. His research focuses on health communication, environmental communication, and new media. His prior works have been published in New Media and Society, Risk Analysis, Journal of Health Communication, Health Communication, Environmental Communication, and Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly.

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Published

2024-10-14

Issue

Vol. 18 (2024)

Section

Articles

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