Message Appeals Research Articles

Response to self-care practice messages among patients with diabetes mellitus visiting Jimma University medical center facility based cross sectional design application of extended parallel process model.

To determine response to self-care practice message among patients with diabetes in Jimma University Medical center based on the Extended Parallel Process Model. A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted. Jimma University Medical Center is found in Jimma town. A total of 343 patients with diabetes participated in the study; making a response rate of 93.9%. All patients with diabetes who were 18 years and above and who were on follow up and registered were included in the study and those with Gestational DM were excluded. Multivariable logistic regression analysis. Responsive respondents scored high in self-care practice score as compared to other respondents. educational status, information sources, knowledge, and preferred message appeals were independent predictors of controlling the danger of diabetes. There is a significant gap in controlling the danger of diabetes. Variables like the level of education, knowledge of diabetes mellitus, information sources, and message appeals were independent predictors of controlling the danger of diabetes. Designing message having higher efficacy while maintaining the level of threat is the best that fits the existing audience's message processing to bring about desired diabetic self-care Practice.

Effectiveness of message framing in changing COVID-19 vaccination intentions: Moderating role of travel desire.

This research examines the effectiveness of message framing, message appeal and information content in changing respondents' COVID-19 vaccination intentions through influencing their vaccine risk perceptions. Furthermore, the moderating effect of travel desire on the relationship between vaccine risk perceptions and changing vaccination intentions is examined. In doing so, two rounds of data that were collected from the same respondents. The first survey recorded respondents' vaccination intentions, travel desire and socio demographics. A follow up survey tested cause-and-effect relationships on the proposed relationships using a 2 (message frame: gain, loss) x 2 (message appeal: rational, emotional) ×2 (information content: subjective, objective) between-subjects online experimental design. Findings suggest that loss-framed messages are more effective than gain-framed and emotional-rational messages in reducing risk perceptions and, thus, changing vaccination intentions. Travel desire is found to moderate the effect of vaccine risk perception on vaccination intentions by weakening the negative effect of vaccine risk perception on vaccination intention. Findings show the importance of travel desire along with message framing and message appeal on changing individuals’ COVID-19 vaccination intentions in public health communications.

Targeting Smartphone Use While Driving: Drivers’ Reactions to Different Types of Safety Messages

Only a few previous studies analyzed the effectiveness of road safety messages targeting smartphone use while driving and only several of them used messages from an ongoing road safety campaign. Thus, contributing to the field, this study aimed at testing the effectiveness of two types of social messages (threat appeal and threat appeal together with safe behavior role modelling) targeting smartphone use while driving. Ninety-three drivers were randomly assigned to two experimental (n1 = 26; n2 = 37) and one control (n = 29) groups. Each experimental group was presented with one 30 s length video message to reduce or stop smartphone use while driving. Messages differed in terms of threat appeal and modelling of safe behavior. The control group was presented with a 30 s length video clip showing neutral driving related content. The results revealed that threat appeals (alone or together with a safe role model) resulted in less positive emotions when compared to the control group’s reported emotional reactions. The message with threat appeal only also resulted in more negative emotions compared to the control group. With regards to behavioral intentions, road safety messages used in this study had minor effectiveness: the threat appeal message reduced the intentions to use smartphones while driving, only when previous behavior has been controlled. In sum, messages targeting smartphone use while driving were effective at least to some extent in changing drivers’ emotions and intentions not to be involved in targeted behavior, but the effect was minor and threat appeal only showed higher effectiveness.

The Influence of Family Communication Patterns and Identity Frames on Perceived Collective Psychological Ownership and Intentions to Share Health Information

ABSTRACT An experimental study exposed participants (N = 299) to different message frames to investigate whether Family Communication Patterns (FCP) and message characteristics influenced willingness to communicate about Family Health History (FHH). Message frames were either collective (our), individual (mine), or control (no pronouns). Afterward, participants were asked about their perceived collective psychological ownership of health information, attitudes, subjective norms, and FHH communication intentions. Although the message frames had no impact on perceived collective psychological ownership of health information, conversation orientation and conformity orientation (respecting parental authority) were positively associated with perceived collective psychological ownership of health information. Additionally, perceived collective psychological ownership, attitudes, and subjective norms were found to have indirect effects between FCP and FHH communication intentions. These findings provide further support that FCP influences how health message appeals are processed and suggest interventions could be tailored to FCP orientations for effective FHH behaviors.

