Quantitative evaluation of persuasive appeals using comparative meta-analysis

Message appeals are a key component of communication campaigns and an important source of campaign influence. However, research on them is heavily fragmented and it is difficult to generalize findings from the many diverse field studies. Based on a large and unique data set using quantitative and qualitative meta-analyses, this research provides measures of the relative impact of each type of appeal, as well as the major differences among them, and identifies the moderating variables that lead to a better understanding of each. This investigation is based on persuasion research, which provides a framework for understanding the unique characteristics of these advertising appeals. It highlights empirical gaps in the academic literature and acts as a conceptual guide for our research hypotheses. Results reveal weaker effect sizes than those previously reported in the literature and show important differences among appeals that lead to a “hierarchy of appeals.” Specifically, emotional appeals, led by sex and humor, appear to be more effective than fear and rational appeals. The study finds new theoretical and empirical generalizations; some results are counterintuitive and differ from findings generated from single appeal studies. Findings are of theoretical and practical importance.     

Fear appeal messages affect accessibility of attitudes toward the threat and adaptive behaviors

Fear appeals have long been used in persuasive messages to motivate people to perform adaptive behaviors. This research explored the influence of a fear appeal message concerning breast cancer on attitude accessibility. Messages advocating the efficacy of breast self‐examinations increased the accessibility of attitudes toward the adaptive behavior. Further, the accessibility of participants' attitudes toward the adaptive behavior predicted behavioral intentions to perform breast self‐examinations. Attitudes toward the threat became less accessible after exposure to a high fear‐arousing message, however. Analyses suggest that defensive reactions to the fear‐inducing message mediate the influence of the message on the accessibility of the attitudes toward breast cancer. Implications of these findings for models of fear appeals are discussed.     

Threat appeals and persuasion: Seeking and finding the elusive curvilinear effect

One of the earliest theories of threat appeals, the drive model, predicts that the fear–persuasion relationship is characterized by an inverted U-curve. Evidence of such a curve has proven elusive, probably because, in reality, there are two curvilinear hypotheses, not one. Existing primary studies and meta-analyses have tested the between-persons version of the inverted U-curve and found it wanting. In contrast, this study reports on a within-persons version and finds clear support for it. A peaked curve predicted change in intention to use dental floss, whereas a flatter curve did not. Partitioning the sample on individual differences in the behavioral inhibition system produced curves that did not differ in their ability to predict persuasion. Because no contemporary theory of threat appeals can predict these curvilinear findings, researchers should reconsider the utility of drive theory.     

Recruitment rhetoric in brochures advertising the all volunteer force

Solutions to Army personnel problems are of critical importance. Personnel issues continue to be problematic in a number of areas including: recruit intelligence level, careerist motivation of recruits, and the maintenance of trained, quality careerists in the all volunteer force (AVF). High attrition of skilled personnel is not related only to pay scale; pride in service, as well as intrinsic rewards may also relate to the retention and attraction of career‐motivated soldiers. This study analyzed the inducements offered and demands made of potential volunteers in brochures advertising the AVF. Most of the appeals in such brochures focused on instrumental rewards available to potential recruits, while few appeals featured traditional intrinsic satisfactions of military service as a motive for joining the AVF. The advertising strategy presently used in AVF brochures may explain in part why poor retention of skilled careerists continues to be one of its most severe problems. Recommendations for structuring future appeals are offered based on the findings.     

Ancients and moderns on fear and fear appeals: A comparative analysis

This paper presents a comparative analysis of the ancients and the moderns on fear appeals. The paper is divided into two sections. The first presents comparative definitions of “fear”; and “fear appeal.”; The second section relates six conclusions derived in Higbee's review to contributions by the ancients.     

Intertribal dance and cross cultural communication: Traditional powwows in Ohio

Greater fear arousal is associated with greater engagement with persuasive messages, and negative information and events are more potent than their positive counterparts. Hence loss-framed persuasive appeals, which emphasize the undesirable outcomes of noncompliance with the communicator's recommendations, should elicit greater message processing than do gain-framed appeals, which emphasize the desirable outcomes of compliance. But a meta-analytic review (based on 42 effect sizes, N = 6,378) finds that gain-framed messages engender slightly but significantly greater message engagement than do loss-framed messages. This effect is apparently not a result of whether the appeals refer to obtaining or averting negative (e.g., “skin cancer”) rather than positive (e.g., “attractive skin”) outcomes.     

