Conscious Initiation to Promote Physical Activity: A Behavioral Experiment and A Randomized Controlled Trial Intervention

Previous studies have investigated the encouragement of healthy behaviors through both conscious manipulation and unconscious priming. However, direct comparisons between these two approaches are limited, resulting in interventions that may lack precision. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of conscious and unconscious priming on the intention to engage in physical activity, with the goal of identifying and applying the most effective method as a targeted intervention to bridge the gap between intention and actual physical activity.

In study 1, 116 participants were screened in a 2 × 2 (conscious vs. unconscious) × (prime vs. control) online experiment to examine the influence of implementation intention manipulation and goal priming on physical activity. Building on these results, study 2 employed a randomized controlled trial with 127 participants to assess the effects of conscious mental simulation interventions on physical activity behavior.

Study 1 showed that both conscious manipulation (p = .046) and unconscious priming (p = .004) significantly increased the choice of sports activities, with conscious manipulation being more effective. Study 2 found significant impacts of mixed simulation on activity levels immediately and one-week post-intervention (p = .001), with day-after intervention effects notable in the simulation group.

This study explored the causal relationship between priming process physical activity, and found out the promotion effect of conscious mental simulation intervention on physical activity.