Introduction. Health recommendations aimed at reducing exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) seek to facilitate understanding of a complex topic involving multiple behavioral recommendations across various domains.
Purpose. However, presenting too many recommendations may exceed attentional and memory resources, thereby reducing comprehension and adherence. This study tested whether an integrative warning message combining human and ecological health arguments ("One Health-One Planet" framing) would enhance adherence to behavioral recommendations compared with a message focusing solely on personal health risks.
Method. In a two-wave online study, French participants (N = 381) received a general message about EDCs that was framed either ecologically or personally. The message was followed by three, nine, or fifteen behavioral recommendations spanning food, cosmetics, and indoor air. Message fatigue was statistically controlled.
Results. Behavioral intention increased one month after message exposure. For self-reported behaviors, participants receiving three recommendations reported the highest behavioral engagement (M = 5.45, SD = 1.84), followed by those receiving nine (M = 4.90, SD = 1.93) and fifteen recommendations (M = 4.18, SD = 1.87), F(2, 363) = 6.23, p = .002, η²p = .033. A significant framing effect also emerged, F(1, 363) = 8.76, p = .003, η²p = .024, with ecologically framed messages (M = 5.21, SD = 1.96) producing higher behavioral scores than self-focused messages (M = 4.61, SD = 1.88).
Conclusion. Contrary to prior research emphasizing the benefits of multiple recommendations, fewer recommendations optimized behavioral engagement in the complex context of EDCs. Ecologically framed messages were more persuasive than self-focused messages; however, framing did not moderate the detrimental impact of excessive recommendations. These findings suggest that global understanding of EDCs may rely on different motivational and cognitive processes than those underlying domain-specific health behavior change.