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1 – 10 of 67Youngjee Ko, Hanyoung Kim, Youngji Seo, Jeong-Yeob Han, Hye Jin Yoon, Jongmin Lee and Ja Kyung Seo
Successful social marketing campaign to promote COVID-19 vaccination for the unvaccinated relies on increasing positive reactions but also reducing negative responses to…
Abstract
Purpose
Successful social marketing campaign to promote COVID-19 vaccination for the unvaccinated relies on increasing positive reactions but also reducing negative responses to persuasive messages. This study aims to investigate the relative effects of narrative vs non-narrative public service announcements (PSAs) promoting COVID-19 vaccination on both positive and negative reactions. Using social media as a tool for disseminating marketing campaigns provides a great opportunity to examine the effectiveness of narrative PSAs on vaccination intention, especially among unvaccinated young adults, who were the target audience of the social marketing. This study explores the role of empathy and psychological reactance as underlying mechanisms.
Design/methodology/approach
An experiment involving unvaccinated young adults was conducted with a one-factor, two-condition (message type: narrative vs non-narrative) design.
Findings
Results indicated that the narrative (vs non-narrative) PSAs led to greater empathy. While no direct effects of message type emerged on psychological reactance or vaccination intention, results of a serial multi-mediator model confirmed that empathy and psychological reactance mediated the effects of message type on vaccination intention.
Originality/value
The study extends the understanding of narrative persuasion by examining an underlying mechanism behind narrative persuasion in a COVID-19 PSA. This study provides empirical evidence of the important role of empathy in processing narrative PSAs. Moreover, the current study expands narrative persuasion’s applicability to COVID-19 vaccination intervention messages for unvaccinated young adults, highlighting the effectiveness of narrative persuasion as a social marketing communication tool.
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Jia Ding, Ming Ying and Guangzhi Chu
It is believed that the effectiveness of public service announcements (PSAs) in persuading recipients to engage in the advocated behavior may be influenced by the content of PSAs…
Abstract
Purpose
It is believed that the effectiveness of public service announcements (PSAs) in persuading recipients to engage in the advocated behavior may be influenced by the content of PSAs, the recipient and the context in which the recipient is exposed to the PSA. The purpose of this study is to illustrate the persuasive process of PSAs with respect to these three aspects. Specifically, how the normative appeals used in PSA, affective priming and self-construals of recipients influence the recipients' behavioral intention is investigated.
Design/methodology/approach
Between-subject experiments were conducted to collect data. The proposed hypotheses were verified by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Process macro.
Findings
Results show that participants with sad emotional experiences exhibit significantly higher behavioral intention after exposure to PSA compared to those with joy primed. However, the difference in behavioral intention between participants with guilt and neutral emotional experiences was insignificant. Concerning normative appeals, descriptive norms are more persuasive than injunctive norms. In addition, participants' self-construals moderate the relationship between normative appeals and behavioral intention.
Research limitations/implications
First, this study selected a group of college students as participants and used “Empty Your Plate” campaign as stimulus. Future research should test this mechanism with different samples. Second, this study only tested the effect of print advertising. Future research may examine whether these findings still work with advertisement in different formats. Moreover, future research should investigate the impact of priming guilt that is related to the PSA themes on PSAs' persuasive outcomes. Finally, this study only explored the moderating role of self-construals. Other personal traits were not investigated in current study need to be further explored.
Practical implications
The findings of this study provide a more comprehensive understanding of the factors that influence the effectiveness of PSA and have practical implications for PSA practitioners. Firstly, descriptive norms can be used more frequently to improve the effectiveness of PSAs. Secondly, negative emotion exerts a positive influence on persuasive outcomes, so PSA practitioners can arrange media planning more rationally. Furthermore, they can adapt their normative appeals to the self-construal characteristics of their primary audiences to achieve their communication goals more effectively. This study reveals the effectiveness mechanism of PSA in the Chinese context, and thus meets practical needs.
Social implications
This research will help improve the effectiveness of PSAs to protect the public interest and alleviate social problems by optimizing media planning strategies and increasing the willingness of viewers to change their behavior.
Originality/value
This study enriches theory in PSAs about persuading individuals to engage in prosocial behaviors and provides evidence from China that is rarely seen. In addition, this study contributes to optimizing PSA practice by restoring the actual PSA delivery context in the experimental situation.
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Sharon Lauricella and Kristy-Lynn Pankhurst
The purpose of this paper is to examine how fire services use social media to educate the public about safety and fire prevention.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how fire services use social media to educate the public about safety and fire prevention.
Design/methodology/approach
Grounded theoretical methods were employed in a rigorous qualitative analysis of five significant fire services’ Twitter accounts in Ontario, Canada.
