We review 20 studies that examined persuasive processing and outcomes of health messages using neurocognitive measures. The results suggest that cognitive processes and neural activity in regions thought to reflect self-related processing may be more prominent in the persuasive process of self-relevant messages. Furthermore, activity in the medial prefrontal cortex, the superior temporal gyrus and the middle frontal gyrus were identified as predictors of message effectiveness, with the medial prefrontal cortex accounting for additional variance in behaviour change beyond that accounted for by self-report measures. Incorporating neurocognitive measures may provide a more comprehensive understanding of the processing and outcomes of health messages.
AjzenI (1991) The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes50: 179–211. DOI: 10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T.
2.
BecharaADamasioHDamasioA (2000) Emotion, decision making and the orbitofrontal cortex. Cerebral Cortex10(3): 295–307. DOI: 10.1093/cercor/10.3.295.
3.
BerkmanEFalkE (2013) Beyond brain mapping: Using neural measures to predict real-world outcomes. Current Directions in Psychological Science22(1): 45–50. DOI: 10.1177/0963721412469394.
ChuaHLiberzonIWelshRet al. (2009) Neural correlates of message tailoring and self-relatedness in smoking cessation programming. Biological Psychiatry65: 165–168. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2008.08.030.
6.
CooperNTompsonSO’DonnellMet al. (2015) Brain activity in self-and value-related regions in response to online antismoking messages predicts behaviour change. Journal of Media Psychology.
7.
CoullJT (1998) Neural correlates of attention and arousal: Insights from electrophysiological, functional neuroimaging and psychopharmacology. Progress in Neurobiology55: 343–361. DOI: 10.1016/S0301-0082(98)00011-2.
8.
CuiXBraySBryantDet al. (2011) A quantitative comparison of NIRS and fMRI across multiple cognitive tasks. NeuroImage54: 2808–2821. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.10.069.
9.
DavisMJohnsrudeI (2003) Hierarchical processing in spoken language comprehension. Journal of Neuroscience23(8): 3423–3431.
10.
DillardJShenLVailR (2007) Does perceived message effectiveness cause persuasion or vice versa? 17 consistent answers. Human Communication Research33: 467–488. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2958.2007.00308.x.
11.
Dinh-WilliamsLMendrekADumaisAet al. (2014) Executive-affective connectivity in smokers viewing anti-smoking images: An fMRI study. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging224: 262–268. DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2014.10.018.
12.
DuncanCBarryRConnollyJet al. (2009) Event-related potentials in clinical research: Guidelines for eliciting, recording, and quantifying mismatch negativity, P300, and N400. Clinical Neurophysiology120: 1883–1908. DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2009.07.045.
13.
FalkEBerkmanELiebermanM (2012) From neural responses to population behavior: Neural focus group predicts population-level media effects. Psychological Science23(5): 439–445. DOI: 10.1177/0956797611434964.
14.
FalkEBerkmanEMannTet al. (2010) Predicting persuasion-induced behavior change from the brain. Journal of Neuroscience30(25): 8421–8424. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0063-10.2010.
15.
FalkEBerkmanEWhalenDet al. (2011) Neural activity during health messaging predict reductions in smoking above and beyond self-report. Health Psychology30(2): 177–185. DOI: 10.1037/a0022259.
16.
FalkEO’DonnellMCascioCet al. (2015) Self-affirmation alters the brain’s response to health messages and subsequent behavior change. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA112(7): 1977–1982. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1500247112.
17.
FalkERamesonLBerkmanEet al. (2009) The neural correlates of persuasion: A common network across cultures and media. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience22(10): 2447–2459. DOI: 10.1162/jocn.2009.21363.
18.
FortierMKowalJLemyreLet al. (2009) Intentions and actual physical activity behaviour change in a community-based sample of middle-aged women: Contributions from the theory of planned behavior and self-determination theory. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology7: 46–67. DOI: 10.1080/1612197X.2009.9671892.
19.
Grill-SpectorKKushnirTEdelmanSet al. (1999) Differential processing of objects under various viewing conditions in the human lateral occipital complex. Neuron24: 187–203.
20.
HastingsGSteadMWebbJ (2004) Fear appeals in social marketing: Strategic and ethical reasons for concern. Psychology and Marketing21: 961–986. DOI: 10.1002/mar.20043.
21.
KesselsLRuiterR (2012) Eye movement responses to health messages on cigarette packages. BMC Public Health12: 352–362. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-12-352.
22.
