How Gender-Targeted Body Image Concerns Influence People’s Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Consumption.

As excessive sugar intake can result in obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even cancer, this study aims to help people reduce sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) intake by exploring how gender-differed body image concerns influence people’s attitude and intention of SSBs consumption. A 2 (Participants’ gender: Male vs. Female) × 2 (Image gender: Male vs. Female) × 2 (Body image concern: Gaining weight vs. Losing muscle mass) online experiment was conducted to examine how the genderdiffered body image concerns influence people’s perception of SSBs. The findings showed that genderdiffered body image concerns exerted a significant influence across genders. Muscle mass loss-related information is more effective in generating negative attitude toward SSBs from males. Female imagerelated physical appearance change is more effective in generating negative attitude toward SSBs from females. This study also contributes to targeted communication by revealing that the quality-oriented targeted information outperformed the traditional quantity-oriented targeted information. Furthermore, this study complements EPPM by discovering the underlying mechanisms of female-targeted body image concern, such as perceived severity and response efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]