The Effect of Psychological Distance on E-Smoking Cessation Campaign Messages

The study examines the effect of psychological distance on psychological reactance toward e-smoking cessation campaigns, attitude for the e-smoking cessation campaign message, and intention to quit e-smoking as a response to campaign messages as well as the potentially moderating effect of preexisting message fatigue between message types based on psychological distance and psychological reactance. To test effects of psychological distance, 360 participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: 1) near social distance and high hypothetical distance, 2) distant social distance and high hypothetical distance, 3) low social distance and high hypothetical distance, and 4) low social distance and low hypothetical distance. The current study found that people exposed to the near social frame showed a higher level of psychological reactance. Moreover, people experiencing higher message fatigue showed a higher level of psychological reactance, which led to a decreased attitude for the e-smoking cessation campaign message and a decreased intention to quit e-smoking. This study will ultimately inform how researchers should consider the importance of adverse effects for improving the effectiveness of campaigns. Furthermore, the finding from the current study would not only extend earlier studies on psychological reactance, message fatigue, and psychological distance based on Construal level theory (CLT), but also provide practical suggestions to campaigners and practitioners