Thesis
Using narratives to evoke Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder prevention intention: The role of guilt appeal, point of view, and motivation
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
05/2024
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000006609
Abstract
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) has become a public health challenge in the U.S. as an outcome of the high alcohol use rate among the public. To prevent FASD, pregnant women need to quit alcohol. This study explored if guilt appeal serves as a promising strategy in FASD prevention persuasion. An online randomized experiment (N = 323) with a 2 (guilt appeal VS. no guilt appeal) * 2 (first-person POV VS. third-person POV) between-subjects factorial design was conducted. Results showed that overall, guilt appeal messages evoked significantly higher prevention intention than no-guilt appeal messages by evoking higher anticipated guilt. Moreover, an interaction effect between guilt appeal and POV was captured. The superiority of guilt appeal was amplified when the message was written in first-person pronouns and attenuated by third-person pronouns. The role of individual motivation (controlled-motivated VS. autonomous-motivated) was also investigated. Though it was found that controlled-motivated individuals generated higher resistance toward guilt appeal messages, this relationship was not moderated by the guilt narrative’s POV. Moreover, motivation didn’t moderate the interaction effects between guilt appeal and POV on behavioral intention. Theoretical contributions and practical implications were discussed.
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Details
- Title
- Using narratives to evoke Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder prevention intention
- Creators
- Xiaohui Cao
- Contributors
- Porismita Borah (Advisor)Wei Peng (Committee Member)Erica Austin (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Edward R. Murrow College of Communication
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 68
- Identifiers
- 99901125039001842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis