Persuasive Outcomes Research Articles

The effects of five public information campaigns: The role of interpersonal communication

Abstract For five Dutch public information campaigns, this study assessed whether interpersonal communication mediated the effects of exposure (to TV, radio, or online banners) on five persuasive outcomes: awareness, knowledge, attitude, intention, and self-reported behavior. Structural equation modeling was used to test 23 models relating exposure to one of these outcome variables. Few direct effects of media exposure were found (for online banners, TV, and radio in, respectively, one, four, and seven of the 23 models). In contrast, results revealed that interpersonal communication had direct effects on the outcomes in 17 of the 23 models. Moreover, indirect effects of media exposure via interpersonal communication were found for online banner, TV, and radio exposure in, respectively, eight, nine, and ten models. These results indicate that interpersonal communication plays an important role in explaining media exposure persuasive effects and should be taken into account in the development and evaluation of public information campaigns.

Examining and extending the influence of presumed influence hypothesis in social media

ABSTRACT The influence of presumed influence hypothesis (IPI) is a communication theory accounting for the process of persuasive media effects. The present study integrates theoretical perspectives in persuasion and new and traditional media effects research to investigate the assumptions and explanatory mechanisms of IPI in an experiment. View numbers in social media directly predicted presumed exposure by others and indirectly predicted presumed influence on others, consistent with IPI and inconsistent with the bandwagon heuristic. Presumed exposure predicted presumed influence, consistent with IPI. Other predictors of presumed exposure and presumed influence were also found. Self’s evaluation of the message (realism) and engagement in the message (identification) predicted presumed exposure by others and presumed influence on others, supporting the expectation that a motivational mechanism of IPI is self-centric social perception. Social media message view numbers did not predict persuasive outcomes directly, but the evaluation of and engagement in the message did. Finally, the data were inconsistent with the assumption of pervasive mass media reach. This study provides theoretical implications for examining persuasive effects of social media messages, while enhancing and expanding IPI. Limitations of the study and directions for future research are discussed.

Disclosing Influencer Marketing on YouTube to Children: The Moderating Role of Para-Social Relationship.

Watching online videos is becoming an important part of children’s media diets. Children particularly like content that is specifically created for YouTube by YouTube personalities. Because these personalities have a large reach and are considered likeable and credible, they have become social media influencers. For advertisers, these influencers are an interesting channel to reach youth. Therefore, influencers often embed persuasive sponsored messages in their videos to earn money. However, there are concerns about this practice because it is not always clear when a video includes advertising. Therefore, in several countries, guidelines have been developed that state that sponsoring in influencer videos should be disclosed as such. Until now, little is known about the effects of disclosures for influencer videos on children and the boundary conditions for such effects. Therefore, we investigated the effects of a disclosure of sponsored influencer videos on children’s advertising literacy. Additionally, we examined the consequences of the disclosure for children’s responses to the brand, advertised product, and video. We also included the para-social relationship (PSR) that children experience with an influencer as a possible boundary condition for disclosure effects on persuasion. Our experiment amongst children between 8 and 12 years old showed that, when children correctly recalled the disclosure, the disclosure increased their recognition of advertising, and understanding of selling and persuasive intent. Moreover, advertising literacy evoked by the disclosure affected persuasion: The disclosure enhanced brand memory through ad recognition, but also decreased advertised product desire through understanding the selling intent of the video. Furthermore, the PSR of children with the influencer proved to be a boundary condition for disclosure effects on brand attitudes. Only for those children who experienced moderate to low PSRs with the influencer, the disclosure resulted in less positive brand attitudes through understanding selling intent. For children who experienced a strong PSR with the influencer, the understanding that the content had a selling intent did not affect their brand attitudes. These findings show that a disclosure (if noticed and remembered) can be an effective tool to achieve transparency, but also influences the persuasive outcomes of influencer marketing in online videos.

Exploring the effects of perceived character and cued typicality in health narratives

ABSTRACT Communication scholars have conducted a significant amount of research to explore the conditions under which exposure to narrative messages affects individuals’ attitudes and behaviors. Perceived character typicality, defined as the degree to which characteristics of a character are perceived to be present among the portrayal’s real-world counterparts, as well as cued typicality, defined as statements about a population that indicate whether the character or the narrative is typical or not, have not been examined in understanding the effectiveness of health messages. The present research explored the effects of perceived character typicality and contextually-embedded typicality cues on persuasive outcomes. It also investigated the underlying mechanisms mediating the impact of narratives with character or cued typicality. A 2 (character typicality: typical vs. nontypical character) × 3 (typicality cues: typical cues vs. nontypical cues vs. no cues) between-subjects experiment was conducted, focusing on the risks of sun exposure without applying sunscreen. The findings showed that a narrative with a character perceived as typical led to higher perceived realism, more positive attitude toward sunscreen use, and less message novelty than a narrative with a character perceived as nontypical. Typical cues had more positive impact on issue attitude than nontypical cues.

