Message Strength Research Articles

Emotion-Generating Mechanisms in Television Programmes

The aim of this article is to present the mechanisms of mediatisation of emotions in TV broadcasts in relation to the messages concerning the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The pandemic time has radically changed the way television works. The production of many TV programmes has been suspended around the world, and the way journalists and editorial staff work has changed, yet the viewership during the pandemic grew all over the world, despite negative emotions being generated.
 The study relies on a qualitative analysis of the emotion-generating mechanisms in the audiovisual image. The research material was TV programmes about SARS-CoV-2 in March–June 2020. The research tools used permitted an analysis of the content of the message and its formal side (sound, image, graphics, music). The final results were divided into two areas of emotion-generating mechanisms: formal (forms) and thematic (content).
 The analysis shows that especially negative emotions were evoked in TV programmes during the pandemic: threat, sadness and fear. At the level of form, the following mechanisms were revealed: visual enhancement, gradation, giving meaning, contrast and generalization. In terms of content mechanisms, one can observe the mechanism of drama, content accumulation (blocking), exposure, variable dynamics of positive and negative content, and narrative mechanisms. The observed mechanisms of generating emotions may also lead to manipulation of the recipient through the repetition of negative information or the use of authorities.
 The conducted analysis confirmed the importance of combining form and content as well as strength, rhythmization and repetition of specific messages in the audiovisual message. The article may be the basis for research on the relationship between emotions and cognition, as well as research on the reception of audiovisual content.

Internal Branding: Role of a Cocreated Corporate Event Message

To improve the effectiveness of corporate events, organizational leaders and meeting planners are increasingly looking for new approaches to involve attendees in active participation and cocreation of desired outcomes. The aim of this study was to examine how a cocreated message delivered during the corporate event served the role of effective internal brand communication. Signaling theory and service-dominant logic were the foundation for the research framework, supporting the argument that if value was cocreated during the corporate event, it positively influences the goals established by event organizers. Research was conducted using online self-administered questionnaires collected from 235 employees of a US-based hotel chain, attendees of the annual corporate event. Results revealed that when a strong corporate message was evaluated as cocreation it positively affected attendees' internal word-of-mouth (iWOM) intention and perceptions of the brand's competitive service advantage. Message strength was influenced by attendees' views of leadership authenticity. Repeat event attendees' message evaluation was affected by leadership authenticity continuity, while first-time attendees' evaluation was influenced by leadership authenticity uniqueness. The study introduced and tested a novel framework focused on the effectiveness of event messaging based on cocreated value appraisal. It is one of the first studies to focus on annual corporate events as an effective tool for cocreated corporate communication. Managers should strategically utilize corporate event messaging delivered by authentic leaders to empower employees as ambassadors of the brand and focus on the importance of message strength to cocreate value between the organization and employees.

A probabilistic routing algorithm based on node communication capability and message strength

SummaryIn delay‐tolerant networks (DTN), node connection time and message transmission time are two important influencing factors that can improve the delivery rate. In this paper, we first define a new concept called communication capability (CC) and then apply this concept to the delivery predictability formulation in Prophet and improve it. Then, in Prophet, the selection of relay nodes relies only on the delivery predictability and ignores the caching and forwarding capability of the node. Therefore, we combine delivery predictability, buffering, and forwarding capability to develop a new adaptive relay node selection strategy. Subsequently, we define two metrics called message priority (MP) and message strength (MS). The node forwards messages sequentially based on message priority and discards messages based on message strength. Finally, we present a probabilistic routing algorithm based on node communication capability and message strength (CAMS). The simulation results show that compared with traditional routing algorithms, the CAMS can effectively improve the message delivery rate, reduce the overhead ratio, and keep average hop counts low.

