Message Framing Strategy for Brand Communication

INTRODUCTION Message framing, a strategy of advertising message construction, is widely adopted in various forms of brand advertising campaigns. The hedonic principles of approach (happiness) and avoidance (pain), well established in motivation psychology, lay down the theoretical foundation upon which the core concept of message framing is developed (Wedell, 1997). The positive framing, centering on pursuit of positive outcomes of the product brand (such as monetary or psychological advantages), is underpinned by the approach principle to maximize happiness. In contrast, the negative framing, centering on departure from negative outcomes of the product brand (such as monetary or psychological losses), is based on the avoidance principle to minimize pain. A meat product brand, advertised as "75 percent lean" (positive framing) or "25 percent fat" (negative framing), is illustrative of how this strategy is used.