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Promoting Fruit and Vegetable Intake through Messages Tailored to Individual Differences in Regulatory Focus

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  • Published:
Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Background

Researchers must identify strategies to optimize the persuasiveness of messages used in public education campaigns encouraging fruit and vegetable (FV) intake.

Purpose

This study examined whether tailoring messages to individuals’ regulatory focus (RF), the tendency to be motivated by promotion versus prevention goals, increased the persuasiveness of messages encouraging greater FV intake.

Method

Participants (n = 518) completed an assessment of their RF and were randomly assigned to receive either prevention- or promotion-oriented messages. Messages were mailed 1 week, 2 months, and 3 months after the baseline interview. Follow-up assessments were conducted 1 and 4 months after the baseline assessment.

Results

Regression analyses revealed that at Month 4, the messages were somewhat more efficacious when congruent with participants’ RF.

Conclusion

RF may be a promising target for developing tailored messages promoting increased FV intake, and particularly for encouraging individuals to meet FV guidelines.

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Acknowledgement of Research Support

Research reported in this article was funded by the National Cancer Institute through a grant to Peter Salovey (R01-CA68427) and a contract to the Yale Cancer Center (NO2-CO-01002-75).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Yale University, P.O. Box 208205, New Haven, CT, 06520-8205, USA

    Amy E. Latimer Ph.D., Pamela Williams-Piehota Ph.D., Nicole A. Katulak B.S., Ashley Cox M.A. & Peter Salovey Ph.D.

  2. School of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Queen’s University, 69 Union Street, Kingston, ON, Canada, K7L 3N6

    Amy E. Latimer Ph.D.

  3. RTI International, 3040 Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709-2194, USA

    Pamela Williams-Piehota Ph.D.

  4. National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Information Service, Yale Cancer Center, 55 Church Street, Suite 400, New Haven, CT, 06510-3014, USA

    Linda Mowad R.N.

  5. Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    E. Tory Higgins Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Amy E. Latimer Ph.D.
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  2. Pamela Williams-Piehota Ph.D.
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  3. Nicole A. Katulak B.S.
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  4. Ashley Cox M.A.
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  5. Linda Mowad R.N.
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  6. E. Tory Higgins Ph.D.
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  7. Peter Salovey Ph.D.
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Amy E. Latimer Ph.D. or Peter Salovey Ph.D..

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Cite this article

Latimer, A.E., Williams-Piehota, P., Katulak, N.A. et al. Promoting Fruit and Vegetable Intake through Messages Tailored to Individual Differences in Regulatory Focus. ann. behav. med. 35, 363–369 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-008-9039-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-008-9039-6

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