Findings
Seven main themes emerged from the data, with an overarching conclusion that tweets made by fire service organisations and professionals do not focus primarily on fire safety.
Research limitations/implications
This paper addresses a gap in the literature in terms of understanding how social media communicates information about all three lines of defence against fire, with a focus on the first two: public fire safety education, fire safety standards and enforcement and emergency response.
Practical implications
The authors suggest that fire services need to employ a more segmented approach to social media posts with an objective to engage and educate the public.
Originality/value
This paper is the first extensive qualitative analysis to consider the particulars of fire services’ social media presence.
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Irina A. Iles, Anita Atwell Seate and Leah Waks
Previous studies have documented that exposure to stereotypical information about certain social groups leads to unfavorable perceptions and feelings toward that group…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous studies have documented that exposure to stereotypical information about certain social groups leads to unfavorable perceptions and feelings toward that group. Integrating insights from the mental illness stigma and the social identity perspective literatures, the purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of eating disorder public service announcements (ED PSAs) that employ stigma formats through the lenses of the stereotype content model (SCM) and the Behaviors from Intergroup Affect and Stereotypes (BIAS) Map.
Design/methodology/approach
The study followed an experimental control group design. Participants were exposed to either a stigmatizing or a non-stigmatizing PSA.
Findings
Exposure to the stigmatizing PSA resulted in lower perceptions of warmth and competence being attributed to people who have an ED which further predicted greater feelings of contempt toward these individuals. The stigmatizing PSA also directly predicted greater feelings of contempt.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that using stereotypes about EDs in PSAs aimed at preventing such diseases may elicit perceptions of low warmth and competence, further associated with increased feelings of contempt toward people who have an ED in healthy individuals.
Social implications
The stereotyping effects of PSAs may reduce the social and emotional support that people with EDs receive and may exacerbate their emotional distress.
Originality/value
From a theoretical point of view, these results extend the understanding of mental illness stereotypes from an intergroup, SCM and BIAS Map perspective as it applies to EDs. More importantly, this study draws attention to possible unintended consequences of PSAs, a matter that is rarely researched, but that can have severe implications.
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To present the instructional activities of an intervention enacted in two formative experiment studies. The goal of these studies was to improve students’ argumentative writing…
Abstract
Purpose
To present the instructional activities of an intervention enacted in two formative experiment studies. The goal of these studies was to improve students’ argumentative writing, both conventional and digital, multimodal.
Design/methodology/approach
This chapter provides the instructional steps taken by high-school teachers as they integrated multimodal argument projects into their classroom, describing the planning and instructional activities needed to teach students both the elements of argument and the practice of digital, multimodal design.
Findings
The author discusses the practical pedagogical steps and considerations needed to have students create digital, multimodal arguments in the form of infographics and public service announcements. Students were engaged in the creation of these arguments; however, practical considerations are discussed for both task complexity and the merger between digital and conventional writing.
Practical implications
Research suggests that integrating digital tools and multimodality into classrooms may be needed and valued, but practical suggestions for this integration are lacking. This chapter provides the needed pedagogical application of digital tools and multimodality to academic instruction.
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Mark Toncar, Jane S. Reid and Cynthia E. Anderson
The purpose of the paper is to investigate the consequences of using national celebrities, local celebrities and disaster victims as spokespersons in a public service radio…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to investigate the consequences of using national celebrities, local celebrities and disaster victims as spokespersons in a public service radio announcement (PSA) soliciting contributions for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Design/methodology/approach
Subjects were exposed to one of three public service announcements and were then asked to report their reactions to the messages. Differences in the self‐reported reactions of subjects were used to test a series of hypotheses regarding the effectiveness of the three different types of spokespersons.
Findings
The paper finds that the hurricane victim was the most credible and believable spokesperson. The national celebrity, Ashlee Simpson, was the least credible and the least believable. The local celebrity was more credible and believable than the national celebrity, but no more so than the hurricane victim.
Research limitations/implications
In this paper a small student sample was used in an experimental setting involving one set of stimuli and one set of spokespersons. It cannot be said that the results would generalize to other celebrities, non‐celebrities, video formats, or non‐experimental settings.
Practical implications
The paper shows that nonprofit agencies considering using celebrity spokespersons in PSAs should do so with caution. There is no evidence that they increase their effectiveness and, at least in the case of the national celebrity, the use of national celebrities may reduce the effectiveness of the PSA.
Originality/value
The paper applies the concepts developed in the study of celebrity spokespersons in advertising and applies them to PSAs. The effects of celebrity spokespersons in PSAs are not the same as in conventional advertising messages.
