ECOLOGICAL MESSAGE FRAMING AND SUSTAINABLE MENSTRUAL PRODUCT CHOICES

Ankara Medipol University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Environmental Sustainability; Menstrual Product Choice; Climate Anxiety; Health Behavior

Treatments: Behavioral: Neutral informational message; Behavioral: Gain-framed ecological message; Behavioral: Loss-framed ecological message

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT07610421

AMU-EBE-2025-179

85859696-604.01.01-9807 (Other Identifier)

Details and patient eligibility

About

Background: Climate change is an increasing public health concern, with growing evidence linking climate change anxiety to health behaviors. Message framing (loss-framed, gain-framed, neutral) is a key strategy in behavioral medicine that may influence both emotional responses and environmentally related health behaviors, including menstrual product choices.

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the effects of message framing strategies on women's climate change anxiety, attitudes toward environmental sustainability of menstrual products, and menstrual product preference tendencies.

Keywords: Menstrual Hygiene Products, climate change, message framing, eco-anxiety, environmental sustainability, women's health

Enrollment: 246 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 18 to 45 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Women aged 18 to 45 years
• Having regular menstrual cycles
• Having sufficient proficiency in reading and understanding Turkish
• Providing voluntary informed consent to participate

Exclusion criteria

• Women without a menstrual cycle
• Menopausal women
• Women with visual or cognitive impairments that prevent understanding the study messages
• Participants who submitted incomplete survey forms

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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246 participants in 3 patient groups

Gain-framed ecological message

Experimental group

Description:

A standardized text-based message emphasizing the benefits of reusable and sustainable menstrual products for environmental protection, individual health, and long-term economic savings. The message exposure lasted approximately 2-3 minutes.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Gain-framed ecological message

Loss-framed ecological message

Experimental group

Description:

A standardized text-based message highlighting the environmental and health-related risks associated with disposable and plastic-containing menstrual products, including plastic waste, microplastics, carbon footprint, and ecological harm. The message exposure lasted approximately 2-3 minutes.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Loss-framed ecological message

Neutral informational message

Experimental group

Description:

A standardized text-based neutral message describing disposable and reusable menstrual products, product materials, waste generation, accessibility, cost, comfort, and user-related factors without emotional gain or loss framing.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Neutral informational message