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Persuasion in Public Communication Campaigns: Towards a More Nuanced Perspective on Message Strategies
Type
doctoral thesis
Date Issued
2021-09-20
Author(s)
Abstract (De)
Public communication campaigns have become one of the most important tools of strategic communication to achieve social change and to change behaviors. However, despite their recognized potential to contribute to a better world, their effectiveness often remains below expectation. By examining message strategies and their effects on individuals, the present dissertation aims for a more nuanced understanding of persuasion in public communication campaigns. This research is guided by two theoretical perspectives: The first theoretical perspective considers the influence of audience characteristics on the effects of persuasive message strategies (Paper 1 & Paper 2). The second theoretical perspective looks at the role of proximal, of the moment responses in the persuasion process (Paper 3). Paper 1 identifies four basic message approaches used in public communication campaigns and delineates what message approach is most effective for target audiences depending on their stage of readiness to change. Paper 2 focuses on one particular target audience: namely, those people who are usually not inclined to support a public communication campaign. The aim is to find out how to persuade these people through variations in visual and verbal message features. The results of an experimental study indicate that less empathic individuals are more supportive of a prosocial advertising campaign when exposed to sad images and anecdotal evidence. Paper 3 explores the interplay between visual and verbal message features. The goal is to better understand what kind of momentary responses explain the persuasive effects of different image-text combinations. A repeated measures experiment identifies perceived interpretational guidance (that is, as an effort to steer recipients toward one interpretation of the message and away from others) as the key explanatory mechanism. Overall, the findings suggest that recipients are particularly responsive to messages that are matched to their motivational orientation and to simple and clear messages.
Language
English
Keywords
Beeinflussung
Visuelle Kommunikation
EDIS-5094
Public Communication Campaigns
Message Strategies
Persuasion
Visual Communication
Verbal Communication
HSG Classification
not classified
HSG Profile Area
None
Publisher
Universität St. Gallen
Publisher place
St.Gallen
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
264371
File(s)