Hahm, Jung Min (Grady Ph.D. Alum) & Han, Jeong-Yeob. (2023, March). “The Impact of Social Distance and Message Framing on Young Adults’ Response to the Anti-vaping PSAs on Instagram: The Mediating Role of Psychological Reactance,” paper to be presented to American Academy of Advertising (AAA) Annual Conference, Denver, CO.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was (a) to investigate the effect of perceived social distance from message source and message frame on psychological reactance, attitude toward vaping cessation, and intention to quit vaping and (b) to investigate the mediating role of psychological reactance and attitude toward vaping cessation on intention to quit vaping. Findings show that message frame did not have a direct effect on attitudinal or behavioral intention change but did have a direct effect on the level of psychological reactance. Perceived social distance from the message source directly and indirectly, through psychological reactance and attitude toward vaping cessation, affected intention to quit vaping. Finally, one week after the experiment, attitude toward vaping cessation and intention to quit vaping did not significantly decrease, indicating that the effect of the message frame and perceived social distance from the message source persisted.
Abstract: Successful COVID-19 vaccine promotion for the unvaccinated relies on increasing positive reactions but also reducing negative responses to persuasive messages. The current study examined the relative effects of narrative vs. non-narrative public service announcements (PSAs) promoting COVID-19 vaccination on both positive and negative reactions. We explored the role of empathy and psychological reactance as underlying mechanisms. Results of an experiment involving unvaccinated young adults indicate that the narrative (vs. non-narrative) PSAs led to greater empathy. While no direct effects of message type emerged on psychological reactance or vaccination intention, results of a serial multi-mediator model confirmed that empathy and psychological reactance mediated the effects of message type on vaccination intention, yielding theoretical and practical implications for research and practice in COVID-19 vaccination and health communication.
Abstract: To close existing research gap and combat vaccine hesitancy among young adults, we conduct this study to integrate psychological reactance theory to better understand the effectiveness of three emerging yet understudied emotional appeals (i.e., guilt, shame, and pride) in health risk context. The current research has two goals: (1) to examine how different emotional appeals (guilt vs. shame vs. pride) and user-generated comments toward COVID-19 vaccine messages independently or interactively affect psychological reactance and (2) to understand the mediating role of psychological reactance between emotional appeals and user-generated comments and desired behavioral outcomes. An experimental study with 3 (guilt vs. shame vs. pride) by 2 (positive-valenced comments vs. negative-valenced comments) between-subjects factorial design will be conducted with college students (aged 18-24) at a large public university in the United States. Our findings strengthen the theoretical foundation on how health risk messages with user-generated comments interactively can predict undesired health outcomes. Our study also helps health organizations design more effective messages targeting at young adults by lowering psychological reactance and enhancing persuasive power in motivating COVID-19 vaccination.
