Incongruent Messages Research Articles

Using Emojis That Alter the Meaning of Written Messages to Communicate Interpersonal Relations

ABSTRACT Three studies tested the prevalence of usage and interpretation of messages in which a text and an emoji convey incongruent meaning. Self-reports (Study 1, N = 723) and an experiment that manipulated interlocutor relationships and scenario valence (Study 2, N = 309) revealed that incongruent messages are sent relatively infrequently, in instances in which the text alone may threaten interpersonal relationships. Study 3 (N = 296) confirmed that incongruent messages are less comprehensible and that their perceived valence is shifted from the text valence toward the valence of the emoji. Furthermore, participants correctly inferred the relationships between the communicators, especially when the messages involved close relationships and were congruent with the emoji. We conclude that in incongruent message, the text communicates the intended message, while the emoji serves interpersonal pragmatics.

Pride cometh before a fall: The incongruence of status and resource commitment signals in the video game industry

This study extends the burgeoning literature on social evaluations by investigating the incongruence between two quality signals in the video game industry: resource commitment and organizational status. It is hypothesized that while having one of the signals leads to higher product recognition and, hence, allows firms to capture more value from a product and its demonstrated quality, having both signals can be problematic due to the incongruence of these signals. This is because, in creative industry settings, the occurrence of both signals might send an incongruent message to external audiences (i.e., consumers and industry experts), leading to lower than expected results. My empirical analysis using historical data from the video game industry showed that organizations which featured either a status or a resource commitment signal were able to capture more value from their product quality than organizations that feature both of these signals. In an additional survey study, I found tentative evidence for my theoretical explanations of these findings.

The matching effect in persuasive communication about lockdown.

Scientific literature about persuasion has shown that the effectiveness of persuasive communication may depend on the match between the affective or cognitive contents of the message and the affective [(Need for Affect (NFA)] or cognitive [Need for Cognition (NFC)] orientation of the recipient. The present work aims to contribute to studying this effect by considering the context of health-related communication during the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Specifically, we aim to demonstrate that, when the message is characterized by affective and cognitive contents having the same (congruent message) or different valence (incongruent message), the attitude toward the target (i.e., a new lockdown) will be guided by the valence of the contents matching the individual affective/cognitive orientation. A total of 1,003 participants took part in a 2 (Cognitive content message: Positive vs. Negative) × 2 (Affective content message: Positive vs. Negative) factorial design and answered an online questionnaire. Results show that people with high levels of NFA and low levels of NFC report attitudes toward lockdown consistent with the valence of the affective contents. Conversely, attitudes of people with high levels of NFC and low levels of NFA were not influenced by contents that matched their orientation (i.e., cognitive).

The Influence of a Climate Change Narrative on the Stated Preferences for Long-term Groundwater Management.

The literature identifies cultural values and beliefs as key drivers of climate change risk perception, but evidence is lacking about how media narratives and cultural values influence preferences for adapting to environmental consequences of climate change, including groundwater shortage. We elicited groundwater preferences using a choice experiment survey involving outcomes of the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer. We randomly assigned respondents to an individualistic cultural narrative about climate change to test for framing effects predicted by culturally congruent and incongruent messaging. Results suggest that culturally incongruent messaging (i.e., to non-individualists) emboldens opposition and makes promoted groundwater policies less tractable. This is instructive to policy makers that identifying different stakeholders and avoiding incongruent messages about climate change could improve the effectiveness of collaborative water governance.

Tailored Cigarette Warning Messages: How Individualized Loss Aversion and Delay Discounting Rates Can Influence Perceived Message Effectiveness.

