Background:

The use of advertising to influence social behavior is one element of social marketing campaigns. While it is known that informational appeals are less effective in changing social perceptions and behaviors, the literature presents mixed and inconsistent results of which appeal (i.e. positive negative or both) is more effective in changing social behavior. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of positive, negative and a combination of both appeals on young adults’ drink driving perceptions.

Focus:

This article is related to research and evaluation of the social marketing field.

Research Question:

Which, if any, of positive, negative or combination of both emotional appeals, is most effective in changing young adults’ drink driving attitudes, norms and intentions and how well do intentions explain behavior?

Importance to the Field:

The study builds on, and extends previous research exploring the effectiveness of emotional appeals, contributing to the literature by exploring both emotional appeals along the testing of each appeal separately. The research also validates the TRA’s utility beyond previously explored contexts. At a practical level, the research informs the work of advertising message design. It is recommended that, social marketers consider combined emotional appeals approach when designing messages.

Methods:

Respondents were randomly exposed to one of three emotional appeals (positive, negative or both) and asked to complete a questionnaire about their attitudes, norms and intentions to drink drive before and after exposure. Two analyses were used, Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling to validate the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), and paired sample t-tests to assess change of perceptions over time between the three groups.

Results:

First the study found the TRA to have a strong predictive utility in explaining drink driving intentions. Second, the combination of both positive and negative emotional appeals was found more effective in changing drink driving attitudes, norms and intentions of young adults.

Recommendations for Research or Practice:

The study recommends that, social marketers consider combined emotional appeals approach when designing messages. However, further investigation is required to confirm this recommendation and as in any campaign, pre-testing the advertisements with the target audience is a must.

Limitations:

The key limitations of the study include the use of non-probability sampling, self-reported data, and varied exposure times. Future research should utilize autonomic measures to accurately assess perceptions and emotions as well as unifying the time of exposure for all emotional appeals.

中文翻译：

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正面、负面还是两者兼而有之？评估反酒后驾驶广告中情感诉求的有效性

背景：

使用广告来影响社会行为是社会营销活动的要素之一。虽然众所周知，信息诉求在改变社会观念和行为方面效果较差，但文献显示了混合和不一致的结果，其中诉求（即积极消极或两者兼有）在改变社会行为方面更有效。本研究的目的是调查积极、消极和两者结合对年轻人酒后驾驶看法的有效性。

重点：

本文与社会营销领域的研究和评估有关。

研究问题：

如果有的话，积极、消极或两种情感诉求中的哪一种最有效地改变年轻人的酒后驾驶态度、规范和意图，以及意图如何解释行为？

对现场的重要性：

该研究建立在并扩展了先前探索情感诉求有效性的研究的基础上，通过分别在每个诉求的测试中探索两种情感诉求，为文献做出了贡献。该研究还验证了 TRA 的效用超出了先前探索的背景。在实践层面，这项研究为广告信息设计的工作提供了信息。建议社交营销人员在设计消息时考虑综合情感诉求方法。

方法：

受访者被随机暴露于三种情绪诉求（积极、消极或两者兼而有之）中的一种，并要求他们完成一份关于他们在暴露前后酒驾的态度、规范和意图的问卷。使用了两种分析，偏最小二乘结构方程建模来验证理性行动理论 (TRA)，并使用配对样本 t 检验来评估三组之间随时间推移的感知变化。

结果：

首先，该研究发现 TRA 在解释酒后驾驶意图方面具有很强的预测效用。其次，发现积极和消极情感诉求的结合在改变年轻人酒后驾驶的态度、规范和意图方面更有效。

研究或实践建议：

该研究建议，社会营销人员在设计信息时考虑综合情感诉求方法。但是，需要进一步调查以确认此建议，并且与任何活动一样，必须在目标受众中预先测试广告。

限制：

该研究的主要局限性包括使用非概率抽样、自我报告的数据和不同的暴露时间。未来的研究应该利用自主测量来准确评估感知和情绪，并统一所有情绪诉求的暴露时间。