Coping with Digital Extortion: An Experimental Study of Benefit Appeals and Normative Appeals

Digital extortion has emerged as a significant threat to organizations that rely on information technologies for their operations. Using human subject experimentation, we study the effectiveness of message appeals in encouraging defenders to adopt two mitigation strategies, investment in security and refusal to pay ransoms, to digital extortion threats. We explore two types of appeals, benefit and normative, for this purpose. We find that the decisions of the defenders (representing any organization that can be a potential victim) deviate from the predictions of game theory. However, given the strategic interactions between the defenders and the attacker as well as noisy decision-making behaviors, it is challenging to untangle the influence of the appeals on the defenders. We develop a structural model based on the quantal response equilibrium framework to measure how message appeals change the defenders’ utilities of investment and payment refusal. Although the interventions may be successful in increasing the utilities of investment and/or payment refusal, their impacts on investment rate and payment rate are mitigated by the attacker reducing ransoms. Thus, it is challenging for an intervention to significantly boost a community’s investment rate or to suppress the ransom payment rate. We characterize how security outcomes of a community (including expected ransom, attack rate, investment rate, and payment rate) vary with the defenders’ utilities of investment and pay refusal. This paper was accepted by Chris Forman, information systems.

Creative Appeals in Firm-Generated Content and Product Performance

Creative and original message appeals stimulate customers, generating arousal through novelties, meanings, associations, inspirations, human emotions and connections, and the degree to which the message appeals resonate and get the attention of the customers. Hedonic appeals imbue desirability around a product, endowing it with mystery or coolness, subtly invoking intentions, anticipation, and agency. Firms should highlight more about the hedonic rather than utilitarian features of products with high quality, highly consistent, or less complex firm-generated messages to persuade consumers to purchase. High-quality content is original and virtuosic, novel and compelling, curated and accurate, insightful and relevant, relatable and credible, authentic and immersive, and engaging and resonating with customers. Message goal consistency calls for alignment to central brand guidelines (i.e., what the brand stands for, its value proposition, and its purpose) and adherence to the brand DNA regarding look and feel, tone and manner in content creation. Writing clearly and concisely in a novel approach creates intrigue by making firm-generated content communications stick. Excellent writing and easy readability make for easy comprehension and consequently better persuasion. Firms stand to gain more by devoting resources, such as employee training for content creation and technology acquisition in getting high quality, easy-to-comprehend, and goal consistent messages to customers.

The use of positive and negative appeals in social advertising: a content analysis of television ads for preventing HIV/AIDS

Effectiveness of positive and negative appeals in social advertising depends on the target audience and the context in which the messages are applied. However, there is a dearth of research on the real use of such message appeals by social marketers. Considering the importance of practice theory in social marketing, this paper presents a longitudinal research on the use of positive and negative appeals in social advertising, since communication has been particularly relevant in social marketing practices over time. A content analysis of 375 HIV/AIDS-prevention TV ads from four European countries indicates that positive appeals had expressive and higher proportional use over the entire period under analysis. The researchers identified positive appeals, especially in rhetoric, music and voice tonality, while negative appeals are more prevalent in narratives and signs from the scenes. The results show that participation of public figures promoting coping response was low, but increasing over time. Negative appeals are mostly expressed in countries with higher uncertainty avoidance indexes and higher epidemic incidence rates. The prevalence of positive and negative appeals in social advertisements informs about practitioners’ choices when designing campaigns and allows analyzing congruity between the use of appeals and theoretical recommendations for social marketing effectiveness. The study opens the discussion about the application of social marketing theories into practice and how the analysis of social marketing practices may contribute to design innovative theoretical approaches, particularly regarding a topic plagued by inconsistent findings in the literature on message-frame effectiveness in social marketing. The practitioners’ preference for the gain-frame perspective over the protection motivation approach allows inquiring about the motivations and constraints leading to that choice.

