Dissertation
Eudaimonic Motivation to Entertainment Media Moderates the Effects of Entertainment Education on Intervention of Prescription Drug Abuse
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2014
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/118375
Abstract
One in eight U.S. college students abuses prescription drugs (American College Health Association, 2010), but they rarely seek professional help for their abuse (Caldeira, Kasperski, Sharma, Pharm, Vincent, & O'Grady et al., 2009). Friends of those who abuse prescription drugs can help by encouraging those who abuse the drugs to seek professional help (Caldeira et al., 2009). This study investigated whether a communication strategy called entertainment education could be effectively used to help college students encourage their friends to seek professional help for prescription drug abuse.
Further, the field of entertainment education has encouraged researchers to explore under what circumstances and through what mechanism entertainment education is effective (Singhal & Rogers, 2002). In response, the study also investigated whether the effect of entertainment education was moderated by an audience characteristic called eudaimonic motivation to entertainment media. Additionally, the study explored whether eudaimonic motivation was involved in a mechanisms through which entertainment education delivered its effects.
The results from an experiment with 96 college students indicated that entertainment education could be effectively used to increase positive attitudes and behavioral intentions toward encouraging friends to seek professional help for prescription drug abuse. The effects were moderated by eudaimonic motivation to entertainment media. Additionally, the results revealed that eudaimonic motivation was involved in a mechanism through which entertainment education delivered its effects.
The findings contribute to the conceptual understanding of entertainment education by suggesting that the effects of entertainment education are conditioned on the eudaimonic motivation among audiences. Additionally, it suggests that the effects of entertainment education are influenced by the perceived educational value of entertainment education, which is influenced by eudaimonic motivation to entertainment media. These findings are also meaningful to the application of entertainment education in health promotion for it helps practitioners select the target audience of entertainment education more efficiently and choose more suitable entertainment media for entertainment education.
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Details
- Title
- Eudaimonic Motivation to Entertainment Media Moderates the Effects of Entertainment Education on Intervention of Prescription Drug Abuse
- Creators
- Ming Lei
- Contributors
- Prabu David (Advisor)Erica W Austin (Committee Member)Celestina Barbosa-Leiker (Committee Member)Stacey JT Hust (Committee Member)Bruce E Pinkleton (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Edward R. Murrow College of Communication
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 119
- Identifiers
- 99900581738101842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation