The Individual/Combined Effects and Order Effects of Fear and Humor in Sun Safety Messages on Social Media

Seo, Youngji (Grady Alumni), and Hye Jin Yoon (forthcoming), "The Individual/Combined Effects and Order Effects of Fear and Humor in Sun Safety Messages on Social Media," Journal of Social Marketing. Abstract: In this study, we seek to provide effective message strategies to communicate sun safety by investigating individual/combined effects and order effects of fear and humor appeals in health messages. Two online experimental studies were conducted to test the proposed hypotheses. Study 1 showed that humor, with or without fear, positively influenced participants’ attitude and behavioral intention toward sun safety behaviors, though an increase in attention to the message. Study 2 varied the presentation order of fear and humor in the health message to test which specific presentation order can enhance persuasion outcomes in conjunction with issue involvement. The results indicated that fear then humor presentation order produced higher attention to the message and more favorable persuasion outcomes for individuals with low levels of issue involvement. Theoretical and empirical implications for strategic communication research are discussed.