Examining restaurant purchase intention during crises: the role of message appeal

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the joint role of the pandemic-induced source of crisis (i.e. health and social crisis) based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and message appeal in customer perception of and behavioral intention toward a restaurant.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a 2 (source of crisis: social, health) × 2 (message appeal: social, health) between-subjects factorial design. A total of 181 samples was collected and data was analyzed by using ANCOVA and PROCESS.FindingsThe results showed a significant two-way interaction between source of crisis and message appeal on to-go intention. With the potential effect of risk aversion being controlled, message appeal significantly impacted perceived competence, which influenced both dine-in and to-go intentions.Practical implicationsThe research findings suggest a crucial role of perceived fit between message appeal and customer concerns during crises. Therefore, restaurant managers should actively communicate their safety practices with their customers to inspire customer confidence.Originality/valueThis study identifies crisis dimensions based on human needs during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which determines the persuasiveness of marketing messages.

Promoting HPV vaccination on social media: interactive effects of threat, efficacy and social cues

ABSTRACT Background Women are currently facing a tremendous threat of cervical cancer globally. Social media health campaigns have the potential to shape public health behaviors. This study explores the effects of cervical-cancer-related fear appeal messages with social cues on social media using the extended parallel processing model (EPPM). Method We use a 2 (threat: present vs. absent) × 2 (efficacy: present vs. absent) × 2 (social cues: high vs. low) factorial experimental design to examine the effects of fear appeal messages with social cues on behavioral intention to receive the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. Results There was a significant main effect of threat on the intention to receive HPV vaccination. Additionally, a significant three-way interactive effect among threat, efficacy, and social cues was detected. Conclusion Women exposed to threat messages had a higher intention of HPV vaccination compared to those who were exposed to non-threat messages. Furthermore, with the low number of likes, women who were exposed to messages containing both threat and efficacy tended to have the highest intention of HPV vaccination. Practice Implications When conducting fear appeal campaigns on social media, the side effects of number of likes should be recognized. For vaccination promotion campaigns, the efficacy information should be more specific and audience-centered.

Disabilities and the Digital Divide: Assessing Web Accessibility, Readability, and Mobility of Popular Health Websites

With recognition of (1) unmet health information needs of persons with disabilities; and (2) anticipated growth of the persons with disabilities population, we seek to better understand the relative general accessibility of health information on popular, highly ranked health websites. That is, instead of examining the efficacy and impact of specific types of health message appeals, the present investigation assesses the functional performance of specific content platforms of health websites. We examine the components of accessing and understanding health information through the lens of web and language accessibility, readability, and mobility. A total of 139 health-focused websites were randomly sampled from the Alexa® “Top Sites” global ranking system which uses web traffic data to rank the most popular websites. The sample was processed using computer aided software (e.g., WEB AIM, Web FX & Google Test My Site.) We found 91.3% of sampled home pages had detectable accessibility failures. The most common accessibility failures were low contrast, empty links, missing ALT text, empty buttons, and missing form labels. Most websites offered neither an accessibility policy statement nor an option for automated language translation service, likely impacting those with limited English proficiency (LEP). The implications for these findings are reviewed with discussion and limitations provided.

The Effects of Type of Pronouns and Hope Appeals in Supportive Messages About COVID-19

This study examined the role of pronouns in supportive messages and hope appeals in facilitating people's coping with coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). Participants included 256 residents of New York State, and they evaluated hypothetical messages about COVID-19. Results showed that when people have a communal orientation to coping, you-language (vs. we-language) supportive messages led to more emotional improvement. The presence (vs. absence) of hope appeals in supportive messages increased communal coping. We discuss the implications of results in promoting emotion- and action-focused coping.

