Introduction of section: persuasion for the purpose of cancer risk reduction: understanding responses to risk communications.

Abstract

Risk behaviors and responses to risk communications are complex and multifaceted. Two target articles (1,2) conclude that little longitudinal evidence shows that risk perceptions predict precautionary behaviors. This paper focuses on several questions raised by these perplexing findings that have implications for future research on risk communications. A pressing need exists to understand how people process risk information over time and how such processing may differ as a function of risk status, individual differences, social context, and other factors. I will review evidence and methods from the study of persuasion and attitude change that suggest several ways to study message processing to understand what kinds of thoughts are brought to mind following a persuasive communication, as well as how such thoughts may be related to subsequent beliefs and behaviors as people encounter new information and make risk-relevant choices.