Gain/loss framing moderates the VMPFC’s response to persuasive messages when behaviors have personal outcomes

Activity within the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) during encoding of persuasive messages has been shown to predict message-consistent behaviors both within scanner samples and at the population level. This suggests that neuroimaging can aid in the development of better persuasive messages, but little is known about how the brain responds to different message features. Building on past findings, the current study found that gain-framed persuasive messages elicited more VMPFC activation than loss-framed messages, but only when messages addressed outcomes that would be experienced by participants directly. Participants also perceived gain-framed messages as more effective than loss-framed messages, and self-reported perceptions of message effectiveness were positively correlated with VMPFC activation. These results support theories that VMPFC activity during message encoding indexes perceptions of value and self-relevance and demonstrate that established theories of persuasion can improve the understanding of the neural correlates of persuasion.