Fear appeal cues to motivate users' security protection behaviors: an empirical test of heuristic cues to enhance risk communication

PurposeFirms continue to struggle with end users who do not follow recommended actions for safeguarding information security. Thus, the authors utilize insights gained from studies on heuristic processing of risk information to design cues in fear appeal messages more effectively so as to more strongly engender fear among users, which can in turn lead them to take protective actions toward information security. Specifically, four types of fear appeal cues are identified: numeric risk communication, social distance and goal framing in verbal risk communication and visual risk communication.Design/methodology/approachDrawing from protection motivation theory, the authors hypothesize that these fear appeal cues can engender fear among users to a greater extent. In addition, the authors hypothesize that users will perceive a higher level of severity and susceptibility when they perceive a large amount of fear. The research hypotheses were tested employing data collected through a laboratory experiment. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression analyses were performed to analyze the data.FindingsThe study's results suggest that numeric and visual risk communication cues in security notices can significantly increase the amount of fear felt by users. In addition, social distance was found to marginally increase the amount of fear felt by users. However, unlike our expectation, goal framing was not found to increase the amount of fear when the other three types of fear appeal cues were also given in a security notice. It was also found that induced fear can increase the severity and susceptibility of threats as perceived by users.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the literature on fear appeal cues designed to promote users' security protection behaviors. No prior study has designed security notices featuring the four different types of fear appeal cues and empirically tested the effectiveness of those cues in inducing fear among users. The findings suggest that the design of fear appeal cues can be improved by understanding individuals' heuristic processing of risk information, which can be subject to cognitive biases.

Minimising plate waste at hotel breakfast buffets: an experimental approach through persuasive messages

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate how hotel guests can be nudged for more active engagement in hospitality plate waste prevention and moderation at buffets, through designing effective persuasive interventions. Plate waste is a main sustainability challenge, and it is considered one of the major drivers of food waste in the hospitality sector, whose operations generate excessive amounts of waste. The hospitality industry, featured by all-you-can-eat buffet-style settings, is somehow encouraging consumers to increase the amount of food ordered or taken and not been eaten.Design/methodology/approachThis study reports a field experiment conducted in a real hotel setting, where persuasive interventions were targeted to consumers at the croissants buffet, when guests were making their selections. The research tests the persuasiveness of functional and experiential appeal messages to nudge hotel guests towards a more active engagement in avoiding plate waste. Each single treatment was carried out for three weeks in varying sequence.FindingsThe findings are based on 63 rounds of data collections and show the superiority of experiential appeal messages in positively influencing guests’ behaviour. This implies that appropriate messages can persuade tourists to avoid plate waste in buffet-style settings, especially if these messages are grounded in participatory cues with an emphasis on altruistic values.Originality/valueThis is one of the few studies that empirically tests the effectiveness of different persuasive interventions in a real consumption setting, thus measuring actual behaviours which have been rarely studied. This study further contributes to the identification of concrete communication tools that can help to mitigate plate waste generation.

Experimental Effects of Tweets Encouraging Social Distancing: Effects of Source, Emotional Appeal, and Political Ideology on Emotion, Threat, and Efficacy.

Public health officials and celebrities use social media to provide guidance to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Messages apply different promotional strategies to motivate behavior change, likely yielding divergent reactions from partisan audiences. The Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) suggests that perceived threat for a negative outcome should impact perceived need for the advocated health behavior, which should be more appealing to an audience if perceived it to be efficacious and feasible. This study examines the interactive effects of Tweet source, message emotional appeal, and audience political affiliation on US adults' perceptions of COVID-19 threat and social distancing efficacy during early months of the pandemic. This online survey experiment applies the EPPM to assess US adults' reactions to tweets encouraging social distancing. The experiment tests 3 emotional appeals (fear, humor, and neutral) and 2 sources (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] and celebrity) on adults' emotional reactions and perceptions of COVID-19 threat and social distancing efficacy. The final sample included 415 US adults (242 Democrat and 173 Republican) recruited through Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Outcome measures were adapted from the EPPM and include perceived susceptibility to and severity of COVID-19, and response efficacy and self-efficacy regarding social distancing. Each was measured through the survey on a 7-point response scale. Humor and fear appeal messages evoked less fear and guilt responses than a neutral tweet from the CDC. Fear and guilt emotions predicted greater perceived threat, while hope and pride predicted efficacy constructs in relationships moderated by political ideology. Public health messages targeting a bipartisan audience through social media may increase perceived threat by inducing fear of COVID-19 infection. EPPM theory suggests boosting efficacy is also critical to message acceptance and behavior change; thus, inducing feelings of hope and pride in addition to fear may be particularly effective.

