@article{2020:poggiolini:beneficial,
title = {Beneficial effects of reactance in health-related behavior? The effects of fear appeals on defensive and accepting reactions of smokers with different levels of self-esteem},
year = {2020},
note = {In this study, the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) served as a
theoretical background for explaining the persuasive effects of fear
appeals on smokers. Based on the self-consistency theory, self-esteem
was included as a moderator in this model for understanding in more
detail under which circumstances, a fear appeal leads to accepting
responses or to reactance. An online experiment was conducted,
participating smokers read an article that contained either a neutral
picture or a fear appeal. Including self-esteem in the EPPM revealed
that in contrast to smokers with high self-esteem, smokers with low
self-esteem increased perceived susceptibility and intention to quit,
as well as reactance to a fear appeal. Moreover, reactance could not
be considered a negative reaction to the fear appeal message, because
for individuals with low self-esteem it was positively associated with
the intention to quit. Results suggest that additionally considering
smokers’ self-esteem can contribute to a more accurate prediction of
the persuasive effects of fear appeals. The impact of self-esteem and
reactance in health-related behavior is discussed, as are the
implications for health-related messages and future research.},
journal = {SCM Studies in Communication and Media},
pages = {421--444},
author = {Poggiolini, Claudia},
volume = {9},
number = {3}
}