Each Medium Tells a Different Story: The Effect of Message Channel on Narrative Persuasion

Abstract

Limited attention has been given to the medium of story presentation in this process of narrative persuasion. The present study (N = 243) fills this gap by directly comparing narrative involvement across print and audiovisual versions of the same cervical cancer-related story. The mediation analysis revealed that exposure to an audiovisual narrative was associated with higher levels of cognitive and emotional involvement, than exposure to the exact same narrative in its printed form. Yet, the higher levels of transportation in the audiovisual condition came at a price of enhancing psychological reactance, eliminating the relative advantage of the film narrative.

Keywords: Audiovisual; Cervical Cancer; Experiment; Narrative Persuasion; Print.

Figures

Figure 1

Beta coefficients for the effect of media channel on attitudes toward Pap-tests, as mediated by cognitive involvement, emotional involvement and reactance. Note. *p < .05, **p < .001. The dashed line represents the nonsignificant direct effect of media channel on attitudes toward Pap-tests (b = .13, SE = .23, p = .57, CI [−.33, .60]).