Full Length Article
Effectiveness of persuasive frames in advocacy videos

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2021.102060Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Advances understanding of the role of visuals in strategic communication by experimentally testing a strategic communication video, rather than static images.

  • Investigates the influence of emotionally persuasive messages by concurrently testing both fear and humor frames in advocacy videos.

  • Explores behavioral willingness as a dependent variable in the context of environmental communication while testing TPBs sufficiency assumption.

  • Findings indicate significant direct and indirect effects of video-based message frame providing early evidence that the content of the message serves as an important antecedent to some of the theory of planned behavior independent variables.

Abstract

Using a three-condition, between-subjects experimental design (N = 152), this study investigates the persuasive effects of fear and humor in nonprofit advocacy-style videos. Findings indicate both fear and humor positively affect a behavioral willingness to change behaviors. Mediation analysis of the antecedent variables in the theory of planned behavior model also revealed significant indirect effects of each form of appeal through attitudes. Findings advance current conceptual and practical understanding of the persuasive power of nonprofit advocacy-style videos.

Introduction

Multimedia and video content are increasingly being deployed as part of communications campaigns aimed at education, awareness and persuasion. In particular, nonprofit organizations are employing video to advance their missions, highlight programmatic successes and increase awareness among existing and potential nonprofit stakeholder audiences (Waters & Jones, 2011). Although these practitioners have been quick to adopt video-based strategies (Gregory, 2006; Sitter, 2012), the rapid technological advancements leading to the creation of this type of content have outpaced scholarly inquiry into the processes and effects associated with nonprofit-produced advocacy-style videos. This limited area of nonprofit organizational scholarship has explored topics as varied as documentary films in prosocial movements (e.g., Belk, 2011; Watson, 2017) and the use of eye-witness and participatory video approaches for increased civic engagement (e.g., Farrell & Allan, 2015; Khamis, Plush, & Zelaya, 2009). Less commonly explored are the appeals employed as part of video-based strategies used in nonprofit advocacy communication campaigns intended to increase willingness to change behavior. This type of research is important as past scholarship has found that imagery engenders visualization of decision outcomes (Fu, 2012), that visuals are more easily retrieved from memory and have greater cognitive efficacy and attentional efficiency (Paivio & Csapo, 1973), and that video promotes comprehension and interest in learning more (Putortì, Sciara, Larocca, Crippa, & Pantaleo, 2020).

Despite an overall increase in nonprofit public relations scholarship in recent years (Sisco, Pressgrove, & Collins, 2013), the preponderance of public relations research that examines the use of visuals in communication has primarily investigated corporate social responsibility (e.g., Brubaker & Wilson, 2018; Lee & Chung, 2018; Liao & Mak, 2019) or crisis communication (e.g., Fraustino, Lee, Lee, & Ahn, 2018). Thus, in response to recent calls for more research that explores visuals in environmental and nonprofit communication (Pressgrove, Janoske, & Haught, 2018), this study explores the effectiveness of videos using fear, humor and information-only frames in the context of willingness to change behaviors that impact environmental outcomes. These frames were selected to provide the opportunity to explore emotionally driven (fear) and non-emotionally driven (humor and information only) environmental communication messages. As Bortree, Ahern, Smith, and Dou (2013) indicate, it is important to understand the benefits of environmental messages on audiences, to include “motivating their individual actions towards these issues” (p. 492). Thus, to extend understanding of video based nonprofit appeals and fill gaps in the nonprofit public relations literature associated with environmental organizational communication, the authors explore an individual’s willingness to change their behaviors associated with environmental actions employing the theory of planned behavior as the theoretical lens. Findings advance current conceptual and practical understanding of the persuasive power of nonprofit advocacy-style videos.

Section snippets

Literature review

Public relations scholarship on various types of visual tactics and narratives have demonstrated that audiences respond more favorably to communication that includes visuals (e.g., Brubaker & Wilson, 2018; Galloway, 2017; Houts, Doak, Doak, & Loscalzo, 2006; Janoske, 2018; Liu et al., 2017). While video has been studied less often than static visuals, the use of online videos has proven valuable in numerous crisis, health and risk contexts. For instance, website embedded videos have been found

Method

Using an IRB-approved three-condition post-test only, between-subjects experimental design, this study investigated the persuasive effects of varying frames in nonprofit environmental advocacy videos. Given research indicating the high volume of online video viewing among Millennials and Gen Z (Baron, 2019), this experiment was conducted with undergraduates enrolled at a Southeastern university. In recent years, myriad scholars have lauded the importance of investigating the youth market (

Manipulation checks

Analysis of participant scores on the measure of perceived humor indicated significant differences existed among the three video conditions, F (2, 149) = 14.11, p < .001, ω² = .15. Because the effect of the manipulation was being tested against a single reference group, post-hoc analysis was conducted using Dunnett’s t-test (one-tailed). Results of this analysis revealed participants in the humor condition rated the video as the most humorous (M = 5.25, SD = 1.43), followed by participants in

Discussion

This study sought to answer calls for theory development in nonprofit public relations (Sisco et al., 2013), as well as a call for scholarship exploring visuals in nonprofit and environmental communication (Pressgrove et al., 2018). To accomplish these ends, the authors aims were three-fold. First, the authors advance understanding of the role of visuals in public relations by experimentally testing the impact of video rather than static images, thus building on research that has found video is

Limitations & future research

As with any research, this study has its limitations. First, the videos employed in this study were produced on a limited budget. Although the vast majority of content shared online is produced via a phone and by amateurs, it is possible that behavioral willingness could be impacted by the perceived credibility of more professionally designed videos, thus providing a ripe avenue for future research. Further, the videos were distributed as part of a questionnaire via email. It is possible that

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