Persuasive Outcomes Research Articles

Conceptualizing the Roles of Involvement and Immersion in Persuasive Games

While previous studies showed that persuasive games can have positive effects on attitudes and behavioral intentions, little is known about the underlying processes that cause these effects. This study investigates immersion and involvement in order to provide a better understanding of the effects of persuasive games. We conducted an experiment with 152 college students in which participants either played a persuasive game or watched the playback of the game. Our results showed that affective and ludic involvement and immersion mediated the relationship between interactivity (gameplay vs. playback) and persuasive outcomes (attitude and behavioral intention).

Persuade to Click: Context-aware Persuasion Model for Online Textual Advertisement

In recent years, due to the prevalence of online textual advertisements, increasing businesses recognize their huge potential in product promotion. The high-quality textual content has been empirically shown to have a substantial impact on consumers’ attitudes and decisions. As a result, persuasive tactics play an essential role in online textual advertisements, which are employed to increase the attractiveness, and sequentially increase the conversion rate and sales volume. As the context of persuasion, product attributes, e.g., category and price, also greatly influence the persuasion outcomes. However, they are largely overlooked by existing works. In this paper, we propose a novel framework to study context-aware persuasion by designing a multi-task learning model and performing extensive causal analysis. First, the prediction model recognizes the persuasive tactics employed in an advertising text and predicts their promotion effectiveness. Specifically, we design a disentangled representation learning algorithm to capture the persuasive tactics, and then develop a novel context-aware attention module to model the relationships between persuasive tactics and product attributes. Experiments on a large-scale real-world dataset demonstrate the superior performance of our proposed model over state-of-the-art baselines. Then we show its great practical value by conducting an in-depth causal analysis of context-aware results that our model learns, which offers insightful interpretations and guidelines for marketers to employ persuasive tactics in textual advertisements.

Strategic use of immersive media and narrative message in virtual marketing: Understanding the roles of telepresence and transportation

AbstractThis study differentiates the roles of telepresence and transportation, the two widely cited processes underpinning an immersive media viewing experience, in the context of virtual marketing. In Study 1, college students viewed a real estate property tour in virtual reality (VR; high immersion) or as a 360° video (low immersion) in a research lab. The tour was accompanied by a voiceover presenting descriptive information about the apartment (descriptive evidence) or a narrative‐based introduction (narrative evidence). We found the enhanced telepresence under the VR viewing condition negatively impacted users' memory of the property; this effect was particularly pronounced with the narrative voiceover. Study 2 replicated key findings from Study 1 in an online experiment with a larger and more diverse sample. We also found that narrative‐induced transportation strengthened attitudinal outcomes, and enhanced telepresence boosted this effect. Our studies disentangle the impacts of VR‐induced telepresence on cognitive processing from the effects of narrative‐induced transportation on persuasive outcomes. The highly immersive media experience combined with deep transportation into the narrative can strengthen viewers' positive attitude towards the overall experience but hinder their ability to remember the details of the content. The findings point to a medium‐message matching strategy to achieve marketing goals.

Evaluating a Transformational Health Game to Influence Perceptions of the Condoms-as-Evidence Policy.

Objective: Some countries treat carrying condoms as evidence of prostitution, commonly referred to as "condoms-as-evidence" policy/practice. This policy has deleterious outcomes on the health and safety of sex workers worldwide. This study evaluates the impact of a simulation game that advocates against the policy in an effort to increase advocacy attitudes and intentions against condoms-as-evidence policies and practices. Materials and Methods: A between-subjects randomized experiment (N = 70) was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention game relative to a pamphlet. The game, Cops & Rubbers, is a simulation-based tabletop game situating participants in the role of a sex worker trying to balance competing financial, safety, and health-related goals. The research for and development of the pamphlet was funded by Open Society Foundations to highlight the impact of the condoms-as-evidence policy and elicit advocacy efforts. Results: Although the game elicited similar levels of advocacy attitudes toward the pamphlet, it elicited significantly higher advocacy intentions than the pamphlet. Conflicting results were witnessed in psychological reactance. Conclusion: The present results demonstrate the utility of games as an advocacy tool for health and human rights among a polarizing topic such as sex worker advocacy. These results have both practical utility and research implications. From a practical standpoint, we demonstrate that the game can increase advocacy intentions and tangibly contribute to human rights and health issues. Furthermore, these results have the potential to inform novel game design strategies to influence persuasive outcomes in transformational games.

