“FIX ALL OF YOUR MENTAL PROBLEMS”: MESSAGE APPEALS AND THE USE OF PERSONALISED MESSAGING IN THE ADVERTISING OF DIGITAL MENTAL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING SERVICES

It is common practice for advertisements relating to digital mental health and well-being services to include very bold and vague (abstract) claims when portraying the app’s benefits, as opposed to more informative or specific messaging (concrete). This often translates to advertising messages such as “Relieve all of your stress”, “Live better”, or “Fix all of your mental problems”. Personalised features within advertisements are also occasionally used for some services in order to further attract the consumer’s attention.

To date, no research has examined the effectiveness of concrete versus abstract message appeals and personalisation in advertisements for digital mental health and well-being services. This research categorises these digital mental health and well-being services as “self-appealing services” in relation to Belk’s (1988) theory of the self and the extended self.

Building upon previously published literature on message appeals, construal level theory, and personalisation, this study examines the direct effect message appeals (concrete versus abstract) and personalisation have on consumers’ perceived intrusiveness and behavioural intentions to use the service. It also examines the moderating role of concrete message appeals and the mediating role of perceived intrusiveness on these direct effects. A 2 (message appeals: concrete versus abstract) x 2 (personalised versus non-personalised) between-subjects experimental design (n=158) was employed to test these relationships.

Study findings demonstrated that the inclusion of a personalised message when advertising a digital mental health and well-being service lowers behavioural intentions to use the service and increases consumer perception of intrusiveness. Contrary to expectations, no significant difference was found in behavioural intentions when comparing the use of a concrete versus abstract message appeals in the advertising of a digital mental health and well-being service.

Additionally, concrete message appeals did not moderate the effects of personalisation on behavioural intentions and perceived intrusiveness. Finally, perceived intrusiveness negatively mediated the relationship between personalisation and behavioural intentions.

These findings offer several theoretical contributions to the body of knowledge on message appeals and personalised advertising in relation to self-appealing services. Study findings also have implications for managerial practice and social policy.