KesselsLRuiterRJansmaB (2010) Increased attention but more efficient disengagement: Neuroscientific evidence for defensive processing of threatening health information. Health Psychology29(4): 346–354. DOI: 10.1037/a0019372.
23.
KesselsLRuiterRBrugJet al. (2011) The effects of tailored and threatening nutrition information on message attention. Evidence from an event related potential study. Appetite56(1): 32–38. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2010.11.139.
24.
KesselsLRuiterRWoutersLet al. (2014) Neuroscientific evidence for defensive avoidance of fear appeals. International Journal of Psychology49(2): 80–88. DOI: 10.1002/ijop.12036.
25.
LangA (2000) The limited capacity model of mediated message processing. Journal of Communication50(1): 46–70.
26.
LanglebenDLougheadJRuparelKet al. (2009) Reduced prefrontal and temporal processing and recall of high ‘sensation value’ ads. NeuroImage46: 219–225. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.12.062.
27.
LauferINegishiMLacadieCet al. (2011) Dissociation between the activity of the right middle frontal gyrus and the middle temporal gyrus in processing semantic priming. PLoS ONE6(8): e22368. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0022368.
28.
LewisIWatsonBTayRet al. (2007) The role of fear appeals in improving driver safety: A review of the effectiveness of fear-arousing (threat) appeals in road safety advertising. International Journal of Behavioral Consultation and Therapy3: 203–222.
29.
LiberatiAAltmanDTetzlaffJet al. (2009) The PRISMA statement for reporting systematic reviews and meta-analyses of studies that evaluate health care interventions: Explanation and elaboration. Annals of Internal Medicine151(4): 65–94.
30.
LogothetisN (2008) What we can do and what we cannot do with fMRI. Nature453: 869–878.
31.
NorthoffGBermpohlF (2004) Cortical midline structures and the self. Trends in Cognitive Sciences8(3): 102–107. DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2004.01.004.
32.
NorthoffGHeinzelAde GreckMet al. (2006) Self-referential processing in our brain – A meta-analysis of imaging studies on the self. NeuroImage31: 440–457. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.12.002.
33.
PettyRECacioppoJT (1986) The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology19: 123–205. DOI: 10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60214-2.
34.
PolichJ (2007) Updating P300: An integrative theory of P3a and P3b. Clinical Neurophysiology118: 2128–2148.
35.
RamsayIYzerMLucianaMet al. (2013) Affective and executive network processing associated with persuasive antidrug messages. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience25(7): 1136–1147. DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_00391.
36.
RecklessGOusdalOServerAet al. (2014) The left inferior frontal gyrus is involved in adjusting response bias during a perceptual decision-making task. Brain and Behavior4(3): 398–407. DOI: 10.1002/brb3.223.
37.
RogersR (1983) Cognitive and physiological processes in fear appeals and attitude change: A revised theory of protection motivation. In: CacioppoBLPettyLL (eds) Social Psychophysiological: A Source Book. London: Guildford Press, pp. 153–176.
38.
RuiterRKesselsLJansmaBet al. (2006) Increased attention for computer-tailored health communications: An event-related potential study. Health Psychology25(3): 300–306. DOI: 10.1037/0278-6133.25.3.300.
39.
SeeligDWangA-LJaganathanKet al. (2014) Low message sensation health promotion videos are better remembered and activate areas of the brain associated with memory encoding. PLoS ONE9(11): e113256. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0113256.
40.
Skov-EttrupLRinggaardLDalumPet al. (2014) Comparing tailored and untailored text messages for smoking cessation: A randomized controlled trial among adolescent and young adult smokers. Health Education Research29(2): 195–205. DOI: 10.1093/her/cyt112.
41.
WagnerASchacterDRotteMet al. (1998) Building memories: Remembering and forgetting of verbal experiences as predicted of brain activity. Science281: 1188–1191.
42.
WangARuparelKLougheadJet al. (2013) Content matters: Neuroimaging investigation of brain and behavioral impact of televised anti-tobacco public service announcements. Journal of Neuroscience33(17): 7420–7427. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3840-12.2013.
43.
WeberRHuskeyRMangusMet al. (2015) Neural predictors of message effectiveness during counterarguing in antidrug campaigns. Communication Monographs82(1): 4–30. DOI: 10.1080/03637751.2014.971414.
44.
WitteK (1992) Putting the fear back into fear appeals: The extended parallel process model. Communication Monographs59: 329–349.
45.
WitteKAllenM (2000) A meta-analysis of fear appeals: Implications for effective public health campaigns. Health Education & Behavior27: 591–615. DOI: 10.1177/109019810002700506.