Forceful or Funny? Audience Interpretations of Narrative Persuasion in Satirical Entertainment Media

ABSTRACT It has been established that narrative entertainment messages have the power to produce persuasive outcomes in audiences, but the specific message components that influence audience responses are not well understood. The current study uses focus groups to explore audience interpretations of meaning, perceptions of persuasive intent, and perceptions of the source of a persuasive message in response to a satirical narrative with an environmental theme. The results indicated that audiences define persuasive intent much more narrowly than researchers. Audiences also inferred meaning based on which characters espoused certain messages, but struggled to form conceptions of the creators behind the show or discern an overall persuasive intent. Furthermore, humor acted both as a factor in enjoyment of the narrative and as a discounting cue.

Sustainability in CSR Messages on Social Media: How Emotional Framing and Efficacy Affect Emotional Response, Memory and Persuasion

ABSTRACT The present study explores how companies use social media messages to communicate about the dangers of plastic pollution. Drawing from the emotions-as-frames model and the limited capacity model of motivated mediated message processing (LC4MP), this experiment identifies the effects of two message features (emotional frames: fear/hope, efficacy: low/high) in Instagram posts about plastic pollution. The discrete emotions hope, fear, and anger were analyzed as indicators of message processing, mediating the effects of messages features on memory, plastic pollution attitudes, political participation intentions, and social media intentions. Results of a path analysis show that fear-framed messages increased fear and anger, and high-efficacy information increased hope while reducing anger. In turn, anger increased all three persuasion outcomes, while hope and fear increased only behavioral intentions, not attitudes. Political ideology significantly moderated the model. The paper discusses implications for integrating discrete emotions into the LC4MP, as well as practical implications for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability communicators.

Post-occupancy evaluation Correlated with Medical Staffs' Satisfaction: A Case Study of Indoor Environments of General Hospitals in Sulaimani City

This study aims at identifying the notion of Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) pertinent to the performance of three general hospitals constructed inside the Sulaimani City, tracing the relationship between the quality of the indoor environments and medical staff (doctors and nurses) satisfaction level. Using some indoor environment elements in the right way will positively influence the mood, stress level of the medical staff, and patient recovery as a result. The POE toolkits (AEDET and ASPECT) have been implemented on targeted wards at the selected hospitals. AEDET and ASPECT questionnaires were distributed among 152 medical staff to obtain their perspectives. In total, 112 valid questionnaires were received. The medical staff at tested hospitals were generally satisfied with the quality of newly built hospitals' indoor environment. The results have shown that exploring medical staff experiences can expose factors that affect their satisfaction levels. Also, the findings reveal that the building's physical quality can be vastly related to the fulfillment of the medical staff's satisfaction. Moreover, the findings underline the role of the quality of the indoor environment in increasing medical staff's satisfaction levels, informing design decisions. Additionally, the persuasive associative outcomes have proven that POE (AEDET and ASPECT) will be pertinent as a tool to the building's physical quality.

Saving the World by Your Self: Comparing the Effects of Self-Assessment and Self-Improvement Message Strategies on Pro-Environmental Information Selection and Persuasive Outcomes

ABSTRACT The effectiveness of behavioral change message strategies invoking the self-assessment (i.e. focusing on evaluating current behaviors) and the self-improvement (i.e. focusing on improving future behaviors) motives on pro-environmental information selection and subsequent pro-environmental beliefs, attitudes, and behavioral intentions were examined. The Selective Exposure and Self- and Affect Management (SESAM) model and the self-affirmation theory offered predictions for audiences with varying levels of environmental domain importance and perceived self-discrepancy. An online experiment was conducted, and the results showed that consistent with expectations, self-assessment message strategy was more effective for audiences with low perceived self-discrepancy, and self-improvement message strategy was more effective for audiences high on this individual characteristic. This interaction was most pronounced for audiences with high domain importance. Implications of the findings on theory and practice were discussed.

