Processes and mechanisms of narrative persuasion in entertainment-education interventions through audiovisual fiction

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to further our knowledge of the explanatory processes of narrative persuasion in the field of health communication, using data obtained in a research study of entertainment-education based on audiovisual fiction. Participating in the study were 208 young persons between the ages of 14 and 20, randomly distributed into three experimental conditions in which each group was exposed to a different episode of the television series Revelados, desde todas las posiciones. The results showed that greater identification with the main character of the episode transmitting the prevention message was associated with greater cognitive elaboration, which in turn led to more favorable attitudes toward the topics addressed. However, counter-arguing was not observed to play a significant mediating role. The findings of this study allow us to conclude that getting people to think and reflect can help persuade them, which suggests that the narrative persuasion models and the dual models of rhetorical persuasion can be compatible in certain contexts.