@article{2020:ort:the_effect,
title = {The effectiveness of a positively vs. negatively valenced PSA against sexually transmitted diseases – evidence from an experimental study},
year = {2020},
note = {This study examines the effects of positive compared to negative
appeals in persuasive health communication about sexually transmitted
diseases (STDs). The theoretical background draws on the Extended
Parallel Process Model, which is mainly used to ex- plain the
processing of negative appeals (fear) in these contexts. Participants
(N = 160; Mage  = 22.59, SD = 2.48, 57.4% female; mainly students)
took part in a one-factorial experiment by viewing an advertisement
promoting the use of condoms that was emotionally framed as either
humorous (positive) or threatening (negative) to induce an emotional
experience of joy or fear, respectively. Emotional experiences were
tested as predictors for health behavior-related outcomes by means of
hierarchical regression analyses. Data pro- vides evidence for the
beneficial effect of positive emotional appeals on message judgment
and attitudes towards the proposed behavior. The threatening appeal
reduced perceptions of efficacy and led to an increase in reactance.
These findings provide further evidence for carefully using fear
appeals in persuasive health communication and speak in favor of
integrating positive emotional appeals in these contexts.},
journal = {SCM Studies in Communication and Media},
pages = {341--366},
author = {Ort, Alexander and Fahr, Andreas},
volume = {9},
number = {3}
}