"Hey, that could be me": The role of similarity in narrative persuasion.

Joëlle Ooms,Carel Jansen,John Hoeks,Wolfgang Himmel

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0215359

Abstract

Stories are often used in health communication because of accumulating evidence of their potential to affect people’s attitudes and health behavioral intentions. Similarity between the reader and the story’s protagonist appears to positively influence narrative persuasion, but the exact role of similarity on persuasive outcomes is debated, as some research finds clear effects of similarity manipulations whereas others do not. Possibly, these mixed results were found because the similarity manipulations were not always relevant to the topic of the story. We conducted an experiment (N = 582) in which we varied the age and gender of the protagonist, features that were of central relevance to the story’s topic, namely breast cancer versus testicular cancer. There were two groups of participants: 324 students (mean age: 21.46 years) and 258 older adults (mean age: 56.83 years). Age similarity (but not gender similarity) had an effect on identification with the protagonist, transportation (i.e. the experience of being absorbed into a story), and the intention to donate, but only for students. For older adults, age or gender of the protagonist did not seem to matter, as nearly no differences in persuasive measures were found. As far as the underlying mechanism is concerned, the results of structural equation modeling showed that the concept of ‘perceived similarity’ would be a relevant addition to models of narrative persuasion, as it was significantly related to the narrative processes of transportation and identification, which, in turn, predicted attitudes and behavioral intentions, both directly—in the case of transportation—or indirectly, via the emotion of compassion. We conclude that both manipulated and perceived similarity are important for narrative persuasion, and that it should be kept on the research agenda of health communication.

Highlights

Stories, or narratives, are increasingly studied in a health context by scholars from different disciplines [1, 2]
Performing testicular exams can be useful for men of all ages, as testicular cancer is diagnosable by self-exams and 96% curable if it is detected in an early stage [29]
Similarity in age and similarity in gender were assumed to be relevant to the chosen health theme of cancer, since the susceptibility for breast cancer and testicular cancer is age and gender sensitive: breast cancer most often affects older women, and testicular cancer is most often found in young men

Summary

Introduction

Narratives, are increasingly studied in a health context by scholars from different disciplines [1, 2]. The role of similarity in narrative persuasion give voice to their suffering [4, 5]. These narratives can help other people in the decision making process concerning their own health. Empirical research in persuasive health communication has shown that narratives have the potential to affect people’s attitudes and health behavioral intentions [6, 7]. Such effects may be achieved by being transported into the narrative [8], and by identification with the protagonist [9]. Though similarity is sometimes seen as an integral part of identification [11], it has been convincingly argued that they are conceptually and empirically distinct constructs [12, 13]: Identification is a process whereby a viewer or reader experiences the narrative from the inside, while perceived similarity involves the viewer or reader acting as an external observer to the narrative, from the outside [9, 12, 13]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion