Optimizing Naloxone Education

Abstract: Message sensation is commonly used in educational messaging to capture attention, yet its impact on cognitive learning appears paradoxical. Drawing on the Activation Model of Information Exposure and the Limited Capacity Model of Motivated Mediated Message Processing, this study examines how message sensation influences memory and knowledge improvement. An in-person 2 (death imagery: absent vs. present) × 2 (sound effects: absent vs. present) × 2 (animation: talking-head vs. action) between-subjects experiment was conducted among 603 US adults. Path modeling revealed that the need for activation moderated the effects of perceived message sensation on visual encoding and retrieval: as this need decreased, the association between perceived message sensation and memory accuracy (visual encoding and retrieval) shifted from positive to negative. These findings advance media psychology by showing how message features and individual traits interact to shape learning in high-stakes public health contexts.