The effective use of fear appeals in persuasive immunization: An analysis of national immunization intervention messages

This paper reports application of a theoretical persuasive health message framework grounded in literature on fear appeals, message design logic, and health persuasion theory to assess the effectiveness of the materials used most frequently by national immunization organizations in the United States. The severity of the problem of inadequate preschool immunization with its associated target audience and barriers is identified. Analysis revealed that national immunization message designers are creating materials most likely to match what health communication research would recommend along the dimension of response efficacy (i.e., showing parents that attaining immunizations is realistic, available, affordable, safe, and effectively prevents specific diseases). However the materials were least likely to match along the dimension of self‐efficacy (i.e., building parents’ beliefs that they have the ability and motivation to perform preventive immunization behavior for their children). Implications for practitioners in developing more effective immunization fear appeals, and suggestions for future research in the area, are addressed in the Conclusion.     

The influence of fear appeals,message design,and masculinity on men's motivation to perform the testicular self‐exam

Despite the significant threat men face for contracting testicular cancer, most men remain completely unaware of this risk. Moreover, men are not regularly performing the testicular self‐exam (TSE) in order to detect this form of cancer in their bodies. The current study attempted to assess whether fear appeals targeted at men will motivate them to begin regular performance of the TSE. Additionally, the influence of message design and masculinity was also tested. Results indicate messages that follow the direction of Witte's (1992, 1994) Extended Parallel Process Model and promote both high threat and high efficacy are successful in increasing men's intentions to perform the TSE. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Effects of self-affirmation on message persuasiveness: a cross-cultural study of the U.S. and South Korea

Much research on public communication campaigns has shown that the negative appeals (e.g. fear, guilt appeals) commonly used may not be effective for encouraging prosocial behaviors, as they can facilitate defensive processing. Self-affirmation theory suggests that self-affirmation may be a useful strategy for mitigating defensive responses to potentially self-threatening messages. This cross-national study explored the effect of self-affirmation on the persuasiveness of a threat appeal message in the context of climate change. An experiment with a 3 (no affirmation versus message-integrated affirmation versus message-separate affirmation)?×?2 (high self-threatening versus low self-threatening message)?×?2 (U.S. versus Korea) factorial design (N?=?225, U.S.; N?=?255, Korea) was employed to test this postulation. The results suggested that self-affirmation has a positive effect on perceived risk, attitude toward message, and intention to engage in environmentally-friendly behaviors, although this effect is limited to high self-threat conditions. Additionally, a statistically significant interaction between self-affirmation and culture was found for the effect on behavioral intention. Finally, message-integrated affirmation manipulation was found to be as effective as message-separate affirmation manipulation. The implications of these findings for public communication campaigns in terms of promoting prosocial behaviors are discussed.     

The effectiveness of appeals used in Cambodian and Vietnamese magazine ads

In this two-part study, a content analysis of advertisements published in Cambodian and Vietnamese magazines was first conducted to determine the kinds of advertising appeals (functional, individualistic, and collectivistic) that were most frequently employed. The findings indicated that across product types, the Cambodian ads contained more individualistic appeals. The Vietnamese ads, on the other hand, depicted more collectivistic and functional appeals. Next, an experiment was conducted to determine audience response to the use of three appeals in ads that promote four product types (informative, affective, habit-forming, and self-satisfaction). Vietnamese participants responded more positively to functional appeals across product types. They also preferred collectivistic rather than individualistic appeals for ads that promote habit-forming and self-satisfaction products. Cambodian consumers, on the other hand, registered more positive attitudes toward ads with individualistic and functional appeals.     

以人为本，服多创新——图书馆可持续发展之根本

本文试图从人文的视野对图书馆进行一些理性的思考和探讨，分析图书馆事业发展中遇到的问题，呼吁图书馆人扬起图书馆人文主义大旗，倡导“以人为本，服务创新”，真正实现图书馆的社会价值，推动图书馆的可持续发展。     

Indian media in a globalised world

This paper examines the differential effects of green appeals for low involvement and high involvement products. Through a controlled experiment conducted in China, our study demonstrates that for low involvement products, an ad with a green appeal, compared to a similar one without a green appeal, elicits a more favorable consumer attitude toward the ad and the brand. This is true regardless of the level of consumer environmental concern. This study also shows that for high involvement products, there is no interaction effect between green appeals and product involvement. In addition, for consumers with high levels of environmental concern, an ad with a green appeal yields greater purchase intention than a similar one without a green appeal for low involving products. Such an effect is absent for consumers with low levels of environmental concern. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are also discussed.     

Are we a product of our environment? Assessing culturally congruent Green advertising appeals,novelty, and environmental concern in India and the U.S.A.

In response to rising consumption effects on the environment, green advertisers have employed different tactics to advertise their unique products. Limited research has explored the impact of culturally congruent appeals in green advertising. A total of 118 (N) adults participated online to assess the influence of these appeals in a cross-cultural context. Findings indicate that collectivistic appeals worked best among Indian consumers while individualistic appeals were more effective for Americans. Ad novelty and environmental concern were important covariates. Implications for advertisers are discussed.     

论图书馆学的理论基础

探讨图书馆学理论基础的涵义、作用,辨析理论基础与其相关概念的关系,对一些重要的思想学说进行阐发,呼吁加强哲学研究及建立理论基础评价标准。     

Construct comprehensiveness and cognitive complexity as predictors of the number and strategic adaptation of arguments and appeals in a persuasive message

Subjects differing in construct comprehensiveness and cognitive complexity wrote persuasive messages directed at a fictitious target person and gave written justifications for each argument or appeal used in their messages. Messages were scored for number of appeals used and appeal justifications were scored for the degree of strategic adaptation to the message target they reflected. Construct comprehensiveness correlated positively and significantly with level of strategic adaptation; cognitive complexity correlated positively and significantly with number of appeals used and level of strategic adaptation.     

Americanization of Korean political advertising

This study explores televised political ads in the 1992 presidential election in the US and Korea to determine whether Korean political advertising follows American campaign styles—the findings are that it does. More specifically, the results demonstrated few differences between the two groups. However, some deep‐seated Korean cultural values still remain distinct in terms of negative advertising use and the category of ethical appeals. The conclusion is that the dominance of American campaign styles may be present in a global context beyond Western societies.     

“Created this way”: liminality,rhetorical agency,and the transformative power of constraint among gay Christian college students

This study offers liminality as an analytic tool to investigate the discursive strategies of the negotiation of oppositional identities. Interviews with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning Christian college students reveal appeals to essentialism, labeling, and identification. Specific findings include appeals to being “created gay,” the naming of identity labels that support and resist both traditional sexual minority and religious labels, and the deployment of a gay Christian identity as evangelism. This essay explores how disciplinary rhetorics create the conditions for the emergence of rhetorical agency, allowing for a nuanced understanding of the transformative possibilities of minority sexual identity formation.     

THE EFFECTS OF AACR2 ON SERIALS CATALOGUING

When any new cataloguing rules are introduced, it is natural for cataloguers to worry a little about the changes and potential problems that will accompany them. When the entire cataloguing code is revised, definite uneasiness, even fear, set in. During the long years of preparation before the code was published, it was a fear of the unknown. But now that we all have our copies of AACR2 comfortingly in hand,' we can dispel the fear (or face it squarely) by examining the code and noting just how it will affect our work. Serials cataloguers will find numerous small changes from earlier practices, and a few areas where their vague fears of the unknown may be replaced by more substantially grounded fears that there will be some specific difficulties in applying the code.     

The effects of appeal types and candidates' poll rankings in negative political advertising

This paper combines the persuasion knowledge model (PKM) and priming theory to investigate the effects of different appeal types in negative political ads on voters' cognitive responses and candidate responses, and explore the moderating effect of an important candidate-related variable: poll ranking. The results indicate that negative advertising based on rational appeals is more beneficial to candidates who lag in the polls. However, negative ads based on emotional appeals generate better responses from voters when used by poll leaders. These effects are observed regardless of whether the race is between an incumbent and a challenger or two challengers.