Entertainment-education of altruistic behaviors: an empirical study of the effects of the narrative persuasion of a nature conservation film

Abstract

Research on entertainment and education has shown positive results in testing the persuasive effects of entertainment programs on a variety of prosocial issues. However, as an altruism-centric, prosocial topic, nature conservation has been largely ignored and little investigated. This study empirically tested the persuasive effects of Fly Away Home (dir. Ballard, 1996), a feature film with a nature conservation theme, on attitudes and behavioral intentions toward the environment. The results of the experiment indicated that altruistic behavior could be promoted through narrative entertainment. Regarding the persuasive mechanisms of transportation and identification, that is, the involvement with narratives and characters, this study found that transportation was significantly associated with identification, which was then significantly associated with attitudes to conservation and subsequent behavioral intentions. Although this research is somewhat inconsistent with the extended elaboration likelihood model on which it is based, a possible, direct influence of narrative transportation was fully mediated by the results, which showed identification with the main character. Nevertheless, future entertainment-education research should investigate an expanded range of applications and include pro-environmental behaviors as a topic for public education.