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Heliyon Aug 2023Among the most generalised preventive measures against traffic crashes, advertisements and broadcast campaigns in the media have stood out over the last six decades. The...
Among the most generalised preventive measures against traffic crashes, advertisements and broadcast campaigns in the media have stood out over the last six decades. The core aim of this paper is to describe the evolution of the subject matter and typology of road safety-related advertisements used in Spain during 62 years (1960-2021). Thus, this paper assesses their role in reducing road fatalities, while keeping in mind the potential effect of the many other road safety-related preventive measures carried out in the country during this period. The results of this study allow us to target five key time periods, all of them with clear particular communication strategies to be differentiated, using specific types of advertisements and informative, persuasive, emotional, and humorous techniques (among others) to reach the audience. Additionally, some key practical implications and guidelines are provided.
PubMed: 37583762
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18775 -
Stem Cell Reports Aug 2023Misinformation among clinics advertising unproven stem cell interventions (SCIs) is pervasive and has resulted in patient and societal harms. Most bioethics commentaries...
Misinformation among clinics advertising unproven stem cell interventions (SCIs) is pervasive and has resulted in patient and societal harms. Most bioethics commentaries have centered on advancing regulatory approaches to curtail the supply side of the market, but insufficient attention has been paid to considering strategies influencing patient demand. In this article, we offer an ethical justification for the design and deployment of persuasive patient education on unproven SCIs and distinguish it from didactic and manipulative education frames. Persuasive education should aim to correct and inoculate against misinformation about unproven SCIs and instill a sense of caution among patients considering experimental interventions outside of a clinical trial. We outline various communication strategies to effectively correct or inoculate against SCI misinformation. The stem cell community needs to invest in understanding patients' informational sources, attitudes, and beliefs about SCIs to develop and implement evidence-based persuasive education to promote informed decision-making about these therapies.
Topics: Humans; Stem Cells; Communication; Health Education
PubMed: 37557072
DOI: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2023.06.004 -
International Journal of Environmental... Jul 2023The frequent consumption of sugary beverages is associated with many health risks. This study examined how persuasive appeals and graphics were used in different media...
The frequent consumption of sugary beverages is associated with many health risks. This study examined how persuasive appeals and graphics were used in different media campaigns to encourage and discourage sugary beverages and water in the United States (U.S.) The investigators developed a codebook, protocol and systematic process to conduct a qualitative content analysis for 280 media campaigns organized into a typology with six categories. SPSS version 28.0 was used to analyze rational and emotional appeals (i.e., positive, negative, coactive) for campaign slogans, taglines and graphic images (i.e., symbols, colors, audiences) for 60 unique campaigns across the typology. Results showed that positive emotional appeals were used more to promote sugary beverages in corporate advertising and marketing (64.7%) and social responsibility campaigns (68.8%), and less to encourage water in social marketing campaigns (30%). In contrast, public awareness campaigns used negative emotional appeals (48.1%), and advocacy campaigns combined rational (30%) and emotional positive (50%) and negative appeals (30%). Public policy campaigns used rational (82.6%) and positive emotional appeals (73.9%) to motivate support or opposition for sugary beverage tax legislation. Chi-square analyses assessed the relationships between the U.S. media campaign typology categories and graphic elements that revealed three variables with significant associations between the campaign typology and race/ethnicity (χ(103) = 32.445, = 0.039), content (χ(103) = 70.760, < 0.001) and product image (χ(103) = 11.930, = 0.036). Future research should examine how positive persuasive appeals in text and graphics can promote water to reduce sugary beverage health risks.
Topics: United States; Sugars; Water; Beverages; Advertising; Marketing
PubMed: 37510591
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20146359 -
International Journal of Environmental... Jul 2023While CBT is an effective treatment for depression, uptake can be low. This is largely due to attitudinal barriers. Accordingly, the goals of the current investigation... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
While CBT is an effective treatment for depression, uptake can be low. This is largely due to attitudinal barriers. Accordingly, the goals of the current investigation were to (a) tailor and develop persuasive psychoeducational materials to match dominant cultural beliefs about the causes of depression and (b) examine the effectiveness of tailored CBT descriptions in improving CBT perceptions. We examined the believability of CBT mechanisms by invoking commonly endorsed etiological models of depression and investigated whether tailoring CBT descriptions to match etiological beliefs about depression influences perceptions of CBT. Participants were recruited using TurkPrime. In Study 1, participants ( = 425) read a CBT description that was generic or framed to match an etiological model of depression (biological, stress/environmental, or relationship/interpersonal). The participants indicated believability of each model as adopted by CBT. In study 2, the participants ( = 449) selected what they believed was the most important cause of depression. Subsequently, the participants were randomised to receive either a CBT description tailored to their endorsed model or a generic CBT description, and they provided ratings for CBT's acceptability, credibility, and expectancy. In Study 1, the believability of biological CBT mechanisms was low across conditions, but participants reported greater believability when receiving a biological description than when receiving other mechanistic descriptions. Participants who received the stress- and relationship-focused descriptions did not rate the respective models as more believable than those who received a generic description. In study 2, there were no differences in the perceptions of acceptability, credibility and expectancy between participants who received a tailored description and those who received a generic description. Our findings suggest that CBT is believed to be a psychologically appropriate treatment; however, the believability of biological mechanisms is improved by presenting a biology-focused description.