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Hong Kong youth's general attitudes toward government publicity were studied and their responses to two public service advertisements promoting green lifestyles were measured. The…
Abstract
Purpose
Hong Kong youth's general attitudes toward government publicity were studied and their responses to two public service advertisements promoting green lifestyles were measured. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Thirty‐four Chinese youths in Hong Kong aged 17 to 22 were questioned about their understanding of and attitudes toward public service advertising in face‐to‐face interviews. Their opinions of two government television ads promoting “green living” were then solicited.
Findings
The interviewees described government publicity in general as credible and practical. Some liked the green living ads for their creativity but others disliked them as boring, unrealistic, irrelevant and uninformative. Recommendations are presented for designing public service campaigns that target youth.
Research limitations/implications
The results were based on a small convenience sample. More than one interviewer participated, so the results were subject to differences in interviewing techniques.
Practical implications
The study developed useful information for those organizing public service ad campaigns, especially campaigns aimed at Chinese youth.
Originality/value
This has been the first study to measure youth's attitudes toward public service ad campaigns in the Hong Kong context.
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Dongjae (Jay) Lim, Jhih-Syuan Lin, Un Chae Chung and Youngjee Ko
This paper aims to investigate the effect of matching social distance and the concrete/abstract visual presentation of the threats of distracted driving in campaign design.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the effect of matching social distance and the concrete/abstract visual presentation of the threats of distracted driving in campaign design.
Design/methodology/approach
This study conducts a series of 2 (social distance frame: close vs distant) × 2 (visual rhetoric style: literal vs metaphorical) online experiments on the perspective of the construal level theory.
Findings
This study identified that a fit between social distance and visual rhetoric style of the threat enhances the effect of a social marketing campaign targeting young adults. A message framed in terms of socially proximal entities shows a favorable impact on young drivers’ threat perception and behavioral intention when the visual rhetoric depicts the threats of texting while driving more concrete. On the other hand, more distant social entities in the message show a better impact when the threats are visualized in metaphor.
Originality/value
This paper enhances the understanding of a threat appeal message design by adding empirical evidence of matching visual rhetoric style and social distance. The findings provide theoretical and practical implications for social marketing campaigns, regarding the strategic tailoring of messages, particularly in public service announcements that discourage texting while driving on young adults.
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Valentina Nicolini, Fabio Cassia and Massimo Bellotto
This study aims to understand the impact of rational and emotional appeals on children’s attitude towards two public service announcements (PSAs) that promoted eating fruits and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to understand the impact of rational and emotional appeals on children’s attitude towards two public service announcements (PSAs) that promoted eating fruits and vegetables.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed-methods study was conducted with children aged 8 to 11. A convergent parallel design was selected that comprised a questionnaire for the quantitative approach and a semi-structured focus group for the qualitative approach.
Findings
The results from the quantitative and qualitative phases converged, showing that both components (i.e. emotional and rational) play a significant role in children’s preference towards an advertisement, but the emotional component appeared to be the preeminent.
Research limitations/implications
Future studies should use other social subjects and children of different age brackets from various countries to test whether they continue to prefer emotional appeals in advertising.
Practical implications
An understanding of which elements children prefer in PSAs will enable advertising campaigns and social marketing strategies with targeted approaches that respect children’s tastes to be planned.
Social implications
A properly designed social advertisement could have important effects on disseminating useful information, changing or preventing unhealthy habits and adopting good practices in children.
Originality/value
Few studies have examined the effectiveness of PSAs, especially those targeted at children. This paper contributes to extend concepts from the commercial field of advertising directed to children to the field of social advertising. To date, this field has received little attention.
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Valentina Nicolini and Fabio Cassia
This study aims to examine the different effects that the fear and humor appeals in anti-smoking advertisements for children have on their affective reactions to the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the different effects that the fear and humor appeals in anti-smoking advertisements for children have on their affective reactions to the advertisements, on their beliefs about smoking and on their behavioral intentions to smoke.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents the findings of a qualitative research study conducted in Italy with children aged from 8 to 11 years.
Findings
The results indicated that the humor appeal is a useful method for conveying a social theme in a pleasant way and creating a likable character that becomes an example for children to imitate; however, it is necessary to employ the fear appeal to make children reflect carefully about the negative consequences of smoking.
Research limitations/implications
This study examined only children's behavioral intentions derived from anti-smoking advertisements, but future research should also examine their real behaviors after a period following repeated viewing of public service announcements about smoking prevention or other social issues.
Practical implications
Understanding how different types of appeals can influence children represents an important result for the prevention of youth smoking and the promotion of healthy lifestyle habits during childhood.
Social implications
Understanding how different types of appeals can influence children represents an important result for the prevention of youth smoking and the promotion of healthy lifestyle habits during childhood.
Originality/value
Few studies have examined the impact of social advertisements on children, and particularly little is known about the effectiveness of fear appeals on this group.
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