Emotions in fear appeals: Examining college students’ attitudes and behavioural intentions towards colorectal cancer prevention in Taiwan

Objectives: One criticism of the extended parallel process model (EPPM) is its lack of focus on the role of emotion and its relation to behaviour change. Another criticism of the EPPM is regarding its proposition that threat and efficacy have a moderating effect on recipients’ attitudes and behaviours. This study aimed to examine emotions and the interaction effects of threat and efficacy to understand their effects on attitudes and behavioural intentions towards colorectal cancer prevention. Methods: The study adopted a pretest–posttest experimental design to collect data from a sample of college students. There were 631 participating students, but the total number of eligible subjects in this study was 402 students. Findings: Analysis shows that (1) anxiety plays a significant role in the reception of fear-appeal messages because it not only directly influences behavioural intentions but is also a full mediator in allowing perceived threat to affect intentions; (2) emotions influence subjects’ behavioural intentions but not their attitudes; and (3) perceived threat is more effective in changing subjects’ attitudes, while perceived efficacy is more influential in changing behavioural intentions. Conclusion: This study found that it was anxiety rather than fear that made a positive contribution to the effectiveness of fear-appeal messages. These findings showed that the high-threat/high-efficacy group achieved the best persuasive outcomes, followed by the high-threat/low-efficacy and the low-threat/high-efficacy group. The low-threat/low-efficacy group obtained the least persuasive results, which supports the additive model of the EPPM.

Vaccinating Against Hate: Using Attitudinal Inoculation to Confer Resistance to Persuasion by Extremist Propaganda

ABSTRACT Research in several domains has shown that attitudinal inoculation effectively promotes resistance to persuasion. Despite its proven efficacy, inoculation has not been empirically tested as a strategy for preventing the adoption of beliefs and attitudes consistent with violent extremist ideologies. The current study addresses this gap in the literature. In a between-subjects experiment performed in the U.S., participants (N = 357) were exposed to an inoculation message or no-inoculation control message before reading left- or right-wing extremist propaganda. Inoculation positively predicted psychological reactance, which in turn, reduced intention to support the extremist group. Inoculation also negatively predicted perceptions of the extremist group’s credibility, which positively predicted support intention. Neither the apparent source of the inoculation message, nor the ideological focus of the propaganda, moderated any of these relationships. These results effectively extend the scope of inoculation theory into the realm of violent extremism and have implications for the development of messages intended to prevent persuasive outcomes consistent with extremist ideologies.

When are emotional online product reviews persuasive? Exploring the effects of reviewer status and valence in consumer purchase decisions

This study investigates how features of online product reviews affect persuasive outcomes. In particular, we focus on how emotional reviews can exert significant influence on how people process and act upon a review. We conducted a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects online experiment (N = 368) to explore the effects of (a) review emotionality (high vs. low), (b) valence (positive vs. negative), and (c) system-generated status cues as signaled by reviewer badges (present vs. absent) on perceived argument strength and purchase intention. Results revealed that for the positive reviews, but not for the negative reviews, the effect of review emotionality on purchase intention via perceived argument strength was significant only when reviewer badges were present. Specifically, positive emotional reviews with reviewer badges present increased purchase intention through increases in perceived argument strength. These findings highlight the unique role of online message characteristics in consumer decision making.

Using virtual reality to promote the university brand: When do telepresence and system immersion matter?

ABSTRACTWhile virtual reality (VR) has been shown to increase a sense of being there (i.e., telepresence) and enhance audience perceptions of the content, few studies have examined the impact of the varying degrees of ‘system immersion’ on persuasion outcomes under different VR viewing conditions. To fill this gap, our research investigates consumer perceptions of a branded VR experience of a university campus tour under different viewing conditions across two studies. In Study 1, we interviewed 17 participants who experienced the VR tour on Oculus Rift CV1. Emerging themes from the data revealed a sense of telepresence, enjoyment, and appreciation for going places not available to participants in real life. Study 2 employed an experimental design where participants viewed the same content using one of the three VR devices that varied in system immersion (smartphone, Google Cardboard, Oculus Rift DK2). Telepresence and its impact on recall and persuasion were measured. Results show that all three viewing conditions had equal capacity to create a sense of telepresence. Perceived telepresence negatively impacted recall of targeted locations in the virtual tour, whereas telepresence positively correlated with intentions to recommend the campus to others.