First-Person, Third-Person, or Bystander? Exploring the Persuasive Influence of Perspective in Mental Health Narratives

As evidence suggests that college students are particularly vulnerable to mental health distress and illness, guidance for designing messages that inspire help-seeking behavior is needed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of perspective of storytelling on health message involvement and persuasion. A controlled experiment (N= 430) compared the influence of online mental health narratives targeted to college students that featured a bystander perspective to those that used first- and third-person perspectives. Evidence suggests that the bystander perspective was more effective for producing persuasive outcomes, including mental health information recall and beliefs. Results also indicate that self-referencing mediated the effects of message involvement on outcomes across all message conditions. People with experience with mental illness became involved with and were influenced by mental health narratives in different ways.

Norms Message Features in an Alcohol Consumption Context: Testing the Roles of Functional Matching and Numeracy

ABSTRACT The current study tested a theoretical account of how and when norms message features influence attitudes and intentions. Specifically, we examined whether functional matching and numeracy help to explain variation in persuasive outcomes following exposure to norms messaging. We executed two experiments to test our functional matching and numeracy assumptions in the context of alcohol consumption. Across both studies, our functional matching assumption was not supported. In Study 2, numeracy moderated the impact of descriptive norms message content on intentions to engage in heavy drinking, such that message exposure was associated with reduced drinking intentions among participants with greater levels of numeracy. In sum, the findings provided some evidence that the functional attitude approach lacked theoretical utility and that numeracy dictated the effect of norms message exposure on intentions.

A meta-analysis of the impact of point of view on narrative processing and persuasion in health messaging

Objective To synthesize experimental research on the impact of narrative point of view (POV) on message processing and persuasion outcomes in health promotion. Moderators examined included characteristics of study design, participants, and experimental stimuli. Design and Main Outcome Measures Random effects model meta-analysis of 16 health promotion experiments, using the metafor package in R. Studies included compared the effects of first- and third-person POV on risk perceptions, attitudes, behavioral intention, identification and transportation. Results There was no evidence of publication bias. Narratives told in the first-person POV led to higher levels of perceived susceptibility (d = 0.10, 95% CI [0.01, 0.20]) and identification feelings (d = 0.10, 95% CI [0.10, 0.21]) than third-person narratives. The effects of first-person POV narratives were significantly stronger for stories that were written in the past-tense and that depicted the protagonist as being similar to message recipients. Conclusion Findings support a theoretical model of POV impact in which a first-person perspective increases identification with the character, thereby leading to higher levels of perceived susceptibility to the health threat. The practical implication is that the effectiveness of narrative persuasion is enhanced by using the first-person point of view, emphasizing target audience-protagonist similarities, and telling stories in the past tense.

Words to Submit by: Language Patterns Indicate Conference Acceptance for the International Communication Association

Language patterns of complexity and confidence often indicate positive persuasion outcomes across settings. For example, such word types correlate with funding support from grant agencies and online crowds. This paper tested the preregistered hypothesis that language patterns of complexity and confidence also relate to a conference submission’s acceptance. Replicating and extending prior work, submissions from the International Communication Association ( N = 9,559) with more complex content and more causality tend to be accepted. Implications of these data are discussed.