Rapid assessment of communication consistency: sentiment analysis of public health briefings during the COVID-19 pandemic

BackgroundA key component of the initial public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic involved the use of mass media briefings led by public health officials to communicate updates during a time of great uncertainty and rapidly changing information. This study aims to examine the consistency of communications expressed during the public health briefings to generate novel insights about the type, direction, and strength of public health messages. The data source included 131 readily accessible public health briefings alongside the provincial and national new confirmed case counts during the first two waves of rapidly increasing cases during the pandemic in Alberta, Canada. We employed sentiment analysis as a text mining technique to explore the types and frequency of words in public health briefings conveying positive and negative sentiments. Using statistical analyses and data visualizations, we examined how public health messaging shifted with case trends.ResultsOur findings indicate consistent public health messaging in terms of sentiments regardless of case count fluctuations, an association of specific words with conveying positive and negative sentiments, and a focus on particular message patterns at different points during the first two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.ConclusionOur findings demonstrate the practical implications and methodological advantages of using sentiment analysis as a data analytics tool for rapidly and objectively assessing the consistency of health communications during a public health crisis.

Self-affirmation and responses to cigarette warning labels: The moderating role of message strength.

The present research investigated whether message strength moderates the effect of self-affirmation on reactions given to cigarette warning labels. Three hundred eighty-four female (Study 1) and 383 male (Study 2) smokers completed a self-affirmation manipulation and then evaluated either strong or weak warning labels in terms of message derogation. Next, they reported their intentions to quit smoking. Only for the male sample, message strength moderated the effect of self-affirmation on message derogation. However, message strength did not have a moderating role on both message derogation and quit intentions for the female sample and on quit intentions for the male sample.

Facebook Advertising as a Marketing Tool

Social media platforms are widely used these days for the advertising and marketing of products. Facebook is considered one of the main social media platforms used by users these days. Currently, there are limited studies investigating the use of Facebook as an advertising communication platform, especially for the purchase of cosmetic products. This study targeted female consumers to ascertain to what extent Facebook advertising influenced their cosmetic buying behaviour through using a set of factors that were selected, namely, advertisement quality, advertisement design, message strength, advertisement repetitiveness, and message content. Smart PLS was used to assess the study model and to test the study's hypotheses. The study found that the main factors affecting consumer behaviour were advertisement quality and advertisement repetitiveness. The paper discusses the study's findings by presenting a set of implications and making recommendations.

Preferred Child Obesity Message Frames and Their Perceived Strength among State Policymakers.

Background: Health message framing, including gain or loss frames, can influence perceptions of child health messaging. It is unknown how characteristics such as political party and education may impact policymakers' message frame preference and perceived strength of child obesity messages. The purpose of this study was to examine preferred child obesity message frame, perceived strength of child obesity messages, and group differences among state policymakers. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was administered in-person to state representatives and senators via electronic tablet between February and May, 2019, at a midwest State Capitol building. Participants were asked their message frame preference and perceived strength of child obesity messages related to long-term health, school, geographic region, military readiness, cost-savings, and the workforce. They were also asked who was responsible for preventing child obesity and strategies to prevent it. Data were analyzed descriptively and via chi-square tests for group differences. Results: One hundred fifteen state policymakers completed the survey. Participants overall favored gain-framed messages, which were perceived as stronger than loss-framed. Parents were viewed as most responsible overall for preventing child obesity, with Republicans (vs. Democrats; χ2 = 8.54; p = 0.008) and those with less education (vs. more; χ2 = 5.97; p = 0.029) perceiving them as more responsible (χ2 = 8.54; p = 0.008). Democrats viewed the food industry as more responsible (χ2 = 11.4; p = 0.001) than Republicans. Increasing physical activity, nutrition education, and fresh fruits and vegetables in schools were the most preferred prevention strategies. Conclusions: Child health advocates should consider using gain-framed messages related to child obesity when communicating with policymakers, and targeting their preferred strategies may enhance policy development.

Framing Messages to Deal With the COVID-19 Crisis: The Role of Loss/Gain Frames and Content.

