Does message placement influence risk perception and affect?
Purpose: A recent body of research in communications suggests that awareness and negative affect concerning a may be separate psychological constructs. These constructs may have independent and combined implications for crisis communication practitioners, in terms of message placement and audience responses. Making affected audiences aware of the nature of a risk, and coupling this awareness with an appropriate degree of negative affect, may be critical in motivating individuals to take action to protect themselves. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the above issues. Design/methodology/approach: In order to explore the best outlets for inducing risk awareness and appropriate levels of negative affect, an experimental study explored the influence of print, video, and combined messages on these factors. The also examined whether or not order of presentation of print and video messages would be relevant. Findings: The findings indicate that the use of organization-produced messages placed in print media may reduce negative affect, while the order of presentation in multimedia approaches may have little effect on either construct. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for those crafting public messages concerning developing crises, while suggesting that organizations must consider the highly arousing nature of televised risk messages when informing and persuading the public. Originality/value: This study moves the literature a step forward by offering an empirical of the value of an organizational message in reducing negative affect. It moves beyond past studies exploring the combined impact of risk awareness and affect by examining their relationship with placement strategy, and does so by measuring actual audience reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]/nCopyright of Journal of Communication Management is the property of Emerald Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Analysis of Moment Structures
, questionaire
Hazard and outrageDemographics
203 participants recruited from undergraduate communication courses at a public university in the upper MidwestParticipants got one of the following four sets to read/watch.participants viewed a two-minute television news package from the Associated Press (AP) regarding the 2011 shooting at Virginia Techparticipants watched the same news feature and were then asked to read a press release concerning the events surrounding the shooting;participants received the press release first, and then watched the news packageparticipants were only asked to read the press release and did not view the televised news packageparticipants were asked to fill out a brief questionnaire, which included the Event Hazard Outrage Scale
brief questionnaire
RQ1. Will message placement in a print publication, televised statement, or combination of the two impact the levels of hazard experienced by audience members?RQ2. In multi-media placement, will the order of presentation between print and television impact hazard?RQ3. Will crisis message placement in a print publication, televised statement, or combination of the two impact the levels of outrage experienced by audience members?RQ4. In multi-media placement, will the order of presentation between print and television impact outrage?
The findings indicate that the use of organization-produced messages placed in print media may reduce negative affect, while the order of presentation in multimedia approaches may have little effect on either construct. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for those crafting public messages concerning developing crises, while suggesting that organizations must consider the highly arousing nature of televised messages when informing and persuading the public.
A recent body of research in communications suggests that awareness and negative affect concerning a may be separate psychological constructs. These constructs may have independent and combined implications for crisis communication practitioners, in terms of message placement and audience responses. Making affected audiences aware of the nature of a risk, and coupling this awareness with an appropriate degree of negative affect, may be critical in motivating individuals to take action to protect themselves.
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