Linguistically Tailored Health Messages to Encourage Plant-Based Food Choices in Adolescents

Generic messages promoting a plant-based diet were developed, with each message addressing one of the three most commonly mentioned motives for plant-based eating (Miki et al., 2019; Miki et al., 2020): health motives, environmental motives, and animal welfare motives. All messages were designed to be factual (including science-based statistics), concise (4-5 sentences), relevant to teens (e.g., addressing health concerns like acne), and autonomy-supportive (offering suggestions and tips rather than directives) (Hingle et al., 2013). The messages were intentionally crafted in a neutral linguistic style, avoiding highly emotive language, non-standard syntax, or emojis. These messages are delivered from Monday to Friday for two weeks.

Linguistically tailored messages are generated using a Large Language Model. Generic messages promoting a plant-based diet were customized to align with participants' linguistic style, including their preferred choice of words, expressed valence, syntax, and emoji use. These messages are delivered from Monday to Friday for two weeks.