Scientific Message Translation and the Heuristic Systematic Model: Insights for Designing Educational Messages About Progesterone and Breast Cancer Risks

Results of ongoing scientific research on environmental determinants of breast cancer are not typically presented to the public in ways they can easily understand and use to take preventive actions. In this study, results of scientific studies on progesterone exposure as a risk factor for breast cancer were translated into high and low literacy level messages. Using the heuristic systematic model, this study examined how ability, motivation, and message processing (heuristic and systematic) influenced perceptions of risk beliefs and negative attitudes about progesterone exposure among women who read the translated scientific messages. Among the 1254 participants, those given the higher literacy level message had greater perceptions of risk about progesterone. Heuristic message cues of source credibility and perceived message quality, as well as motivation, also predicted risk beliefs. Finally, risk beliefs were a strong predictor of negative attitudes about exposure to progesterone. The results can help improve health education message design in terms of practitioners having better knowledge of message features that are the most persuasive to the target audiences on this topic.