The Covert Advertising Recognition and Effects (CARE) model: Processes of persuasion in native advertising and other masked formats

Covert advertisements, or those that utilize the guise and delivery mechanisms of familiar non-advertising formats, differ from other more direct forms of advertising in several ways that are important for understanding users’ psychological responses. Research across various covert advertising formats including various forms of sponsored editorial content, other native advertising formats, and product placement has shown that variation consumers’ persuasive responses to such messages is largely driven by whether they recognize that such messages are advertising at all. After reviewing the findings of empirical research into covert advertising effects, we present a model of covert advertising recognition effects (CARE) that outlines potential antecedents and processes underlying the recognition of covert advertising, and maps several pathways to persuasive outcomes that are contingent on advertising recognition and perceptions related to the information in and perceived presentation of the advertisement itself.

Can Liking, Commenting, and Sharing Enhance Persuasion? The Interaction Effect between Modality Interactivity and Agency Affordances on Smokers’ Quitting Intentions

ABSTRACT This article examines whether the persuasive potential of modality interactivity on anti-smoking websites can be harnessed by adding agency affordances, such as the like, comment, and share features. Using a 2 × 2 factorial experiment with a current smoker sample (N = 154), we investigated the interaction effects between modality interactivity (low vs. high) and agency affordances (absence vs. presence) on persuasion outcomes. The results showed that the effects of modality interactivity on telepresence, systematic processing, and change in quitting intentions varied depending on the existence of agency affordances on the website. Agency affordances on the anti-smoking website led to a greater sense of agency and systematic processing on the website content. Only in the presence of agency affordances did modality interactivity enhance the feeling of telepresence, which led to greater quitting intentions than in the control condition. Without agency affordances, modality interactivity diminished systematic processing, leading to lower quitting intentions.

The Effects of Interactivity on the Attitudes and Intentions about Second-hand Smoke: Comparison of Two Mechanisms

ABSTRACTThis study examines whether interactive affordances of an anti-secondhand-smoking website can induce college students’ behavioral and attitudinal changes. A single factor experiment (the interactive vs. control condition) with 239 non-smoking college students was conducted to investigate the mechanism by which modality interactivity enhances user attitudes toward the website and their intention to avoid second-hand smoke (SHS). Built upon previous interactivity and user interface literature, interface assessment and perceived contingency were hypothesized to mediate the effects of interactivity on persuasive outcomes. The results demonstrated the main effect of modality interactivity on attitudes towards the website and its indirect effect on SHS avoidance intention after controlling for issue involvement and self-efficacy in avoiding SHS. Both relationships were significantly and positively mediated by interface assessment but not by perceived contingency. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Eye movement inductions influence health behaviour: the working memory account of persuasion

Objective: Because the working memory (WM) has a limited capacity, the cognitive reactions towards persuasive information in the WM might be disturbed by taxing it by other means, in this study, by inducing voluntary eye movements (EMi). This is expected to influence persuasion.Methods: Participants (N = 127) listened to an auditory persuasive message on fruit and vegetable consumption, that was either framed positively or negatively. Half of them was asked to keep following a regularly moving dot on their screen with their eyes. At pretest, cognitive self-affirmation inclination (CSAI) was assessed as individual difference to test possible moderation effects.Results: The EMi significantly lowered the quality of the mental images that participants reported to have of the persuasive outcomes. With regard to self-reported fruit and vegetable consumption after two weeks, EMi significantly lowered consumption when CSAI was high but it significantly increased consumption when CSAI was low.Conclusions: The results verify our earlier findings that induced EM can influence persuasion. Although it remains unclear whether the effects of EMi were caused by disturbing mental images of persuasive outcomes or self-regulative reactions to these images, or both, the WM account may provide new theoretical as well as practical angles on persuasion.

"Hey, that could be me": The role of similarity in narrative persuasion.