社群媒體訊息訴求強度與情感品牌依附之關係—自我一致性之中介效果

<p>企業要與消費者建立長久且良好關係的關鍵之一為建立情感品牌依附。近年來社群媒體使用率快速增加，品牌社群成為企業傳遞訊息訴求的有效工具，是消費者獲得品牌資訊的主要來源。訊息訴求強度是影響消費者認知、情感與行為的重要關鍵之一。在探討訊息訴求強度對消費者影響的研究中，大多以大眾媒體為研究情境，而欠缺以社群媒體為研究情境背景。本研究以近三個月內曾經瀏覽Facebook品牌社群之消費者為研究對象，探討訊息訴求強度與情感品牌依附之關係，及自我一致性對上述關係的中介效果。本研究以網路電子問卷採便利抽樣方法收集資料，共收集470份有效樣本。分析結果顯示，訊息訴求強度與情感品牌依附為顯著正相關，自我一致性為上述關係之部分中介變數，本研究的所有假說都獲得支持。根據研究結果，本研究提出理論與管理意涵。</p> <p> </p><p>One of the keys for businesses to build long-lasting and good relationships with consumers is to build emotional brand attachment. In recent years, the use of social media has increased rapidly, and brand communities have become an effective tool for companies to convey their message appeals and the main source for consumers to obtain brand information. Message appeal intensity is one of the important keys to influence consumers’ cognition, emotion and behavior. Most of the studies on the influence of message appeal intensity on consumers are based on mass media, but lack of social media as the research context. This study uses people who have browsed Facebook brand communities in the past three months as the research object to explore the relationship between message appeal intensity and emotional brand attachment, and the mediating effect of self-congruence on the above relationship. In this study, the online electronic questionnaire was used to collect data by convenience sampling method, and a total of 470 valid samples were collected. The analysis results show that there is a significant positive relationship between message appeal intensity and emotional brand attachment, and self-congruence is a partial mediating variable of the above relationship. All the hypotheses of this study are supported. Based on the findings, this study proposes theoretical and managerial implications.</p> <p> </p>

How Perceived Similarity Moderates Sympathy and Pride Appeal in Organ Donation Messages

Organ transplantation is the only medical procedure that can save a person who is suffering from organ failure. However, the shortage of transplantable organs remains a universal problem. Although more than 90% of the America population supports the concept of organ donation, less than half are registered as donors. An online experiment (N=224) was conducted to examine how perceived similarity moderates pride and sympathy appeal messages for organ donation. Participants were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk. Emotional appeal messages were respectively manipulated through emphasizing patient's suffering (sympathy) and organ donor's achievements (pride). A pretest was also performed on Amazon Mechanical Turk to ensure the effectiveness of emotional appeal message. Perceived similarity was achieved by presenting a picture of either a male or female individual with a neutral emotion to participants. The study showed that perceived similarity was a positive predictor of intentions to become an organ donor. Furthermore, perceived similarity can moderate the effects of both sympathy and pride appeal messages on attitudes and intentions of organ donation. This study found that perceived similarity could change people's behavioral intentions to become organ donors. Therefore, this study can inform potential strategies to persuade people to become organ donors through emphasizing perceived similarity and using emotional appeals.

The effect of online reviews on restaurant visit intentions: applying signaling and involvement theories

