This study examined the effects of gender-specific pictorial health warning labels contingent on their intended gender and threat levels (for females) in forming anti-smoking intentions. We conducted a within-subject design experiment with smokers and nonsmokers in Singapore (N = 100, 50% men). Each participant viewed 10 warning labels–four female-specific (high and low threat), four gender-neutral (high and low threat), and two male-specific (only low threat)–in a random order, evaluating each label on personal relevance, attention, cognitive elaboration, reactance, and intentions to purchase or avoid smoking. The findings showed that females reported greater relevance, attention, elaboration, and intentions to avoid smoking for low threat female-specific warning labels than male-specific or gender-neutral counterparts. Males reported less attention, elaboration, and relevance for low threat male-specific warning labels than female-specific or gender-neutral counterparts. Under high threat conditions, female-specific and gender-neutral warning labels were equally effective for both genders. No differences were observed by smoking status. Overall, gender-specific warning labels are potentially more effective than gender-neutral ones for deterring smoking in women contingent on low threat levels. By providing a deeper understanding of persuasive mechanisms and boundary conditions for the effects of gender specificity, findings can aid health policymakers in developing better gender-responsive interventions.

这项研究检查了特定性别的图形健康警告标签对形成反吸烟意图的预期性别和威胁水平（针对女性）的影响。我们对新加坡的吸烟者和非吸烟者进行了一项受试者内设计实验（N= 100, 50% 男性）。每个参与者以随机顺序查看 10 个警告标签——四个女性特定（高威胁和低威胁）、四个性别中立（高威胁和低威胁）和两个男性特定（只有低威胁），评估每个标签的个人相关性、注意力、认知阐述、反应以及购买或避免吸烟的意图。研究结果表明，与针对男性或性别中立的同行相比，针对低威胁女性特定警告标签的女性报告了更大的相关性、关注度、详细程度和避免吸烟的意图。与女性特定或性别中立的对应物相比，男性报告的对低威胁男性特定警告标签的关注、阐述和相关性较少。在高威胁条件下，针对女性和不分性别的警告标签对两性同样有效。吸烟状况没有观察到差异。总体而言，针对威胁程度较低的女性，针对特定性别的警告标签可能比不区分性别的警告标签更有效地阻止吸烟。通过更深入地了解性别特异性影响的说服机制和边界条件，研究结果可以帮助卫生政策制定者制定更好的性别敏感干预措施。