Current text-only cigarette warning labels (long-term, loss-framed messages) may not motivate positive changes in smoking behavior. The current project was a cross-sectional study examining the effects of tailored cigarette warnings on perceived message effectiveness (PME) in adult smokers (n = 512) conducted using Amazon Mechanical Turk (M-Turk) in January–February 2020. Participants were an average age of 40.7 (SD = 11.6), with the majority of the sample being female (62.2%) and White (88.9%). Participants reported smoking an average of 14.6 cigarettes/day (SD = 9.2) with an average FTND score of 4.6 (SD = 2.2). Participants were asked to complete a tobacco use history questionnaire, and mixed gambles and delay discounting tasks before random assignment to one of five message groups. The groups were based on a 2 (gain versus loss framing) ×2 (short-term versus long-term framing) between-subject design; a fifth group served as the control group. All experimental messages reported higher PME scores than the control (p values < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 1.88–2.48). Participants with shallower delayed reward discounting and lower loss aversion rates reported higher total PME scores, p values < 0.05. Our findings also suggest that loss aversion rates vary widely among smokers and that individuals are more responsive to messages congruent with their behavioral economic profile. Specifically, smokers who viewed messages congruent with their loss aversion and delay discounting rates reported higher PME scores than those who viewed incongruent messages (p = 0.04, Cohen’s d = 0.24). These preliminary findings suggest that anti-smoking campaigns may best impact smokers by tailoring messages based on individual loss aversion and delay discounting rates versus a one-size-fits-all approach.

False consensus in the echo chamber: Exposure to favorably biased social media news feeds leads to increased perception of public support for own opinions

Studies suggest that users of online social networking sites can tend to preferably connect with like-minded others, leading to “Echo Chambers” in which attitudinally congruent information circulates. However, little is known about how exposure to artifacts of Echo Chambers, such as biased attitudinally congruent online news feeds, affects individuals’ perceptions and behavior. This study experimentally tested if exposure to attitudinally congruent online news feeds affects individuals' False Consensus Effect, that is, how strongly individuals perceive public opinions as favorably biased and in support of their own opinions. It was predicted that the extent of the False Consensus Effect is influenced by the level of agreement individuals encounter in online news feeds, with high agreement leading to a higher estimate of public support for their own opinions than low agreement. Two online experiments (n1 = 331 and n2 = 207) exposed participants to nine news feeds, each containing four messages. Two factors were manipulated: Agreement expressed in message texts (all but one [Exp.1] / all [Exp.2] messages were congruent or incongruent to participants' attitudes) and endorsement of congruent messages by other users (congruent messages displayed higher or lower numbers of “likes” than incongruent messages). Additionally, based on Elaboration Likelihood Theory, interest in a topic was considered as a moderating variable. Both studies confirmed that participants infer public support for their own attitudes from the degree of agreement they encounter in online messages, yet are skeptical of the validity of “likes”, especially if their interest in a topic is high.

Covid 19 Contexts Shaping Teaching Practice Discourses: University of Eswatini

Abstract&#x0D; This study examines how the Covid 19 Teaching practice contexts elicited the intended professional development principles among the PGCEs’ and BEDS’ four 2020 cohorts at the University of Eswatini. The pedagogical knowledge interaction scheme theoretical framework was used to unpack related concepts. The participants, 23 were sampled through purposive stratified sampling. The semi-semi structured questionnaires and classroom observations were used to collect data. Content analysis was used as a data collecting and analysing tool to analyse and describe the pedagogical discourses within the classroom and institutional contexts. The finding indicated that the mismatch subject arrangement undermined the production of specialised knowledge and alienated some students from their professional engagement and, stifled students’ capabilities to engage into self-reflection. Covid 19 pandemic created complex educational contexts in which incongruent messages related to the fundamental principles of teaching practices were communicated and reinforced. It is concluded that Covid 19 contexts presented a challenge of considerable complexity for the 2020 teaching practice and denied the Trainees the opportunity to learn from experienced teachers or mentors. It is recommended that Coordinators should embrace Covid 19 dynamics in their planning and implementation to protect the teaching practice principles. &#x0D; Key words: Covid 19 contexts, Teaching practice principles

#Kanhaiya: Exploring Indian journalists’ use of Twitter to share developing news and audience engagement with different types of tweets

This exploratory study examined the twitter feeds of ten senior Indian journalists during a specific event of national importance to understand what type of tweets led to greater follower engagement. Further, we examined how followers engaged with congruent and incongruent messages. Analysis of tweets about a specific developing event – the arrest and release of a student activist – indicated that journalists largely tweeted opinions, and that this type of tweet attracted more follower engagement than purely factual tweets. Analysis of each editor’s most commented upon tweets indicated that followers showed a higher level of engagement with incongruent messages than with messages with which they agreed. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

