Lessons learned: Frame health information dynamically to improve the chances people will act on it
You’re reading Lessons Learned, which distills practical takeaways from standout campaigns and peer-reviewed research in health and science communication. Want more Lessons Learned? Subscribe to our Call to Action newsletter.
Which headline would you click on first: “More people are getting skin cancer” or “1 in 5 people will get skin cancer”? For decades, communicators have studied how framing shapes how people understand and respond to messages. But few studies have compared frames that highlight how a health issue like skin cancer risk changes over time (dynamic) with those that depict it as fixed (static).
A recent study in Mass Communication and Society tested how these frames affect people’s reactions to messages about skin cancer. The researchers also looked at how framing interacts with different types of social norms:
- Descriptive norms — what others are doing (e.g., “your friends are using sunscreen”)
- Injunctive norms — what others approve of (e.g., “friends encourage their friends to use sunscreen”).
In an experiment with 322 college students, participants read one of four health news stories combining dynamic or static framing with descriptive or injunctive normative information.
What they learned: Messages framed dynamically were rated as more effective, led to deeper message engagement, and increased both information-seeking and prevention intentions compared to static messages. Messages using injunctive norms (social approval) also outperformed those using descriptive norms. The combination of dynamic framing and injunctive norms was especially powerful. The authors suggest this may be because when people perceive circumstances as changing, they look to others’ approval to guide their behavior.
Why it matters: In a fast-changing information environment, emphasizing how health issues evolve over time can make messages more motivating and actionable.
➡️ Idea worth stealing: When communicating about health conditions, highlight what’s changing and pair that with cues that show social approval for positive behaviors.
What to watch: Studies that explore how these framing strategies perform on social media platforms.