Examining the normative and persuasive effects of televised U.S. Senate debates

Televised political debates are largely studied at the presidential level, and there is a paucity of research on debate effects for nonpresidential campaigns. This study explored televised debate effects in the context of the 2018 U.S. midterm Senate elections. A pretest/posttest design tested the normative and persuasive outcomes of debate viewing. Viewing one of the two Senate debates promoted information acquisition, influenced attitudes such as political information efficacy, candidate evaluations, intention to vote for a candidate, and intention to vote in the midterm elections, and had marginal influences on political cynicism and political interest. Presidential debates are not the only debates that matter: nonpresidential televised debates can also persuade voters and foster positive democratic outcomes.

Social representations and interface layout: A new way of enhancing persuasive technology applied to organ donation.

Although campaigns promoting organ donation have proved their effectiveness, increasing the number of people who explicitly agree to become donors is still difficult. Based on the social marketing notion of persuasive technology, we reasoned that it was timely to focus on the design of this persuasive technology and to analyze its contribution in particularly challenging contexts such as organ donation. More specifically, the originality of the present study lay in the way we linked the field of persuasive technology to the theory of social representations, and combined them with an analysis of the ergonomic aspects of interface layout. This study had two complementary goals. The first was to determine whether the sociocognitive salience of the central elements of social representations (i.e., the most frequent and important themes related to the subject—here, organ donation—for individuals), can be used to achieve persuasive outcomes. The second was to determine whether interface layout, in terms of information location and background characteristics (color and contrast), can strengthen the persuasive impact. University students (N > 200) were exposed to a computer screen displaying a message involving either central or peripheral elements of the social representations of organ donation (status), placed either in the middle or on one side of the screen (location), and shown against either a white or a blue background (background). Eye-tracking data were recorded, in addition to self-reported data. In line with the elaboration likelihood model, results showed that participants who were exposed to central (vs. peripheral) elements of the social representations of organ donation followed the central route in processing information. Moreover, they had stronger attitudes, and more of them stated that they were actual organ donors. Importantly, however, at least for some variables, these status-related effects were not independent of the interface layout. More specifically, the persuasive impact of the central elements was enhanced when the information was displayed in the middle (vs. the side) of the screen and when it was displayed on a white (vs. blue) background. We discuss the theoretical and practical issues raised by these results.

Effects of Egocentric Projection and Identification on Narrative Persuasion in Foodborne Illness Messages

This study conceptually and empirically distinguishes two mental processes in narrative processing of food safety health messages—identification with and egocentric projection onto story characters. Two studies examined the effects of narrative autobiographical accounts of contracting foodborne illness (salmonella) because of careless food preparation. Both studies consistently found that identification increased, but egocentric projection decreased audience members’ behavioral intention to perform safe food handling practices, indicating that egocentric projection and identification represent unique mental processes and yield distinct persuasive outcomes. In addition, confirmatory factor analyses provided evidence that egocentric projection and identification are distinct constructs. Implications for the role of identification and egocentric projection for understanding narrative processing and for health persuasion are discussed.

Antecedents and Effects of Parasocial Relationships: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract The current meta-analysis synthesizes four decades of research (k = 120) on the antecedents and effects of parasocial relationships (PSRs). In line with contemporary theorization of PSRs as an extension of, rather than as a substitution for social relationships, the meta-analysis does not find a significant relationship between social deficiencies and PSRs. PSRs are also strongly correlated with factors that facilitate interpersonal bonds (e.g., homophily), other forms of involvement (e.g., identification, transportation), and persuasive outcomes. Furthermore, the analysis validates the theoretical distinction between PSRs and parasocial interactions (PSIs) revealing only a moderate correlation between the two constructs. Likewise, while PSRs and PSIs did not differ with respect to effects on persuasive outcomes, PSRs emerge as a stronger predictor of media involvement. The findings are discussed in relation to theoretical models of media involvement and effects

Change Appeals: How Referencing Change Boosts Curiosity and Promotes Persuasion.

Does merely referencing that an object or entity has changed affect people's attitudes and intentions toward it? This research investigates the possibility that change references spark curiosity and information seeking, which can have a positive or negative effect on people's evaluations of a target stimulus, depending on the information environment. Seven experiments reveal that referencing that an object or entity has changed decreases perceptions of its longevity, but also sparks curiosity about it-a desire to learn more. This curiosity motivates people to seek information about the object or entity, which can enhance or depress their evaluations depending on whether that information search leads to favorable or unfavorable information. When further information is unavailable, change references appear to have a negative impact on people's evaluations, consistent with well-established longevity biases. This research suggests that change references have an important and generalizable impact on persuasive outcomes and pinpoints the conditions surrounding and processes driving this effect.

Fear appeals, information processing, and behavioral intentions toward climate change

ABSTRACT This study examined two variables in the fear-induced communication literature, namely, information-processing modes and the interactive effects of threat and efficacy, to fill an existing gap in the extended parallel process model (EPPM) research. The EPPM is the target of several criticisms, the most frequent of which is its lack of a description of how recipients process fear-appeal messages. The EPPM has also been criticized for proposing that a perceived threat exerts a positive effect on danger control outcomes only when recipients’ perceived efficacy and perceived threat are high. However, this proposition has received mixed support. A field experiment was conducted, in which a telephone survey was used to collect data in Taiwan, and 801 valid questionnaires were obtained. The data analysis yields three conclusions: (1) this study found that the perceived threat and perceived efficacy of the fear appeals were significantly correlated with respondents’ use of a systematic mode of information processing; (2) adding a systematic-processing mode to the EPPM greatly increased the persuasive effects of fear-appeal messages on behavioral intentions; and (3) there were interactive effects of perceived threat and perceived efficacy with the high-threat/high-efficacy group being the only group achieved persuasive outcomes.

Incorporating Message Framing into Narrative Persuasion to Curb E-Cigarette Use Among College Students.

This study examines the interaction effect of message format (narrative vs. nonnarrative) and message framing (gain vs. loss) in e-cigarette prevention targeting young adults. Results of a two-way experiment (N = 439) revealed that transportation and discrete emotions mediated message effect on risk perception and behavioral intention. Compared to the gain-framed nonnarrative, the gain-framed narrative reduced feelings of guilt, and guilt was negatively related to risk perception and positively related to behavioral intention. Thus, the gain-framed narrative achieved desirable persuasive outcome through guilt-increasing risk perception and decreasing intention to use e-cigarette. Similarly, the loss-framed narrative evoked greater sadness, which also led to increased risk perception and decreased behavioral intention. Transportation and discrete emotions mediated message effect in a serial order. This research not only contributes to the literature on narrative persuasion and emotion, but also provides insight for health communication designed for e-cigarette prevention.

Visual Juxtapositions as Exemplars in Messages Promoting Healthy Dietary Behavior

ABSTRACT While health communicators often study strategic health messages, investigations of how visual message elements complement or inhibit persuasive efforts are sparse in the literature. Visual juxtapositions, which refer to one visual presentation featuring two images placed next to each other, are one such visual element. In the context of improving public communication efforts related to promoting healthy dietary choices, we use visual persuasion theory and exemplification theory to test whether different visual juxtapositions influence message recipients’ expectations to share message content and reduce their consumption of unhealthy products (i.e., sugary drinks and salty foods). We carried out two studies, each a two-wave, longitudinal randomized experiment, to test for direct effects and assess the potential for indirect or delayed associations of visual persuasion appeals using visual juxtapositions. We consistently observed that a similarity visual juxtaposition evoked higher levels of surprise and expectations to share message content than a comparison juxtaposition or control condition immediately following message exposure; however, visual juxtapositions had no direct effects on unhealthy consumption expectations immediately following exposure or one-week following exposure. Levels of surprise were associated with both intended outcomes in the short-term (increased message sharing expectations) and unintended outcomes in the longer-term (increased consumption expectations). Overall, the study offers insights into the effects and associations of visual juxtapositions on message processing and persuasion outcomes, as well as raises questions about how to apply visual persuasion concepts and improve theorizing related to visual persuasion in health communication contexts.