Temporal context effects and energy drink consumption: the moderating role of behavioral status

Objective: This study investigated the factors that impact the effectiveness of energy drink-related health messages. Specifically, this study examined how behavioral status moderates the effects of the temporal contexts described in messages related to energy drink consumption. Participants: A total of 823 college students enrolled in a northeastern university participated in this study. Methods: A 2 (temporal context: proximate vs. distant) × 3 (behavioral status: non-initiator vs. former consumer vs. current consumer) experiment was conducted. Results: Proximate context messages were more effective for non-initiators and current consumers in influencing descriptive norms and attitudes respectively, whereas distant context messages were marginally more effective for former consumers in influencing descriptive norms. Conclusion: The findings contribute to health promotion research by advancing scholarly understanding of the various behavioral status-dependent psychological effects of temporal context. Moreover, the results have implications for designing effective health campaign messages targeted to college students.