CMN 146 Midterm #2

Transtheoretical Model

- Change is gradual, not instant

- Developed to help people quit smoking

- Useful for audience segmentation and targeted communication

- Earlier stages are harder to influence

- People may relapse or move backward between stages

- Campaigns are more effective when messages are stage-specific

Precontemplation stage (Transtheoretical Model)

Not ready; no intention to change.

Contemplation (Transtheoretical Model)

Thinking about change.

Preparation (Transtheoretical Model)

Planning to take action soon.

Action (Transtheoretical Model)

Actively changing behavior.

Maintenance (Transtheoretical Model)

Sustaining the behavior change over time.

Health Belief Model

Explains whether people change their behavior and are responsible for behavior change

Perceived Susceptibility (Health Belief Model)

"Am I at risk?"

Perceived Severity (Health Belief Model)

"How serious is the risk or condition?"

Perceived Benefits (Health Belief Model)

"Will action help me?"

Perceived Barriers (Health Belief Model)

"What's stopping me?"

Cues to Action (Health Belief Model)

Triggers that prompt behavior (ex: symptoms, media)

Self-Efficacy (Health Belief Model)

Confidence in one's ability to take action.

Theory of Planned Behavior

Suggests that in order to change behavior, audience needs to have behavioral intention, what will change intention is attitude

Perceived Norms (Theory of Planned Behavior)

Social pressure to act or not act

Ex: Everyone is going vegetarian, so you feel like doing it too.

Perceived Behavioral Control (Theory of Planned Behavior)

Do you feel the behavior is within your control?

Behavioral Beliefs (Theory of Planned Behavior)

Beliefs about the outcomes of a behavior.

Ex: You think vegetarian diets lack protein, so you're less likely to adopt it.

Normative Beliefs (Theory of Planned Behavior)

What important people in your life think.

Ex: If your family disapproves of vegetarianism, you may not pursue it.

Social Cognitive Theory

Explains behavior as the result of the interaction between personal, behavioral, and environmental factors

Vicarious learning (Social Cognitive Theory)

If you can show someone doing the modeling behavior, that is how people learn

Reciprocal determinism (Social Cognitive Theory)

your external environment, your internal characteristics, and your behavior all play a role in each other and influence each other

Outcome expectancies (Social Cognitive Theory)

can you achieve the outcome you want

Extended Parallel Process Model (Fear Appeals)

2 responses explain how people respond to fear-based messages: danger control and fear control

Danger control

Message accepted, behavior changes

Fear control

Message rejected, wasn't given the tools to change behavior

Threat Appraisal (EPPM)

do we feel vulnerable? Is it an intense threat?

Perceived Severity

How serious is the threat?

Perceived Susceptibility

Could it happen to me?

Efficacy Appraisal (EPPM)

do I feel like I can do what is being asked of me to protect me?

Response Efficacy

Will the recommended action work?

Identify obstacles to behavior change

- Lack of readiness or awareness

- Low perceived risk, severity, or benefit

- High barriers like cost, time, or access

- Negative attitudes or low motivation

- Social pressure or lack of support

- Low self-efficacy - not feeling capable

- Fear without solutions leads to denial, not action

Input Variables (McGuire's Model)

- What you control

- Source

- Message

- Channel

- Receiver

- Intent

Output Variables (McGuire's Model)

- What happens in the audience

- Exposure

- Attention

- Interest/liking

- Comprehension

- Acquisition

- Agreeing

- Memorizing

Identify the three dimensions of source credibility

1. Expertise (ex: doctor speaking on public health)

2. Trustworthiness (ex: brand that discloses both benefits and risks)

3. Dynamism (ex: passionate speaker with strong delivery)

Logos (message appeals)

- logic

- appeal to reason

- data/facts

Pathos (message appeals)

- emotional

- appeal to feelings

- fear appeals

Ethos (message appeals)

- credibility

- appeal to ethics/character

Media Richness Theory

- different communication channels vary in their ability to convey information effectively.

