Many Canadian adults are failing to meet national recommendations for physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep (i.e., movement behaviors). Existing messaging strategies focus on thresholds, which may be unrealistic to the target audience. This article explores the utility of a novel messaging approach - generic messages - as a gateway to enhance adults’ confidence to meet the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Adults (‘Guidelines’). In an online study, adult Guideline end-users (N = 249) completed pre-, post- and two-week surveys following exposure to generic or threshold Guideline promotional materials. Hierarchal linear regressions predicting adults’ confidence to meet the Guidelines revealed an activity status by experimental condition interaction. Post hoc analyses indicated low active adults exposed to generic messages had greater confidence to meet the Guidelines compared to low active adults exposed to threshold messages. Message processing was greater among adults exposed to the generic than threshold materials. This research highlights the importance of presenting achievable behavioral goals through generic messages. Specifically, this study demonstrated that generic messaging enhances self-efficacy beliefs among low active Canadian adults. Organizations promoting behavior change among adults with low levels of behavioral engagement should consider the use of generic motivational messages within a segmented health communication campaign.

许多加拿大成年人未能达到国家对身体活动、久坐行为和睡眠（即运动行为）的建议。现有的消息传递策略侧重于阈值，这对目标受众来说可能是不切实际的。本文探讨了一种新颖的消息传递方法 - 通用消息 - 作为增强成年人满足加拿大成人 24 小时运动指南（“指南”）的信心的途径。在一项在线研究中，成人指南最终用户（N= 249) 在接触通用或阈值指南宣传材料后完成了前、后和两周的调查。预测成年人满足指南的信心的分层线性回归通过实验条件相互作用揭示了活动状态。事后分析表明，与暴露于阈值消息的低活跃成年人相比，暴露于通用消息的低活跃成年人更有信心满足指南要求。接触通用材料的成年人的信息处理能力高于阈值材料。这项研究强调了通过通用信息呈现可实现的行为目标的重要性。具体来说，这项研究表明，通用消息传递增强了低活跃加拿大成年人的自我效能信念。