The goal of this study was to test the role of message framing for effective communication of self-care behaviors in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, contrasting health and economic-focused messages. We presented 319 participants with an unforced choice task where they had to select the message that they believed was more effective to increase intentions toward self-care behaviors, motivate self-care behaviors in others, increase perceived risk and enhance perceived message strength. Results showed that gain-frame health messages increased intention to adopt self-care behaviors and were judged to be stronger. Loss-framed health messages increased risk perception. When judging effectiveness for others, participants believed other people would be more sensitive to messages with an economic focus. These results can be used by governments to guide communication for the prevention of COVID-19 contagion in the media and social networks, where time and space for communicating information are limited.

How highly creative product descriptions lead to attitude change: a dual-process model

ABSTRACT This study employs a heuristic-systematic model to examine the internal mechanisms responsible for the persuasiveness of text descriptions that are high (vs. low) in creativity, and their effect on consumers’ attitudes toward products. It also examines the moderating role of trust cues. We theorised and demonstrated via three between-subjects design experiments that text descriptions high in creativity can be perceived as providing a heuristic signal of style and systematic information regarding their content. Furthermore, perceived effort and perceived message strength mediated the persuasiveness of text descriptions high in creativity in parallel, as measured by consumers’ attitudes. Moreover, the positive valence of the mediating role depended on trust cues. The present study reveals a novel dual-process model of the persuasiveness of text descriptions high (vs. low) in creativity and identifies the boundary condition. The implications of these findings for consumer decision-making and firms seeking to manage online product presentation are discussed.

The impact of brand and social cause prominence dimensions of fit on consumer intentions to buy cause-related products

PurposeThe aim of this study is to assess the direct and indirect impact of the prominence dimensions of fit between a brand and a cause on consumer intentions to purchase cause-related products by considering cases with more versus less positive attitudes towards a brand and a higher versus lower social cause affinity.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on data obtained via a survey of 403 respondents in Lithuania. A between-subjects study design with different brands and causes was used to identify the role of the differences in brand attitude and cause affinity on the message strength.FindingsThe data analysis has revealed that the specific prominence dimensions of fit (relationship visibility, relationship explicitness, visuals/colours, local attributes) have a direct and indirect impact, via the message strength, on consumer intentions to purchase cause-related products. Additionally, the mediation of the message strength was dependent on attitudes towards a brand but not on cause affinity.Originality/valueThis is the first attempt to contribute to filling the research gap regarding the impact of the prominence dimensions of fit on the intention to purchase a cause-related product. Paying special attention to message strength mediation allowed for the assessment of both the direct and indirect effects of the individual dimensions of fit.

Refined Belief Propagation Decoding of Sparse-Graph Quantum Codes

Quantum stabilizer codes constructed from sparse matrices have good performance and can be efficiently decoded by belief propagation (BP). A conventional BP decoding algorithm treats binary stabilizer codes as additive codes over GF(4). This algorithm has a relatively complex process of handling check-node messages, which incurs higher decoding complexity. Moreover, BP decoding of a stabilizer code usually suffers a performance loss due to the many short cycles in the underlying Tanner graph. In this paper, we propose a refined BP decoding algorithm for quantum codes with complexity roughly the same as binary BP. For a given error syndrome, this algorithm decodes to the same output as the conventional quaternary BP but the passed node-to-node messages are single-valued, unlike the quaternary BP, where multivalued node-to-node messages are required. Furthermore, the techniques of message strength normalization can naturally be applied to these single-valued messages to improve the performance. Another observation is that the message-update schedule affects the performance of BP decoding against short cycles. We show that running BP with message strength normalization according to a serial schedule (or other schedules) may significantly improve the decoding performance and error floor in computer simulation.

Perceived Persuasiveness of Evidence About Adverse Childhood Experiences: Results From a National Survey.