Topics: Humans; Depression; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; Treatment Outcome; Drugs, Generic
PubMed: 37510563
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20146330 -
Behavioral Sciences (Basel, Switzerland) Jul 2023The scholarship on flirting as a persuasive tactic in the workplace indicates that flirting can have negative consequences for task groups. The goal of this study was to...
The scholarship on flirting as a persuasive tactic in the workplace indicates that flirting can have negative consequences for task groups. The goal of this study was to extend the investigation of instrumental flirting by operationalizing this form of flirting as charm and by examining the consequences of charm in decision-making groups for the individual group members. In the current study, participants (60 women, 60 men) made decisions in four-person, mixed sex groups. The results of the study demonstrate that the use of charm was negatively associated with perceptions of group member task competence. Differences in perceptions of charm were also examined.
PubMed: 37504050
DOI: 10.3390/bs13070603 -
Frontiers in Sociology 2023Evidence concerning the proliferation of propaganda on social media has renewed scientific interest in persuasive communication practices, resulting in a thriving yet... (Review)
Review
Evidence concerning the proliferation of propaganda on social media has renewed scientific interest in persuasive communication practices, resulting in a thriving yet quite disconnected scholarship. This fragmentation poses a significant challenge, as the absence of a structured and comprehensive organization of this extensive literature hampers the interpretation of findings, thus jeopardizing the understanding of online propaganda functioning. To address this fragmentation, I propose a systematization approach that involves utilizing Druckman's Generalizing Persuasion Framework as a unified interpretative tool to organize this scholarly work. By means of this approach, it is possible to systematically identify the various strands within the field, detect their respective shortcomings, and formulate new strategies to bridge these research strands and advance our knowledge of how online propaganda operates. I conclude by arguing that these strategies should involve the sociocultural perspectives offered by cognitive and cultural sociology, as these provide important insights and research tools to disentangle and evaluate the role played by supra-individual factors in the production, distribution, consumption, and evaluation of online propaganda.
PubMed: 37497101
DOI: 10.3389/fsoc.2023.1170447 -
Communication & Sport Aug 2023Overweight is one of the major health-related challenges in industrialized countries and mostly preventable through a healthy diet and regular engagement in physical...
A Longitudinal Study on the Effects of Parasocial Relationships and Breakups With Characters of a Health-Related TV Show on Self-Efficacy and Exercise Behavior: The Case of The Biggest Loser.
Overweight is one of the major health-related challenges in industrialized countries and mostly preventable through a healthy diet and regular engagement in physical activity. Health communication practitioners and researchers, therefore, started using the media's persuasive potential by creating entertainment-education (E-E) programs that promote healthy nutrition and exercise. By observing the characters in E-E programs, audience members can learn vicariously and eventually develop personal bonds with them. The current study investigates the effects of parasocial relationships (PSRs) with characters of a health-related E-E show, as well as the impact of parasocial breakups (PSBUs) on health-relevant outcomes. Using the setting of the show The Biggest Loser (TBL), we conducted a quasi-experimental longitudinal field study. Participants ( = 149) watched shortened episodes of the show once a week for 5 weeks. Results showed that PSRs with the reality TV characters did not increase over time and after repeated exposure. Findings furthermore suggest that PSR did not influence self-efficacy perceptions or exercise behavior over time. Parasocial breakup distress intensity was neither related to self-efficacy nor to exercise behavior. Interpretations of these findings and implications for better understanding the effects of PSRs and PSBUs are discussed.
PubMed: 37426744
DOI: 10.1177/21674795211045039 -
Journal of Empirical Research on Human... Oct 2023The social and ethical implications of large-scale biobank donor recruitment campaigns have remained understudied. We use two recent campaigns of the population-based...