양육자의 메시지 불일치가 유아의 자기주도적 선택에 미치는 영향

양육자의 메시지 불일치가 유아의 자기주도적 선택에 미치는 영향

Targeted Issue Messages and Voting Behavior

In today’s data-driven campaigns, presidential targeting strategies rely on detailed perceptions about the political leanings and policy positions of Americans to decide which registered voters to contact and which messages to emphasize in their outreach. However, identifying supporters and opponents of a candidate’s policy positions is far from foolproof. This reality results in some citizens encountering political message(s) on congruent issues, where their issue stance aligns with the messaging candidate, and others encountering incongruent issue message(s), where the candidate and message recipient do not share the same position. Examining official contact records from the 2012 presidential campaign of Republican Mitt Romney, I find evidence that Romney’s campaign had some success when targeting Democrats with congruent issues. Messaging Democrats with an issue where they and Romney share common ground is associated with decreased support for Obama, increased abstention, and increased support for Romney. Contacting Democrats with an incongruent message and contacting Republicans with either an incongruent or congruent issue message had minimal effects on the voting behavior of the recipient.

Self-Affirmation Moderates Self-Congruency Effect in Health Messaging

ABSTRACT Previous research found that health risk messages framed to be congruent with people’s independent or interdependent self-construal were not consistently more effective than incongruent messages. We argue that people potentially process the self-construal congruent health risk messages in a biased manner. To test this proposition, we examined the role of self-affirmation, which is expected to reduce defensive processing, in college nonsmokers’ responses to an antismoking message congruent vs. incongruent with their dominant self-construals. Results from an online experiment suggested that self-affirmation moderated the self-congruency effect. Specifically, among college nonsmokers endorsing a dominant interdependent self-construal, self-congruency effect emerged only when the group was engaged in self-affirmation. Among college nonsmokers endorsing a dominant independent self-construal, with no prior affirmation, the group reported self-incongruent messages better than the self-congruent messages. After being engaged in self-affirmation, the group reported similar effects for self-congruent and self-incongruent messages. Theoretical and practical implications of our findings are discussed.

Visualizing the solution: An analysis of the images that accompany solutions-oriented news stories

This study adds visual analysis to the body of work on solutions journalism. Guided by visual theory focusing on the dominating nature of messages included in visual content versus text, we use content analysis to explore the use of photos in solutions-oriented news stories, specifically to see whether the photos published alongside solutions-based news stories also represent solutions or whether they portray an incongruent message. Among our results, we found photos reflect the solution depicted in the story only 63.5 percent of the time. Photos taken by an internal source (e.g. staff photographer) are more likely to depict the solution than if obtained by an external source (e.g. wire service). In addition, the higher the emotional appeal and positive emotion found in the photo, the higher the likelihood that the photo reflects a solution. A contradictory visual may complicate the message of the solutions in the story. Our findings suggest more emphasis must be placed on the study of visuals as they relate to solutions journalism, and on the selection of photos to accompany solutions-oriented stories.

Mood Detection in Ambiguous Messages: The Interaction Between Text and Emoticons.

Face-to-face communication has several sources of contextual information that enables language comprehension. This information is used, for instance, to perceive mood of interlocutors, clarifying ambiguous messages. However, these contextual cues are absent in text-based communication. Emoticons have been proposed as cues used to stress the emotional intentions on this channel of communication. Most studies have suggested that their role is to contribute to a more accurate perception of emotions. Nevertheless, it is not clear if their influence on disambiguation is independent of their emotional valence and its interaction with text message valence. In the present study, we designed an emotional congruence paradigm, where participants read a set of messages composed by a positive or negative emotional situation sentence followed by a positive or negative emoticon. Participants were instructed to indicate if the sender was in a good or bad mood. With the aim of analyzing the disambiguation process and observing if the role of the emoticons in disambiguation is different according their valence, we measure the rate of responses of perceived mood and the reaction times (RTs) for each condition. Our results showed that the perceived mood in ambiguous messages tends to be more negative regardless of emotion valence. Nonetheless, we observed that this tendency was not the same for positive and negative emoticons. Specifically, negative mood perception was higher for incongruent positive emoticons. On the other hand, RTs for positive emoticons were faster than for the negative ones. Responses for incongruent messages were slower than for the congruent ones. However, the incongruent condition showed different RTs depending on the emoticons’ valence. In the incongruent condition, responses for negative emoticons was the slowest. Results are discussed taking into account previous observations about the potential role of emoticons in mood perception and cognitive processing. We concluded that the role of emoticons in disambiguation and mood perception is due to the interaction of emoticon valence with the entire message.