Advocates must make decisions about the types of evidence they emphasize when communicating to cultivate support for adverse childhood experience (ACE) prevention policies. This study sought to characterize public perceptions of the persuasiveness of 12 ACE evidence statements and assess differences by ideology in the strength of these evidence messages as rationales for ACE prevention policies. A web-based survey of a nationally representative sample of US adults was conducted using the KnowledgePanel (N=503, completion rate=60.5%). Respondents read ACE evidence statements and answered questions about the extent to which each was perceived as persuasive. Data were collected and analyzed in 2019. The evidence statements perceived as most persuasive (scoring range 3-17) were those about ACEs as risk factors for mental health and substance use conditions (mean=12.39) and suicide (mean=12.14); ACEs generating financial costs for society (mean=12.03); and the consequences of ACEs being preventable by a supportive adult (mean=11.97). The evidence statements perceived as least persuasive were about ACEs generating health care costs for individuals (mean=9.42) and ACEs as risk factors for physical health conditions (mean=9.47). A larger proportion of liberals than conservatives rated every statement as providing a "strong reason" for ACE prevention policies. These differences were largest for evidence about ACEs generating financial costs for society (84.6% vs 42.8%, P < .0001) and socioeconomic disparities in ACEs (65.1% vs 32.9%, P < .0001). Many ACE evidence statements commonly used in policy advocacy differ from those perceived as most persuasive among a nationally representative sample of US adults.

Group affirmation influences acceptance of environmental risk messages

An experiment examined the influence of self-affirmation on individuals’ responses to messages about environmental threats. A new manner of self-affirmation more appropriate for use in the field than traditional approaches was tested. The visual-based manipulation used group-related photographs to affirm participants’ self-integrity before exposure to risk messages. Exposure to group-related visuals was associated with more positive evaluations (perceived message strength) of the messages. In turn, greater perceived message strength predicted greater awareness of consequences associated with harmful environmental behaviors of plastic bag use and energy waste, which predicted greater personal moral norms to reduce those behaviors. The findings suggest visual-based, group-related affirmation could increase acceptance of risk messages.

CNN-based image steganalysis using additional data embedding

Image steganalysis identifies whether a secret message is hidden in an image. Conventional steganalytic methods require processes to extract discriminative statistical features from images and classify them. Convolutional neural networks (CNN) are particularly effective at conducting those processes. However, since the hidden message was too weak to be detected, existing CNN-based steganalytic methods needed to adopt preprocessing filters to increase the strength of the hidden message. Then, development focused on improved network structures and preprocessing filters. In this paper, we propose a different approach to CNN-based image steganalysis. We embed additional data in an input image and use two images (i.e., the original input image and its stego image with additional embedded data) as input. This is based on an assumption that pixel variations due to the additional embedded data would be sufficient to identify images with and without a secret message. We also propose two variants of conventional CNNs for image steganalysis, named dual channel CNN and dual network CNN, to input two images. We conducted various experiments using the proposed CNNs. The experimental results prove that the assumption holds, and the additional input could provide useful information to improve the performance of conventional CNN-based steganalytic methods. Depending on the strength of the hidden message, the proposed approach could improve the identification rate by up to 6% for S-UNIWARD, an adaptive steganographic method.

Fotografia uwalniająca rzeczywistość. Fotograficzna inwentaryzacja świata

&lt;p&gt;Artykuł skupia się na przedstawieniu najważniejszych koncepcji naukowych, społecznych i kulturowych, które podkreślają znaczenie obrazów, zwłaszcza fotografii, w życiu człowieka, oraz ich specyfikę. Przedstawiono znaczenie fotografii jako dokumentu, dzieła sztuki, materiału naukowo-badawczego. Poruszono kwestię siły przekazu dokumentów wizualnych, w tym fotografii, sposób ich organizacji oraz to, że fotografia rejestruje rzeczywistość niezwykle precyzyjnie. Opisano historię fotografii w kontekście rozwoju nowych metod badawczych w nauce. Zaprezentowano ideę fotografii dokumentalnej. Przedstawiono zasady komunikacji fotograficznej, psychologiczne i filozoficzne czynniki skłaniające ludzi do uwieczniania rzeczywistości, w której żyją.&lt;/p&gt;

THE ELEMENTS OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) IN MARKETING ACTIVITIES OF FITNESS SERVICE PROVIDER AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE BRAND AWARENESS

The use information and communication technology (ICT) as a medium for the brand’s marketing activities has becoming a global trend nowadays. The study will look at the relationship between the elements of implication of ICT in brand’s marketing activities fitness service provider to influence the user’s acceptance of the brand. Further, it also tries to identify the popular ICT platforms among the members. This study also examines the relationship between perceived usage and characteristics with the level of brand awareness among the members in the fitness service organization. This study will be using Media Richness Theory (MRT) as a basis of the research variables looking at the relationship in the ICT platforms implementation with the level of brand awareness. A quantitative method is used in gathering the data where 351 of questionnaire been distributed to the members in Klang Valley. The questionnaires was distributed physically and through online by emailing it to the members. Convenient sampling is been used as the sampling technique in this study. The findings revealed there is a relationship between the perceived usage, characteristics, information richness and message strength with the level of brand awareness through the Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient test. From the findings, it can be concluded that in this industry, constant monitoring is fundamental in the development of ICT technology so that they can bring their brand closer with the members to ensure the brand always relevant in the member’s mind.

Analysis Factors Related to Coronary Heart Disease Prevention in Families by Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction: Problems with coronary heart disease (CHD) can be prevented by involving the family. The purpose of this study is to develop an anticipatory persuasive model by adolescents as an effort to prevent CHD by families. Method: This study using observational analytic study with the cross-sectional approach. The sample was 180 students aged 16-18 years who have families with CHD. The variables of this study were adolescents as a source of messages, dimensions of message strength, family characteristics, persuasive promotion, anticipatory attitudes and prevention of CHD. Data collection used a questionnaire. The analysis used descriptive analysis and testing of structural models were done with Partial Least Square. Results: The promotion of family persuasiveness, Family characterization factors affects the prevention of CHD through a family anticipatory attitude. influence the prevention of CHD directly. Persuasive promotion does not affect the prevention of CHD if not through anticipatory attitudes. Improved family prevention of CHD is better after more positive anticipatory attitude changes following persuasive promotions. The new discovery of the research is a model of persuasive anticipative promotion by adolescents as an effort to prevent CHD. Conclusions: The anticipatory attitude of the family is an important factor in preventing CHD by the family following persuasive promotion. The training program, in collaboration with schools, is a way to make adolescents as health cadres for families in the prevention of CHD. © 2019, Indian Journal of Public Health Research and Development. All rights reserved.

The spirit of democracy in the implementation of public information policy at the provincial government of West Java

This article analyses the implementation of Law Number 14/2008 on Public Information Disclosure on the Provincial Government of West Java. This descriptive-qualitative study presents a discussion of the spirit of democracy in the implementation of the abovem-entioned policy in West Java Province. With the theory of policy implementation and democratization, data obtains that the element of democratic spirit in the implementation of public information policy in the government of West Java is quite thick. Therefore, there must be a massification of the implementation of the law in West Java, especially its socialization to districts/cities and society in general. It was found that the democratization of the West Java Provincial Government in implementing the Act has been well received in the community. However, the lack of publicity about this Law can reduce the strength of moral messages that exist in the law to the public.

Effects of the characteristics of online multimedia synergy on consumers’ message acceptance and message response

PurposeMarketers recognize that the internet is crucial in the lives of consumers; thus, they invest money on online advertisements. Using multiple online media primarily influences the message acceptance of consumers. The synergistic effect of online multimedia relies on form, content, and sources of information, and time. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachA model that reflects the influence of the characteristics of online multimedia on message response through message acceptance is established based on theories of information persuasion, encoding variability, and multiple-source assumption. Based on a survey of 411 online media users, the study applies partial least-squares regression to test the research model.FindingsThe results show that variety of forms, complementary of contents, diversity of sources, and time interval influence message response via message strength. Complementary of contents and diversity of sources affect message response via perceived credibility. Synergy type moderates the relationship between variety of forms and perceived credibility and between diversity of sources and perceived credibility.Research limitations/implicationsThe current study mainly tests the effect of these characteristics on message response and the moderating effect of synergy type. Future research can examine the effect of these characteristics on information seeking and consumption behavior and the moderating effect of the cognitive mode of consumers.Practical implicationsThis study provides insight into the characteristics of synergy and contributes to the literature on integrated marketing communication. The results provide guidance for practitioners to effectively plan online multimedia practices.Originality/valueThis study explored the influence of the characteristics of online media synergy on message response through message acceptance. The study also discussed the moderating effect of the type of online multimedia synergy.

