Didactic and narrative messages on health risks: An application to vaccination against seasonal influenza [Messaggi espositivi e narrativi sui rischi di salute: Un'applicazione alla vaccinazione contro l'influenza stagionale]

We examined the influence of three messages on risk perceptions, efficacy perceptions, perceptions of side effects of vaccine, and intention to vaccine against seasonal influenza. One message was derived from a previous campaign of the Italian Ministry of Health. The second and the third messages were based on the Extended Parallel Process Model. One was structured in didactic form and the second in a narrative form. Participants were 408 Italian people aged 65 years or older. Four different groups of participants were exposed to a message (message derived from previous campaign, didactic message or narrative message) or control conditions in which no message was shown. Results showed that the narrative message based on the Extended Parallel Process Model was the only one related to higher risk and efficacy perceptions concerning seasonal influenza in comparison to the no message condition. There were no difference in intention to receive the vaccine between the message conditions and the no message condition.