Engagement with body image health promotion videos in adult men and women: differences between narrative, informational, and persuasive appeal approaches

BACKGROUND: Body dissatisfaction is a public health issue, however, low awareness of its seriousness, and stigma, may inhibit treatment seeking. The current study evaluated engagement with videos promoting awareness of body dissatisfaction using a persuasive communication approach. METHOD: Men (n = 283) and women (n = 290) were randomly allocated to view one of five videos; (1) Narrative, (2) Narrative plus persuasive appeal, (3) Informational, (4) Informational plus persuasive appeal and (5) Persuasive appeal only. Engagement (relevance, interest, and compassion) was examined post-viewing. RESULTS: Among both men and women, superior engagement ratings (in compassion for women, and relevance and compassion for men) were demonstrated for the persuasive appeal and informational videos relative to narrative approaches. CONCLUSION: Videos using clear and factual approaches may promote engagement in body image health promotion videos. Further work should be done to examine interest in such videos specific to men. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40359-023-01120-7.