The social and ethical implications of large-scale biobank donor recruitment campaigns have remained understudied. We use two recent campaigns of the population-based genetic biobank in Estonia as an example to demonstrate how campaign spokespersons try to persuade potential donors by appealing to (1) gaining self-knowledge, (2) gaining control over one's health, (3) fear of illness, (4) contributing to healthcare, (5) contributing to science, and (6) contributing to one's country. While these campaigns succeeded in recruiting 15 percent of the country's adult population as donors, we explain how the use of some of these appeals may (a) create unrealistic expectations regarding the benefits donors could receive and (b) conceal the risks regarding health data. The study lays a necessary groundwork for future empirical research on the ethics of biobank recruitment campaigns.
Topics: Adult; Humans; Biological Specimen Banks; Persuasive Communication; Fear; Tissue Donors
PubMed: 37337739
DOI: 10.1177/15562646231181028 -
American Journal of Health Promotion :... Sep 2023To examine strategies that help motivate social correction behaviors to combat COVID-19-related health misinformation on social media.
PURPOSE
To examine strategies that help motivate social correction behaviors to combat COVID-19-related health misinformation on social media.
DESIGN
2 (message types: narrative vs statistics) x 2 (social frames: individual vs collective) between-subjects experiment.
SETTING
Qualtrics-based online experiment via Lucid.
SUBJECTS
The final sample consisted of 450 participants ( = 45.31).
MEASURES
Manipulation check, discussion and correction intentions, and need for cognition (NFC).
ANALYSIS
ANCOVA and PROCESS model 3 were used to analyze the data.
RESULTS
Significant interaction effects emerged between message types and social frames on discussion intention, (1, 442) = 5.26, = .022, and correction intention, (1, 442) = 4.85, = .028. Collectively framed narrative correction ( = 3.15, = 3.17) was more effective than individually framed narrative correction ( = 2.73, = 2.77). Individually framed statistical correction ( = 3.10, = 2.95) was more persuasive than collectively framed statistical correction ( = 2.89, = 2.69). The interaction effects were more evident for people low on NFC, = .031.
CONCLUSION
In motivating social correction behaviors, a story is better told with an emphasis on collective interests, and numbers are better presented with personal gains and losses. Future interventions should identify the target audience based on the level of NFC.
Topics: Humans; Middle Aged; Pandemics; COVID-19; Communication; Intention; Cognition; Social Media
PubMed: 37309829
DOI: 10.1177/08901171231184075 -
Health Expectations : An International... Aug 2023Peer-to-peer communication approaches have been previously described as the 'power of personal referral'. Rather than relying on official channels of information,...
OBJECTIVES
Peer-to-peer communication approaches have been previously described as the 'power of personal referral'. Rather than relying on official channels of information, peer-to-peer communication may have a role in supporting changes in understanding and possibly behaviours. However, in emergency or pandemic situations, there is currently limited understanding of whether community members feel comfortable speaking about their vaccine experiences or advocating to others. This study explored the perceptions of COVID-19 vaccinated and unvaccinated Australian adults regarding their preferences and opinions about peer-peer communication and other vaccine communication strategies.
STUDY DESIGN
Qualitative interview research.
METHODS
In-depth interviews were conducted in September 2021 with 41 members of the Australian community. Thirty-three participants self-identified as being vaccinated against COVID-19, while the remainder were not vaccinated at the time or did not intend on receiving a COVID vaccine.
RESULTS
Amongst those who were vaccinated, participants spoke about being willing to promote the vaccine and correct misinformation and felt empowered following their vaccination. They highlighted the importance of peer-to-peer communication and community messaging, expressing the need for both strategies in an immunisation promotional campaign, with a slight emphasis on the persuasive power of communication between family and friends. However, those who were unvaccinated tended to dismiss the role of community messaging, commenting on a desire not to be like one of the many who listened to the advice of others.
CONCLUSION
During emergency situations, governments and other relevant community organisations should consider harnessing peer-to-peer communication amongst motivated individuals as a health communication intervention. However further work is needed to understand the support that this constituent-involving strategy requires.
PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION
Participants were invited to participate through a series of online promotional pathways including emails and social media posts. Those who completed the expression of interest and met the study criteria were contacted and sent the full study participant information documentation. A time for a 30 min semi-structured interview was set and provided with a $50 gift voucher at the conclusion.
Topics: Humans; Adult; COVID-19 Vaccines; COVID-19; Australia; Vaccines; Health Communication
PubMed: 37132297
DOI: 10.1111/hex.13751