April 7-9, 2022 • Hyatt Regency • Lexington, KY
Communication Strategies to Promote Comprehensive Well-being
Communication Strategies to Promote Comprehensive Well-being
Abstract: Civic Engagement as a Health Behavior: Mobilizing Individuals through Civic-oriented Appeals
The effects of emotional appeals in persuasion (e.g., DeSteno et al., 2004; Nabi, 2002; Witte, 1992) are well-defined and widely studied. Additionally, there is ample literature examining the role of culture, specifically cultural characteristics (Jansen & Verstappen, 2014) – collectivist or individualist – and their role in efficacious message design. Yet, there seems to be a gap in understanding appeals as orientations not to macro-level cultural groups – often vaguely defined merely by nationality or ethnicity – but to co-cultural-level identification. When tailoring messages or targeting specific populations, researchers tend to examine trait variables (Winter et al., 2021). However, it may not always be possible to segment audiences by trait to streamline the reach of a message. During a health crisis, there is a greater need for messages that appeal to mass audiences and garner minimal reactance from opponents. The question then becomes, can we develop messages aimed at certain cultural orientations that activate individuals’ schemata to adopt prosocial attitudes and behaviors but serve as non-obtrusive messages for those who would most likely resist the message? During a health crisis when emotion-based appeals may trigger reactance and cognitive appeals may lead to information overload, it is imperative to promote collective participation for societal wellbeing using deeper belief heuristics such as collectivism. It has become increasingly important to ensure that information presented—particularly that which is focused on a call-to-action—is reliable, given the waning trust in sources (Baron & Berinsky, 2019). Heuristics can be useful to determine a course of action during a crisis, and it is suggested to present in-group members as psychological anchors in call-to-action messages. Mental shortcuts may be activated by presenting images that foster greater levels of identification (“this is a member of my group”). Coupled with call-to-action, this may enhance perceived benefits to collective wellbeing that the individual may have an affinity for based on their group orientation. In this way, mask wearing in the images and the call-to-action manifest sociomaterial (shared meaning and tangible artefact) representation of civic engagement. Use of civic engagement among young people and their contributions to improving the conditions of life for their community is well-documented (Adler & Goggin, 2005). In political science and public policy, the term “civic engagement” is closely tied to political participation, but also encompasses “individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern” (APA, 2009). According to Rogers, Goldstein, and Fox (2018), civic engagement behaviors are promoted by socially mobilizing individuals to comply with actions that provide negligible benefit unless performed by masses. In this context, this study seeks to provide insight into the impact of communicative efforts on civic engagement among young adults. We conceptualize civic engagement in terms of public health recommendations such as mask-wearing, given its potential impact on community health outcomes. Via a 2 x 2 between-subjects design of ~1,400 individuals from the U.S. and India, this study examines the relationship between likelihood to accept a call-to-action (implicit/explicit) embedded in civic appeal-based messages and source (ingroup/outgroup).