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of online reviews on consumers’ intention to visit restaurants, with the moderating role of involvement. Design/methodology/approach The research framework was built on signaling theory, message appeals and involvement theory. To test the proposed framework, three experiments were conducted online with real customer samples. T-tests, ANOVA and SPSS PROCESS macro were used for data analysis. Findings The results revealed that online reviews with higher online ratings and emotional appeal led to higher restaurant visit intention. Review appeal significantly moderated the effect of online ratings on restaurant visit intention. Customers with low restaurant involvement were more impacted by emotional comments than by functional comments. Research limitations/implications The present study extends our knowledge on the effects of online reviews moderated by levels of customer involvement. By combining signaling theory with involvement theory, it adds value to the literature on customer online behavior, especially in the foodservice context. The present study has limitations that might provide opportunities for future research. It used evaluations (TripAdvisor scores) and only positive reviews (texts), so customers’ intentions considering negative reviews could not be examined. The level of hedonism concerning consumption in restaurants and prior knowledge regarding restaurant reviews was not controlled for. It is possible that the level of hedonism perceived and prior review knowledge may moderate the customers’ intention to visit the restaurant. Practical implications The present study shows the importance of online comments for the promotion of restaurants that have low evaluation scores. It is essential that restaurant owners and managers encourage potential customers by using comments to elaborate on their marketing strategies and promotion. At the same time, they should invite customers to share their emotional experiences, and not just their views on service efficiency (a functional aspect). During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of the internet and mobile devices has become more prominent. Managers could therefore use emotional messages on the restaurant’s website or apps to attract customers with low restaurant involvement. Also, a system to identify the involvement of customers with restaurants could be implemented online or on mobile devices to present specific messages. The present study also recommends the use of online tools as virtual tours, photographs taken from different angles, smiling faces, floor plans and sittings and pre-determined emotional expressions. Also, the restaurant could promote lives on cooking different dishes to motive customer’s interaction and comments. These would help to increase customers’ visit intentions. Originality/value This study extends knowledge about the effect of restaurant online reviews (both ratings and appeals) moderated by the level of customer involvement. The present study also adds value to the customer online behavior literature showing that customers with low involvement are more sensitive to emotional content as they use the affective route to process information rather than the central route.

The Effect of Anthropomorphic Appeal on Consumer Protective Behavior in Service Facilities

Implementing health protocols, wearing masks, and maintaining physical distance in the service facilities are necessary during this Covid-19 pandemic. So, we need a health appeal message in the service industry to discipline consumer behavior. This study examines the effects of anthropomorphic persuasive appeal on consumer protective behavior. This study consists of two studies and used an experimental method. The results showed that the anthropomorphic persuasive message made consumers feel more fear, understand the message more easily, and perceive that the object had more power. The effect of messages on protective behavior is significantly mediated by fear. Meanwhile, ease of understanding and power are not significant mediations. Study 2 which focuses on the application in service facilities also shows that anthropomorphic appeal can influence protective behavior. These results indicate that the emotional aspect, in this case, the fear of consumers, has more influence on protective behavior.

Social media advertising endorsement: the role of endorser type, message appeal and brand familiarity

In an investigation of social media ad endorsers’ successful effects, this study examines congruity effects between endorser type (celebrity vs. social media influencer [SMI]), message appeal (soft sell vs. hard sell), and brand characteristics (familiar vs. unfamiliar). To that end, an experiment was conducted with 351 participants, and the results indicated match-up effects between SMI and hard-sell appeal in brand attitude and purchase intention. Also, an SMI is a better match with familiar brands than a celebrity endorser in terms of purchase intention. Furthermore, a significant three-way interaction effect was found so that the congruity effects between endorser type and message appeal on brand attitude are more pronounced with familiar brands than with unfamiliar brands. As expected, endorser characteristics play a mediating role between endorser type and advertising effectiveness. Furthermore, theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

The Varying Impact of Self and Other-Oriented Message Appeals on Volunteering

Volunteerism is a means of contributing either to the society, the organization or the individual. Either for satisfying individual’s self-interest or for altruistically helping others, volunteering creates value. The study aims to examine the impact of self versus other-oriented messages on intentions and attitudes of existing and potential volunteers. Two studies were designed using fictitious foundations, to find out the potential effects of in terms of attitude towards recruitment ads and intention to volunteer for the organization. According to Study 1, which consisted of mainly volunteering adults, the other-oriented message is found to be more activating than the self-oriented message. However, in the Study 2, which comprised of a mainly non-volunteer student sample, the two appeal’s intentional effects were in opposite direction. Participants were found out to have higher intention to volunteer for the organizations when self-oriented messages were used. Follow-up analysis of the combined data revealed that non-volunteers’ intention to volunteer was higher with self-oriented appeal than with an other-oriented appeal. These findings are discussed in terms of the implications on volunteerism and linked to recent findings regarding the role of self-and other oriented motives on determining how to approach volunteers or non-volunteers in an effective manner.