Information Framing Reduces Initial Negative Attitudes in Cancer Patients' Decisions About Hospice Care

BackgroundNegative attitudes toward hospice care might prevent patients with cancer from discussing and choosing hospice as they approach end of life. When making a decision, people often naturally focus on either expected benefits or the avoidance of harm. Behavioral research has demonstrated that framing information in an incongruent manner with patients' underlying motivational focus reduces their negative attitudes toward a disliked option. ObjectiveOur study tests this communication technique with cancer patients, aiming to reduce negative attitudes toward a potentially beneficial but often-disliked option, that is, hospice care. MethodsPatients (n = 42) with active cancer of different types and/or stages completed a paper survey. Participants read a vignette about a patient with advanced cancer and a limited prognosis. In the vignette, the physician's advice to enroll in a hospice program was randomized, creating a congruent message or an incongruent message with patients' underlying motivational focus (e.g., a congruent message for someone most interested in benefits focuses on the benefits of hospice, whereas an incongruent message for this patient focuses on avoiding harm). Patients' attitudes toward hospice were measured before and after receiving the physician's advice. ResultsRegression analyses indicated that information framing significantly influenced patients with strong initial negative attitudes. Patients were more likely to reduce intensity of their initial negative attitude about hospice when receiving an incongruent message (b = −0.23; P < 0.01) than a congruent one (b = −0.13; P = 0.08). ConclusionThis finding suggests a new theory-driven approach to conversations with cancer patients who may harbor negative reactions toward hospice care.

To contribute or not: A goals-based perspective on the effect of industry sales trend and solicitation messages on voluntary contributions to a generic advertising campaign.

Generic advertising campaigns such as "Got Milk?" and "Pork: The Other White Meat" are intended to increase demand for the entire product category rather than demand for a specific brand. This research examines the influence of industry (or product category) sales trend and solicitation messages on voluntary contributions toward such campaigns. Based on the idea that the context in which decisions are made may induce goals, a theoretical framework is developed to suggest that a declining versus an increasing industry sales trend induces different goal orientations. Although contributing to a generic advertising campaign may be viewed as 1 means to achieve the induced goal, the means-goal association is likely to be stronger when the trend is declining rather than increasing. Further, the authors propose that a solicitation message that is congruent with the induced goal and the associated mean is likely to be most effective in increasing contributions relative to incongruent messages. Consistent with the framework, three studies demonstrate that voluntary contributions are higher when the industry sales trend is declining versus increasing, and the solicitation message that reinforces the association between the induced goal and the means to achieve the goal is most effective in increasing contributions. (PsycINFO Database Record

The counterintuitive influence of vocal affect on the efficacy of affectively-based persuasive messages

Three experiments examined the extent to which congruency between affective vocal qualities of speakers and the affective content of persuasive messages influenced attitude change. In Experiment 1, a 2 (attitude basis: affective vs. cognitive)×4 (persuasive message: fully matched vs. partially matched vs. fully mismatched vs. written passage) between-participants experiment was conducted. Attitude change produced by the fully matched voice-content message did not differ from the written passage condition. However, both the partially matched and fully mismatched voice-content messages generated significantly more attitude change than the written passage. Experiment 2 replicated the findings of Experiment 1 and tested two explanations for the enhanced efficacy of voice-content incongruent messages. Supplementary analyses provide some evidence in support of an attribution explanation as a mechanism to account for these effects. Experiment 3 replicated the prior two experiments and tested four possible mechanisms for the persuasive effects of affective vocal-message incongruence. Analyses once again supported an attribution explanation for the incongruency effect.

Delays in Discharge in Neuro-Oncology: Using a Lean Six Sigma-Inspired Approach to Identify Internal Causes.

Discharge planning processes have implications for patients and families, healthcare providers, and organizations at large. As such, delays in discharge may result in suboptimal patient outcomes, increased resource utilization, and overall disruptions to patient flow. A quality improvement project was conducted using a Lean Six Sigma approach to identify internal causes of delays in discharge in newly diagnosed patients with a high grade glioma on a neurosurgical unit. Internal causes of delays in discharge were related to communication. The main subthemes were multidisciplinary rounds, incongruent messages being delivered to patients and families, and discrepancies between team members resulting in unclear plans. Findings from this project may be used to promote more effective communication that will facilitate safe and timely discharge for neuro-oncology patients.

Impact of Cultural Exposure and Message Framing on Oral Health Behavior: Exploring the Role of Message Memory.

Health messages are more effective when framed to be congruent with recipient characteristics, and health practitioners can strategically choose message features to promote adherence to recommended behaviors. We present exposure to US culture as a moderator of the impact of gain-frame versus loss-frame messages. Since US culture emphasizes individualism and approach orientation, greater cultural exposure was expected to predict improved patient choices and memory for gain-framed messages, whereas individuals with less exposure to US culture would show these advantages for loss-framed messages. 223 participants viewed a written oral health message in 1 of 3 randomized conditions-gain-frame, loss-frame, or no-message control-and were given 10 flosses. Cultural exposure was measured with the proportions of life spent and parents born in the US. At baseline and 1 week later, participants completed recall tests and reported recent flossing behavior. Message frame and cultural exposure interacted to predict improved patient decisions (increased flossing) and memory maintenance for the health message over 1 week; for example, those with low cultural exposure who saw a loss-frame message flossed more. Incongruent messages led to the same flossing rates as no message. Memory retention did not explain the effect of message congruency on flossing. Flossing behavior was self-reported. Cultural exposure may only have practical application in either highly individualistic or collectivistic countries. In health care settings where patients are urged to follow a behavior, asking basic demographic questions could allow medical practitioners to intentionally communicate in terms of gains or losses to improve patient decision making and treatment adherence.

Humor in Cross-cultural Advertising: A Content Analysis and Test of Effectiveness in German and Spanish Print Advertisements

Humor preferences depend on the cultural background of the respondents. Designers of international advertising campaigns thus need to know how to adapt ads to the target market. The present paper runs two studies to test (1) whether marketers actually adapt the type of humor to the culture of the target market and (2) whether different types of humor elicit different effects in different cultures. Both studies use the example of Germany and Spain for cross-cultural comparisons. Study 1 analyzes 418 Spanish and 748 German print advertisements. The results indicate that marketers apply humor in Spain more frequently than in Germany. The type of humor differs across the two countries: Comic wit which builds on incongruent elements is more frequent in Germany (low-context, individualistic, masculine culture) than in Spain (high-context, collectivistic, feminine culture) while Spanish ads contain more sentimental humor. This humor type transports warmly messages without including incongruent messages. Study 2 examines whether the cultural dimensions of individualism and femininity affect attitude towards sentimental humor ads and sentimental comedy ads. The latter type of humor combines warm elements with the principle of incongruity- resolution. The study shows that Spanish respondents rate sentimental humor significantly more positive than German respondents. In contrast, German subjects evaluate sentimental comedy most positive. Implications for managers and future research are derived.

Tackling student binge drinking: Pairing incongruent messages and measures reduces alcohol consumption.

Excessive alcohol consumption is a persistent problem in Northern European cultures. Across a 2-week period, we tested the effect of varying message frames, message types, and response measures, in reducing alcohol consumption. Three hundred and twenty-three respondents were allocated to a 2 (message frame: gain vs. loss) × 2 (message type: health vs. social) × 2 (response type: engaging vs. refraining) mixed design. Binge drinking and units consumed were measured at Time 1 and Time 2 (2 weeks later). Participants read (following Time 1) a gain- or loss-framed message on binging emphasizing either social or health consequences and answered engaging in or refraining from drinking attitude measures. No main effects were identified. The key finding was that gain-framed messages, when used in conjunction with engage response measures (an incongruous pairing), were highly effective in reducing alcohol consumption 2 weeks later compared with the other message frame/response measure combinations. We suggest that for prevention behaviours, gain-framed messages, when paired with engage response measures, initiate an inconsistency resolution process. Together, our findings emphasize the importance of message frame and response type when seeking to reduce alcohol consumption using persuasive health messages.