Ozioma Omah, Dongjae Lim
Introduction Postpartum depression is a mental disorder that affects a significant number of postpartum women, yet health campaigns addressing treatment and its prevention generally target women. This study examines how message framing interacts with types of social support to promote supportive behaviors toward postpartum women among male audiences. Recognizing that men represent an underexamined yet critical audience for postpartum depression (PPD) prevention campaigns, this research investigates how message design influences behavioral intentions. Guided by the principles of message framing, we investigate how gain versus loss-framing and the type of social support impact men's intentions to engage in supportive behavior towards postpartum women. Methods Grounded in construal level theory, a 2×2 between-subjects experiment was conducted with male participants ( N = 188) who were assigned to different message conditions. Results: Results showed that aligning gain/loss framing with support type - instrumental support (low-level construal) or emotional support (high-level construal) - significantly enhances intentions to engage in supportive behaviors. Perceived self-efficacy emerged as the underlying mechanism through which this construal fit effect operates. Discussion These findings contribute to health communication theory by demonstrating how matching message framing with the construal level of target behaviors drives behavior change, and offer practical guidance for designing effective health communication campaigns targeting PPD prevention.