Is male intent to be vaccinated against HPV a function of the promotion message?

We aimed to determine whether the type of outcome expectation, stemming from HPV vaccination, would have any effect on young men's HPV vaccine intent. We recruited young men (18-24 years of age) from two university campuses (n = 150). After answering a series of questions they were randomly assigned to one of three information conditions (all delivered by computer): (1) how women may benefit from men's HPV vaccination, (2) preventing genital warts and (3) preventing head and neck cancers. Intent to be vaccinated against HPV in the next 12 months was assessed before and after receiving the informational session corresponding to the assigned condition. A repeated-measures t-test indicated that a significant increase in young men's intent to be vaccinated after they received the assigned information (t = 9.48, [147], P = 0.0001). However, the increase in intent to be vaccinated did not vary by group assignment as there were no significant differences in mean intent scores between the three groups (F = 0.59, [2/144], P = 0.56). Information that promotes the outcome expectations of protecting women from cervical cancer, preventing genital warts for men and preventing head and neck cancers for men may be equally effective in promoting increased intent for HPV vaccine acceptance among young university men.