Does it matter if a story character lives or dies?: a message experiment comparing survivor and death narratives.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

In narratives, characters often face threats where they either live (survivor narratives) or die (death narratives). Both outcomes have the potential to persuade, and are frequently utilised in mass communication campaigns, yet more research is needed examining the relative effectiveness and underlying mechanisms of each strategy.

Design

U.S. adults (N = 1010) were randomly assigned to a 2 (survivor, death) × 2 (non-foreshadowed, foreshadowed) × 2 (within-study replication: narrative 1, narrative 2) between-participants experiment with melanoma stories as stimuli.

Main outcome measures

Intentions to engage in sun safe behaviour and skin self-examination behaviour were assessed in the pre- and posttest, and then transformed into change scores.

Resul

SUBMITTER: Lillie HM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8286982 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature