Involvement as a predictor of behavioral response to disease prevention and control messages: A multi-dimensional approach.

Abstract

One of the fundamental problems in health campaign research is obtaining behavioral compliance. This dissertation proposed a multi-dimensional framework of involvement to help address this dilemma. Johnson and Eagly's tripartite framework of involvement was used. Involvement was comprised of outcome-relevance, value-relevance, and impression-relevance. Surveys were conducted using the topic of skin cancer. Results indicated that involvement significantly enhanced subjects' intention to comply, knowledge levels, and media usage. Demographic analyses revealed that gender and education, as well as skin complexion, can be good predictors of compliance. The implications of the proposed involvement-based theory and its correspondence with other models in both general persuasion theory and health communication are discussed.