Riva Tukachinsky

10 The Effects of Engagement with Entertainment

A meta-analysis was employed to evaluate the state of research on the persuasion effects of involvement with entertainment media. The study investigates the effect of homophily, empathic identification, parasocial relationships, and transportation with entertainment media on attitudinal, behavioral and knowledge-related outcomes. The study identifies the specific conditions under which the effects vary. Results from the meta-analysis suggest that media involvement is moderately associated (r = .27) with persuasive outcomes. The content of the entertainment message (e.g., health, political), controlling for other study artifacts, significantly moderated the effect of involvement on outcomes. Directions for future research and theory development are suggested.

An Examination of the Relationships Among Uncertainty, Appraisal, and Information-Seeking Behavior Proposed in Uncertainty Management Theory

Uncertainty management theory (UMT; Brashers, 2001, 2007) is rooted in the assumption that, as opposed to being inherently negative, health-related uncertainty is appraised for its meaning. Appraisals influence subsequent behaviors intended to manage uncertainty, such as information seeking. This study explores the connections among uncertainty, appraisal, and information-seeking behavior proposed in UMT. A laboratory study was conducted in which participants (N = 157) were primed to feel and desire more or less uncertainty about skin cancer and were given the opportunity to search for skin cancer information using the World Wide Web. The results show that desired uncertainty level predicted appraisal intensity, and appraisal intensity predicted information-seeking depth—although the latter relationship was in the opposite direction of what was expected.

Experimental Manipulation of Psychological Involvement with Media

The study evaluates the effectiveness of experimental manipulations of transportation, immersion, spatial presence, character identification, and perceived similarity. The meta-analysis reveals that only about half the studies reported significant group differences in the predicted direction. On average, manipulations had a small to medium effect. Certain manipulations were more likely to influence some types of involvement than others. Transportation was impacted by distraction, perspective taking instructions, and meta-narrative information. Manipulation of literary qualities that had a large effect on character identification had no effect on transportation. Stimulus display characteristics had the strongest effect on immersion, whereas manipulations of the media world qualities had a larger effect on presence. Demographic similarity enhanced perceived similarity but not identification. Effect sizes were larger for advertising than for entertainment. Print and videogame stimuli yielded larger effects than videos. Together, these findings identify manipulations that future studies can use to enhance their statistical power.

News Coverage of Immigration: The Influence of Exposure to Linguistic Bias in the News on Consumer's Racial/Ethnic Cognitions

This two-study design applies assumptions rooted in frameworks of linguistic intergroup bias to the context of mass media content and effects. First, a content analysis of U.S. newspaper coverage of U.S.-Mexico immigration issues was conducted. The content analysis demonstrated a tendency to characterize undocumented immigrants in abstract and unfavorable language. The opposite was true of language associated with White immigration opponents. Next, an experiment indicated that exposure to abstract news articles resulted in more unfavorable attitudes about Latinos. However, exposure to concrete articles was associated with greater perceived severity of immigration. Both of these effects were moderated by in-group identification.

Is a Picture Worth a Thousand Words? The Effect of Race-Related Visual and Verbal Exemplars on Attitudes and Support for Social Policies

The present study experimentally assesses the relative influence of visual and verbal exemplars on news readers’ judgments regarding use of emergency room health care services by undocumented immigrants and uninsured U.S. citizens. Assumptions from exemplification theory and theories of information processing guided the investigation. A series of two studies found that pictures and personal stories have comparable effects on perceptions of and attitudes about the issue. Furthermore, conflicting personal stories and pictures embedded in the same news item nullify each others effect.

Information Seeking in Uncertainty Management Theory: Exposure to Information About Medical Uncertainty and Information-Processing Orientation as Predictors of Uncertainty Management Success

Uncertainty management theory outlines the processes through which individuals cope with health-related uncertainty. Information seeking has been frequently documented as an important uncertainty management strategy. The reported study investigates exposure to specific types of medical information during a search, and ones information-processing orientation as predictors of successful uncertainty management (i.e., a reduction in the discrepancy between the level of uncertainty one feels and the level one desires). A lab study was conducted in which participants were primed to feel more or less certain about skin cancer and then were allowed to search the World Wide Web for skin cancer information. Participants’ search behavior was recorded and content analyzed. The results indicate that exposure to two health communication constructs that pervade medical forms of uncertainty (i.e., severity and susceptibility) and information-processing orientation predicted uncertainty management success.

The Psychology of Marathon Television Viewing: Antecedents and Viewer Involvement

This study focuses on the expanding trend of marathon (“binge”) television viewing. It examines the personality antecedents of such media consumption (attachment style, depression, and self-regulation deficiency) as well as the psychological experiences of marathon viewers relative to the narrative (transportation, enjoyment) and its characters (parasocial relationship, identification). In a two-study design, theoretical models of media use and involvement, on one hand, and models of media addiction, on the other hand, are applied to predict the extent of marathon viewing and to compare it with “traditional” viewing. Results advance understanding of enjoyment and involvement theory and support cognitive theories of media addiction. At the same time, the study’s findings reveal that marathon television viewers are active both cognitively and emotionally during and after the media exposure, thus alleviating some concerns about the “problematic” nature of the “binge” viewing phenomenon.

The Effect of Relational and Interactive Aspects of Parasocial Experiences on Attitudes and Message Resistance

This study examines direct and interaction effects of parasocial interactions (PSIs) and relationships (PSRs) on message resistance (reactance and counterarguing) and message-consistent attitudes. PSI involves the give-and-take within the media encounter, whereas PSR entails the relational bonding with the media figure that continues to exist outside the context of any particular media exposure. A 2 (high/low PSI) × 2 (high/low PSR) experiment revealed that PSI (but not PSR) can increase message resistance, particularly when PSR is low. No significant effects of PSR/PSI on attitudes were found. The study suggests that, contrary to past theorization, PSIs may facilitate, rather than reduce, message resistance. Furthermore, the findings highlight the importance of considering PSIs and PSRs as distinct constructs in media effects research.

Narrative Persuasion 2.0: Transportation in Participatory Websites

This research applies narrative persuasion theory to participatory websites. Specifically, the study examines the joint effect of online review structure (narrative/nonnarrative) and source attributes (expert/nonexpert) on attitude strength (attitude certainty and intensity). Results demonstrate that source attributes moderate the relationship between transportation and attitude intensity but not attitude certainty. These findings advance transportation theory by illuminating that readers glean source attributes on participatory websites, and these attributes modify transportation effects. The findings offer implications for participatory websites and design features that may facilitate or hinder readers in their quest to make decisions based on the reviews they read.

Parasocial romantic relationships, romantic beliefs, and relationship outcomes in U.S. adolescents: rehearsing love or setting oneself up to fail?

Abstract The study examines the associations between adolescents’ emotional and physical aspects of parasocial romantic relationships with media figures, idealized romantic beliefs, perceptions of a current dating partner, and relationship satisfaction. A two-study design included concurrent data from 153 adolescents ages 13–17 (55.6% female), and retrospective data from 274 college students ages 18–22 (79.8% female). Across both samples, emotional involvement in a PSRR was related to more idealized romantic beliefs. The intensity of emotional involvement with the media figure during adolescence was associated with lower relationship satisfaction and less favorable perceptions of a current romantic partner in college students. However, there were no significant associations between physical attraction to the media figure and relationship outcomes.