Public service announcements (PSAs) are a vital tool to disseminate information to the general public on critical issues. PSAs are generally provided by non-profit organizations and are used for mass media outlets. The benefit of using PSAs is their ability to efficiently and repeatedly penetrate a large target audience (Bator & Cialdini, 2000). But, however enticing the promise of a great return on investment may be, there are always challenges with measuring a PSAs efficacy. This review attempts to examine the components of PSAs and how different components may increase or decrease its efficacy. Research by Zhao, Strasser, Cappella, Lerman and Fishbein (2011) states that the strength of the argument presented has a significant result on
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They surveyed 386 adolescents and tested four hypothesizes. Two hypothesizes were related to ambivalence, which was defines as the attitude toward marijuana use, and two related to risk, which was characterized as the likelihood of future marijuana use based on personality traits and history. The first two hypothesizes were “Adolescents who feel more ambivalent about marijuana use overall will be more easily persuaded by anti-drug messages than those who feel less ambivalent” and “Adolescents who feel more ambivalent about marijuana use will engage in more systematic processing of anti-drug messages than those who feel less ambivalent” (p.136). The last two hypothesizes tested were “Adolescents at higher risk of marijuana use will engage in more systematic processing of anti-drug messages than those at lower risk” and “Ambivalence and risk will interact to influence adolescents’ processing of anti-drug messages, such that the effect of ambivalence on processing will be more pronounced among adolescents at higher risk of marijuana use than among those at lower risk” (p.136-137). They found that the first hypothesis was true. In cases were the participants were highly ambivalent they were more susceptible to anti-drug messages but that ambivalence had little to no effect on the systematic processing of the message. Risk …show more content…
408) may be more compelling than directly persuasive messages. Moyer-Gus critically reviewed the involvement of storylines and characters in entertainment education programming. She used Social Cognitive Theory and Extended Elaboration Likelihood Model to examine components of entertainment education programing. Such components were identification with characters characterized as the process where the viewer forgot about their own reality and temporarily became the character, taking on taking on said characters perspective, similarity or homophily which refers to amount of similarity the viewer believes exists between themselves and the character and parasocial interaction defined as the “face to face relationship between the spectator and performer” (pg.411). Ultimately Moyer-Gus believed that entertainment education could have a significant effect for prosocial messages especially if the viewer has a high level of parasocial interaction. Entertainment education programs may be able to change perceptions of societal norms if they featured characters that resonate with viewers and contradict existing perceptions. However, she suggested future work needed to be conducted to gain adequate understanding of the persuasive effects of entertainment-education content, specifically empirical testing of the components and their ability
They surveyed 386 adolescents and tested four hypothesizes. Two hypothesizes were related to ambivalence, which was defines as the attitude toward marijuana use, and two related to risk, which was characterized as the likelihood of future marijuana use based on personality traits and history. The first two hypothesizes were “Adolescents who feel more ambivalent about marijuana use overall will be more easily persuaded by anti-drug messages than those who feel less ambivalent” and “Adolescents who feel more ambivalent about marijuana use will engage in more systematic processing of anti-drug messages than those who feel less ambivalent” (p.136). The last two hypothesizes tested were “Adolescents at higher risk of marijuana use will engage in more systematic processing of anti-drug messages than those at lower risk” and “Ambivalence and risk will interact to influence adolescents’ processing of anti-drug messages, such that the effect of ambivalence on processing will be more pronounced among adolescents at higher risk of marijuana use than among those at lower risk” (p.136-137). They found that the first hypothesis was true. In cases were the participants were highly ambivalent they were more susceptible to anti-drug messages but that ambivalence had little to no effect on the systematic processing of the message. Risk …show more content…
408) may be more compelling than directly persuasive messages. Moyer-Gus critically reviewed the involvement of storylines and characters in entertainment education programming. She used Social Cognitive Theory and Extended Elaboration Likelihood Model to examine components of entertainment education programing. Such components were identification with characters characterized as the process where the viewer forgot about their own reality and temporarily became the character, taking on taking on said characters perspective, similarity or homophily which refers to amount of similarity the viewer believes exists between themselves and the character and parasocial interaction defined as the “face to face relationship between the spectator and performer” (pg.411). Ultimately Moyer-Gus believed that entertainment education could have a significant effect for prosocial messages especially if the viewer has a high level of parasocial interaction. Entertainment education programs may be able to change perceptions of societal norms if they featured characters that resonate with viewers and contradict existing perceptions. However, she suggested future work needed to be conducted to gain adequate understanding of the persuasive effects of entertainment-education content, specifically empirical testing of the components and their ability