<p>Public service announcements (PSAs) are an essential means of reshaping public health behaviors, and the appropriate use of message strategies in PSAs is the key to enhancing the persuasive effect of advertising. However, the question of how to most effectively utilize message strategies to improve the persuasiveness of PSAs has not yet been fully answered. On the basis of the elaboration likelihood model and the heuristic-systematic model, this study examines the effects of message type and individual differences on HPV vaccination intentions and their underlying mediating mechanisms. The findings from the three experiments demonstrate that the relationship between message type and need for cognition (NFC) on HPV vaccination intentions is significant. Individuals with low NFC (vs. high NFC) perceived narrative PSAs as more persuasive and had greater HPV vaccination intentions; individuals with high NFC (vs. low NFC) perceived statistical PSAs as more persuasive and had greater HPV vaccination intentions. This study also revealed that cognitive resistance mediated the effects of NFC and message type on HPV vaccine intentions. These findings enrich the existing research on message types and NFC, providing practical guidance for designing effective HPV vaccine PSAs.</p>