ECOLOGICAL MESSAGE FRAMING AND SUSTAINABLE MENSTRUAL PRODUCT CHOICES

May 22, 2026 updated by: Tuğba Tahta, Ankara Medipol University

Framing the Climate Crisis: Effects of Gain- and Loss-Based Ecological Messages on Climate Anxiety and Sustainable Menstrual Product Choices

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

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

246

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

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

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Gain-framed ecological message
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.
Behavioral: Gain-framed ecological message
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.
Experimental: Loss-framed ecological message
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.
Behavioral: Loss-framed ecological message
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.
Experimental: Neutral informational message
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.
Behavioral: Neutral informational message
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.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Climate Change Anxiety Score
Time Frame: Immediately after message exposure, in the same online survey session
Climate change anxiety was measured using the Climate Change Anxiety Scale. The scale consists of 10 items rated on a 5-point Likert scale from 0 to 4. Total scores range from 0 to 40, with higher scores indicating higher levels of climate change anxiety.
Immediately after message exposure, in the same online survey session

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Environmental Sustainability Attitude Toward Menstrual Products
Time Frame: Immediately after message exposure, in the same online survey session
Environmental sustainability attitude toward menstrual products was assessed using the Menstrual Product Preference and Environmental Sustainability Questionnaire. The total score ranges from 0 to 48, with higher scores indicating greater environmental sustainability orientation toward menstrual product use.
Immediately after message exposure, in the same online survey session
Environmental Awareness Score
Time Frame: Immediately after message exposure, in the same online survey session
Environmental awareness was assessed using the environmental awareness subdimension of the Menstrual Product Preference and Environmental Sustainability Questionnaire. Higher scores indicate greater awareness of the environmental impact of menstrual products.
Immediately after message exposure, in the same online survey session
Sustainable Menstrual Product Preference Score
Time Frame: Immediately after message exposure, in the same online survey session
Sustainable menstrual product preference was assessed using the product preference subdimension of the Menstrual Product Preference and Environmental Sustainability Questionnaire. Higher scores indicate stronger intention or tendency to choose environmentally sustainable menstrual products.
Immediately after message exposure, in the same online survey session
Accessibility and Information-Seeking Score
Time Frame: Immediately after message exposure, in the same online survey session
Accessibility and information-seeking were assessed using the accessibility and information-seeking subdimension of the Menstrual Product Preference and Environmental Sustainability Questionnaire. Higher scores indicate greater perceived access to sustainable menstrual products and greater willingness to seek information.
Immediately after message exposure, in the same online survey session

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Ankara Medipol University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

September 16, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

December 31, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 18, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 22, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

May 28, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 28, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 22, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • AMU-EBE-2025-179
  • 85859696-604.01.01-9807 (Other Identifier: Ankara Medipol University Clinical Research Ethics Committee)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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