Stories are often used in health communication because of accumulating evidence of their potential to affect people’s attitudes and health behavioral intentions. Similarity between the reader and the story’s protagonist appears to positively influence narrative persuasion, but the exact role of similarity on persuasive outcomes is debated, as some research finds clear effects of similarity manipulations whereas others do not. Possibly, these mixed results were found because the similarity manipulations were not always relevant to the topic of the story. We conducted an experiment (N = 582) in which we varied the age and gender of the protagonist, features that were of central relevance to the story’s topic, namely breast cancer versus testicular cancer. There were two groups of participants: 324 students (mean age: 21.46 years) and 258 older adults (mean age: 56.83 years). Age similarity (but not gender similarity) had an effect on identification with the protagonist, transportation (i.e. the experience of being absorbed into a story), and the intention to donate, but only for students. For older adults, age or gender of the protagonist did not seem to matter, as nearly no differences in persuasive measures were found. As far as the underlying mechanism is concerned, the results of structural equation modeling showed that the concept of ‘perceived similarity’ would be a relevant addition to models of narrative persuasion, as it was significantly related to the narrative processes of transportation and identification, which, in turn, predicted attitudes and behavioral intentions, both directly—in the case of transportation—or indirectly, via the emotion of compassion. We conclude that both manipulated and perceived similarity are important for narrative persuasion, and that it should be kept on the research agenda of health communication.

Detecting Effective Tobacco Control Messages via Linguistic Analysis and Item Response Theory

Abstract Current health communication research on tobacco control often examines the persuasion effects of messages in an experimental setting, which produces small effect sizes and limits the external validity of how well the tested messages will perform in real word settings. In the new media landscape, (anti)smoking and (anti)vaping messages are posted, shared, and disseminated across media platforms by a broader set of users. Tracking the persuasion effects of each message can be challenging with the experimental approaches. Novel analytic methods are needed to evaluate the effective strategies for tobacco control communication. We apply linguistic analysis and item-response theory to antismoking/antivaping messages to detect their persuasion effects on cognitive and emotional outcomes at an individual message level. Methods: We recruited respondents from social media and crowdsourcing platforms (n = 6,566). The eligible current smokers were randomly assigned to one of the 80 antismoking and antivaping messages, or 16 food advertisements (the control group). We measured attitudes toward vaping/smoking, emotional arousal, and intention to quit smoking or vape. We mined text data from each stimulus message to examine their linguistic characteristics and its links to the persuasion outcomes. Results: Majority of participants were White (86%) and female (55%). Antismoking messages were more likely to reveal anxiety (P = 0.01) and dangers or concerns (P < 0.01), compared to the control messages; and express high expertise and confidence compared to antivaping messages (P = 0.04). We report linguistic properties of each message and their relationship to antismoking attitudes, emotional arousal, intention to quit cigarettes, and intention to vape. Visualized patterns of message effectiveness demonstrate text/image-based antivaping messages, compared to video-based antivaping messages, unintentionally increased participants' favorable attitudes toward e-cigarettes. Conclusions: These message-level analyses can help identify best candidate messages that generate positive persuasion outcomes, which, in turn, can inform the selection of messages for health education and campaigns.

Mind-reading motivation

AbstractPrevious research suggests a link between perspective-taking and the tendency to become immersed in narratives or literature. We extend that research by considering both individual differences and persuasion outcomes. Specifically, Mind-Reading Motivation (MRM) is an individual difference in the willingness to effortfully engage with other people’s perspectives and mental states. Stories may be most influential when readers put themselves in the place of another person, even a fictional other. In Study 1, higher MRM was correlated with more fiction reading but not more nonfiction reading. Studies 2a and 2b demonstrated that higher MRM was associated with greater transportation into a narrative. We replicated this effect in Study 3, showing that MRM was associated with both higher transportation and narrative persuasion. The effect of MRM on persuasion is mediated by connections to the characters. This research helps identify which individuals are most likely to be persuaded by narrative communications.

Boomerang Effects of Sexual-Violence Prevention Messages on College Men's Attitudes

Background: Sexual assault is a serious public health problem in the U.S. Although colleges and universities receiving federal funding are required to provide sexual violence prevention and awareness programs, initiatives aimed specifically at college men remain relatively uncommon. Furthermore, assessments of the effectiveness of such programs suggest that most do not contribute to the prevention of sexual violence on college campuses.Aim: This study investigates the prevalence and malleability of attitudes that underlie sexually violent behaviors perpetrated by self-identified heterosexual, cisgender male college students against college women.Methods: Seventy-one self-identified heterosexual, cisgender, full-time undergraduate male students, all at low risk for committing sexual assault, participated in a pretest-posttest online experiment. They were randomly assigned to one control condition and two experimental sexual-assault-prevention interventions featuring a female or a male speaker.Results: The experimental conditions did not have the intended effects of eliciting attitudes that would further the prevention of sexual violence on college campuses. The experimental conditions were, in fact, less effective on some measures than the control condition.Conclusions: The findings suggest a boomerang effect, which refers to a persuasive outcome opposite to the desired one. Previous research has pointed to boomerang effects of sexual-assault prevention programs among high-risk men. The results of this study suggest a boomerang effect is also evident among college men at low risk for committing sexual assault.

