Sequencing the threat and recommendation components of persuasive messages differentially improves the effectiveness of high- and low-distressing imagery in an anti-alcohol message in students

Abstract

<p><b>Objectives.</b> Distressing imagery is often used to improve the persuasiveness of massreach health promotion messages, but its effectiveness may be limited because audiences avoid attending to content. Prior self-affirmation or self-efficacy inductions have been shown to reduce avoidance and improve audience responsiveness to distressing messages, but these are difficult to introduce into a mass-reach context. Reasoning that a behavioural recommendation may have a similar effect, we reversed the traditional threat-behavioural recommendation health promotion message sequence.</p> <p><b>Design.</b> 2 9 2 experimental design: Factor 1, high- and low-distress images; Factor 2, threat-recommendation and recommendation-threat sequences.</p> <p><b>Methods.</b> Ninety-one students were exposed to an identical text message accompanied by high- or low-distress imagery presented in threat-recommendation and recommendation-threat sequences.</p> <p><b>Results.</b> For the high-distress message, greater persuasion was observed for the recommendation-threat than the threat-recommendation sequence. This was partially mediated by participants’ greater self-exposure to the threat component of the message, which we attribute to the effect of sequence in reducing attentional avoidance. For the low-distress message, greater persuasion was observed for the threat-recommendation sequence, which was not mediated by reading time allocated to the threat.</p> <p><b>Conclusions.</b> Tailoring message sequence to suit the degree of distress that message developers wish to induce provides a tool that could improve persuasive messages. These findings provide a first step in this process and discuss further steps needed to consolidate and expand these findings.</p>