For Heliconius' eyes only.

Some colours are the visual equivalent of a scream; from ‘Eat me’, to ‘Don't eat me’, to ‘Come hither’, plants and animals constantly flaunt their talents or warn each other off with pageants of colour. Adriana Briscoe from the University of California, Irvine, USA, explains that other animals sometimes take advantage of the deterrent effect of warning signals and imitate the bright markings to avoid the unwanted attentions of predators. One family that takes advantage of this form of mimicry are the Eueides butterflies that mimic the distinctive yellow bars found on the wings of their toxic distant Heliconius butterfly relatives. However, when Briscoe analysed the yellow pigment in Eueides butterfly wings and other members of the extended family, she found that it was different from the 3-hydroxy-dl-kynurenine (3-OHK) pigment that Keith Brown had found in Heliconius wings, even though the warning markings were extraordinarily similar to our eyes. Why had the butterflies adopted different pigments when both produced a bright yellow warning hue?Knowing that many animals see a broader palette of colours than are visible to us, Briscoe wondered whether the warning bar on the wings of red postman butterflies – Heliconius erato petiverana, which are members of the Heliconius family – is visible under UV light and was impressed when she discovered that it is. As Heliconius butterflies have an additional light receptor that is sensitive to violet shades, she realised that their 3-OHK-pigmented bar would appear completely different from the yellow shade that we see on Eueides’ wings; ‘this “UV-yellow” is a butterfly form of human purple, which is a mixture of red and blue light’, explains Briscoe. Could the 3-OHK marking be sending coded messages for the eyes of Heliconius butterflies only?Printing out thousands of paper butterflies with the red postman's distinctive red and black pattern, Susan Finkbeiner added yellow Manila paper covered with a UV filter to produce the correct shade of yellow without the UV component, while she reproduced the true red postman yellow shade with synthetic 3-OHK. In addition, some of the models were painted with yellow UV-reflective paint while others were covered with a UV filter. Then, she tested the attractiveness of the paper imposters to red postman butterflies and hungry birds. Analysing the butterflies’ responses, Finkbeiner, Briscoe and Daniel Osorio were impressed that the red postman butterflies always preferred the fake butterflies with 3-OHK UV in their yellow bands; and when they monitored the butterflies for longer periods, the insects made amorous advances to the 3-OHK models, while they were not seduced by the plain yellow paint substitutes. However, when Finkbeiner posed all four paper models in the forest to find out whether predatory birds had a preference for one pigment over the other, the birds found all of the models equally delectable. In addition, Briscoe made the exciting discovery that the 3-OHK pigment was fluorescent, producing a faint green glow: ‘We thought that the fluorescence might be contributing to the colour signal the butterflies were responding to’, says Briscoe. However, when Dmitry Fishman calculated the strength of the fluorescent message, the fluorescence was too faint to be seen when the butterflies are active in daylight.Briscoe suspects that toxic Heliconius butterflies adopted the novel UV-reflective 3-OHK pigment, in preference to the yellow pigment used by Eueides and other members of their extended family, to avoid confusion. ‘They [Heliconius] have two problems to solve: avoiding predators like birds and finding appropriate mates’, says Briscoe. She suggests that Heliconius butterflies evolved 3-OHK because it resembles the ancestral yellow sufficiently for birds to learn to give butterflies with yellow warning bars a wide berth, while allowing members of the Heliconius family to distinguish their own species from distant relatives when seeking a mate.