Use of Internet Memes in PSAs: Roles of Perceived Emotion, Involvement with Memes, and Attitudes Toward the Issuing Organization in Perceived PSA Effectiveness

To help solve the diabetes problem in Singapore, we developed humorous and fearful public service announcements (PSAs) based on popular Internet memes and investigated how the emotions derived from PSAs affect Singaporean millennials' perceptions of PSAs' effectiveness. In total, 416 people participated in the study through a Singaporean online survey company. Multivariable linear regression methods with SPSS were used to examine our hypotheses and research questions. According to the results, message manipulation significantly increased participants' perceived emotion (i.e. perceived humor and fear). Moreover, the results showed that perceived humor and fear were positively associated with perceived PSA effectiveness in both models, testing the humor effect and fear effect separately. As per the moderation analysis, the association between the perceived emotion (i.e. humor and fear) and the perceived PSA effectiveness is likely to increase when attitudes toward the organization are less positive. Moreover, the association between perceived fear and perceived PSA effectiveness is likely to increase when participants' involvement with memes is low. Our findings highlight important theoretical and practical implications for future studies investigating the effectiveness of Internet meme-based PSA messages regarding serious health issues.

Advertising appeals effectiveness: a systematic literature review

Positive, negative and coactive appeals are used in advertising. The evidence base indicates mixed results making practitioner guidance on optimal advertising appeals difficult. This study aims to identify the most effective advertising appeals and it seeks to synthesize relevant literature up to August 2019. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses framework a total of 31 studies were identified and analyzed. Emotional appeals, theory utilization, materials, results and quality were examined. Across multiple contexts, results from this review found that positive appeals were more often effective than coactive and negative appeals. Most studies examined fear and humour appeals, reflecting a literature skew towards the two emotional appeals. The Effective Public Health Practice Project framework was applied to assess the quality of the studies and identified that there remains opportunity for improvement in research design of advertising studies. Only one-third of studies utilized theory, signalling the need for more theory testing and application in future research. Scholars should look at increasing methodological strength by drawing more representative samples, establishing strong study designs and valid data collection methods. In the meantime, advertisers are encouraged to employ and test more positive and coactive advertising appeals.

The effects of humor in health promotional messages on a college campus

This study examined how perceived threat moderates the effects of message type (humor vs. non-humor) on attitude and behavior intentions toward a mental health public service announcement (PSA) on a college campus. To investigate the relationships, a between-subject experimental survey was employed for 209 undergraduate students. Findings revealed a significant interaction effect between message type and perceived threat on attitude toward the PSA, visiting intention to a health center, and eWOM intention. Moreover, the moderated mediating role of attitude toward the PSA on visiting intention to a health center and eWOM intention was observed.

The effectiveness of graphic health warnings on tobacco products: a systematic review on perceived harm and quit intentions

BACKGROUND

Examination of the format and framing of the graphic health warnings (GHWs) on tobacco products and their impact on tobacco cessation has received increasing attention. This review focused on systematically identifying and synthesizing evidence of longitudinal studies that evaluate different GHW formats and specifically considered GHW influence on perceived risk of tobacco use and quit intentions.

METHODS

Ten databases were systematically searched for relevant records in December 2017 and again in September 2019. Thirty-five longitudinal studies were identified and analyzed in terms of the formatting of GHWs and the outcomes of perceived risk and quit intentions. Quality assessment of all studies was conducted.

RESULTS

This review found graphics exceeding 50% of packs were the most common ratio for GHWs, and identified an ongoing reliance on negatively framed messages and limited source attribution. Perceived harms and quit intentions were increased by GHWs. However, wear-out effects were observed regardless of GHW format indicating the length of time warnings are present in market warrants ongoing research attention to identify wear out points. Quit intentions and perceived harm were also combined into a cognitive response measure, limiting the evaluation of the effects of each GHW format variables in those cases. In addition, alternative GHW package inserts were found to be a complimentary approach to traditional GHWs.

CONCLUSIONS

This review demonstrated the role of GHWs on increasing quit intentions and perceptions of health risks by evaluating quality-assessed longitudinal research designs. The findings of this study recommend testing alternate GHW formats that communicate quit benefits and objective methodologies to extend beyond self-report.

Social Norms vs. fear Appeals: Mixing Alcohol with Prescription Drugs - a Message Testing Study

The purpose of this study was to compare the perceived effectiveness of a social norms message to a fear appeal message regarding prescription drug use and alcohol interactions among college students. Participants: Participants (n = 378) were college students enrolled at a large public Midwest university. Methods: Researchers used a cross-sectional research design to collect data from undergraduate college students. Messages were randomly assigned to one of two residence halls and were assessed using an electronic survey. Participants anonymously evaluated the messages based on their understanding, interest, creativity, believability, relevance, and usefulness using an online questionnaire. Results: Results from the General Linear Model analysis indicated a significant effect for the gender x message interaction, with females rating the fear appeal message higher than males. Significant effects were also found for the main effects of gender, message type, and Greek status. Conclusion: Overall, students preferred the fear appeal to the social norms message. Participants found the social norms message less believable than the fear appeal and indicated they understood the fear appeal better than the social norms message. However, social norm messages appeared to resonate better with abstainers than with regular alcohol users.