How to Enhance Directors’ Independence at Controlled Companies

Directors' independence at controlled companies is an intriguing corporate governance conundrum. Recently, Bebchuk and Hamdani have shed new light on it by providing an analytical framework which seeks to make independent directors more effective in performing their oversight role. They convincingly argue that some independent directors should be accountable to public investors who, in order to achieve this aim, should have the power to influence the election or retention of several directors. Starting from this persuasive outcome, and adopting a comparative and functional analysis, this Article will further extend the Bebchuk and Hamdani framework in several directions, with the aim of rendering it more effective and adaptable to different jurisdictions around the world. First, reliance only on the initiative of activist hedge funds might raise some concerns with regard to the effectiveness of enhanced-independence directors as monitors as well as to the cohesiveness of the board. This Article will therefore argue that the involvement of non-activist institutional investors in the selection and election of enhanced-independence directors should be enhanced. It will further argue that the refinement of the election and retention process for independent directors might not be enough in order to tangibly enhance their independence, as the human nature of corporate boards must be taken into consideration as well. Pursuing this line of thought, it will develop an in-depth analysis of strategies available in order to limit the distorting effects of the board’s relational dimension and to induce enhanced-independence directors to perform their oversight role in a truly independent way.

Robotic foot-in-the-door: Using sequential-request persuasive strategies in human-robot interaction

The current study investigates the effectiveness of sequential-request strategies that robots may employ to persuade humans. Specifically, this study focuses on the foot-in-the-door technique, whereby a small request is made first and is then followed up with a larger, actual target request. Participants played a trivia game with an ostensibly autonomous robot teammate. At the end of the game, the robot asked participants to complete a series of pattern recognition tasks, either by requesting directly or by starting with a small request, then following with a larger request. The results demonstrated a strong foot-in-the-door effect, suggesting a robot's potential to persuade humans using verbal message strategies. The robot's performance or perceived credibility did not influence compliance. This robotic foot-in-the-door effect provides some important practical implications for designers and developers who aim to enhance the persuasive outcomes of human-robot interaction.

Energo- and exergo-technical assessment of ground-source heat pump systems for geothermal energy production from underground mines

ABSTRACTThe objective of this study is to perform the energy and exergy analysis of an integrated ground-source heat pump (GSHP) system, along with technical assessment, for geothermal energy production by deployment of Engineering Equation Solver (EES). The system comprises heat pump cycle and ground heat exchanger for extracting geothermal energy from underground mine water. A simultaneous energy and exergy analysis of the system is brought off. These analyses provided persuasive outcomes due to the use of an economic and green source of energy. The energetic coefficient of performance (COP) of the entire system is 2.33 and the exergy efficiency of the system is 28.6%. The exergetic efficiencies of the compressor, ground heat exchanger, evaporator, expansion valve, condenser and fan are computed to be 38%, 42%, 53%, 55%, 60% and 64%, respectively. In the numerical investigation, different alteration such as changing the temperature and pressure of the condenser show promising potential for further application of GSHPs. The outcomes of this research can be used for developing and designing novel coupled heat and power systems.

The persuasive efficacy of real versus salient hazard scenarios in motivating citizen-level hazard preparedness

Despite projections that both the frequency and magnitude of natural and man-made hazards are expected to grow, U.S. government sponsored research continues to show that American citizens remain unprepared or underprepared for such events. Recently, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control launched a campaign framing citizen-level preparedness in the context of a zombie apocalypse. Using the Heuristic-Systematic model (HSM), this research measured several theoretically relevant cognitive and attitudinal constructs to examine the persuasive efficacy of the zombie message as compared to a similar one addressing a real, salient natural hazard. Results show that the salient threat message was more effective in promoting positive attitudes, cognitive processing, and behavioral intentions to prepare. Those who read about either a hurricane, tornado, or earthquake, were more likely to report more positive preparedness attitudes, increased preparedness knowledge, and increased behavioral intentions and enhanced risk perception. The results support the conclusion that preparedness messages tailored to locally salient threats facilitate systematic processing, and beneficial persuasive outcomes. Practitioners can use these findings to modify existing preparedness campaigns to bolster preparedness related attitudes, cognitions and behavioral intentions. Implications for communication theory and practice are discussed.