- "Richer" media provide more cues (tone, facial expressions, feedback, personalization) and are better for complex or emotional messages

Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)

Dual processing model of persuasion

Central route (ELM)

- we can persuade people through logic and the substance of our argument

- has more staying power

- audience needs to be interested/motivated

Peripheral route (ELM)

- audience is not really looking at the substance of your argument

- may be uninterested/unmotivated

Parallel processing (ELM)

You don't centrally and peripherally process at the same time, its one or the other

Cialdini's 6 principles of persuasion

1. Liking - use attractive spokespeople or influencers

2. Reciprocity - free samples, small gifts

3. Social proof - testimonials, "everyone is doing it"

4. Consistency - we want to act in line with previous beliefs or actions.

5. Authority - People trust and follow experts or figures of power.

6. Scarcity - "limited time offer"

Entertainment-Education (EE)

- the intentional placement of educational content in the entertainment messages

- Aimed at mass education and creating behavior change through engaging storytelling

Ex: Friends featuring health messages like condom effectiveness

Social Cognitive Theory

referring to the use of cognitive processes in relation to understanding the social world

Vicarious Learning (Social Cognitive Theory)

Audiences learn by observing characters in entertainment media.

Self-Efficacy (Social Cognitive Theory)

If characters succeed through a behavior, the audience believes they can too.

Transportation Theory

- When an audience gets "lost" in a story, they suspend disbelief and become emotionally involved.

- audience is less likely to critically counter the message

- more likely to accept and act on message

Identification

audience feels they are "part" of the character's experience and may adopt their behaviors.

- more likely to accept and act on message

Similarity

When the audience perceives similarities with the character (e.g., demographics, struggles), the impact is stronger.

Parasocial Interaction

- audience forms a one-sided relationship with characters or media personalities, leading to stronger identification

- viewers develop a sense of friendship or relationship with the characters, making the message more influential as they feel personally involved.

Explain why E-E may be more persuasive than traditional campaigns

- Storytelling

- Emotional engagement

- Reduced counter-arguing

- Long-term influence

Transmedia storytelling

- Multiple Media: Story told across different platforms (e.g., TV,

Example: Star Wars uses films, books, comics, and video games to expand the universe.

Explain why "sticky" messages are desirable for a campaign

- They grab attention and stay in the audience's mind.

- Help people understand, remember, and act on your message.

- Increase the chance of word-of-mouth sharing.

- Effective in changing attitudes or behaviors—key goals in campaigns.

- The stickier the message, the more likely it is to drive real results.

Explain, with examples, 6 principles of sticky messages

Simple

Unexpected

Concrete

Credible

Emotional

Stories

What does "Simple" mean in the SUCCESs model for sticky messages?

- Prioritize important info

- Inverted pyramid

- Rule of 3 (group key points into 3s for easy recall).

Ex: Southwest Airlines focused on low-cost travel

What does "Unexpected" mean in the SUCCESs model for sticky messages?

- Get attention through surprise - it should make sense and add emotional or layered meaning (ex: Subaru ad where a little girl appears to drive)

- Keep attention using the Gap Theory of Curiosity - create mystery or question (ex: Cliffhangers in shows)

What does "Concrete" mean in the SUCCESs model for sticky messages?

- Sensory, specific people doing specific things

- Create relatable characters (audience personas) to make messages feel real.

- "Memory is Velcro" - the more specific the detail, the more it sticks.

What does "Credible" mean in the SUCCESs model for sticky messages?

- Use credible sources (expertise, trust, energy).

- Build internal credibility—does it make sense to the audience?

- Use vivid details, statistics, and examples

What does "Emotional" mean in the SUCCESs model for sticky messages?

- Power of association - tie message to things your audience cares about (ex: Link your cause to environmental concerns if your audience values sustainability)

- Appeal to self-interest using Maslow's hierarchy (basic needs first).

- Consider group identity - what are "people like me" doing? (ex: if most students have a credit card, others will likely want one too)

What does "Stories" mean in the SUCCESs model for sticky messages?

- Stories are part entertainment, part lesson.

- Provide simulation - show how to act.

- Provide inspiration - motivate people to act.

- Common in EE strategies.

"Magic Bullet" Theory / Hypodermic Needle Perspective

- Assumes media has direct, powerful influence on audiences

- Audiences are passive, gullible, and easily persuaded

- Media seen as dominant force

Limited Effects Model

- Media has limited influence on audiences

- People select media that aligns with their existing beliefs

- Media more likely to reinforce attitudes than change them

- Emphasizes selective exposure and selective processing

Two-Step Flow Theory

- Media → One set of opinion leaders → General public

- Linear flow

- Opinion leaders are main gatekeepers

Multi-step Flow Theory

- Media → Multiple opinion leaders → Influence each other → Public

- More complex & dynamic flow

- Influence moves in several directions

- Recognizes interconnected networks and repeated exposure before a message "tips" into the public

Opinion leaders

- Serve as catalysts for the information of public opinion

- Highly interested in a subject or issue

- Better informed on than an average

- Avid consumers of mass media

- Early adopters of new ideas

- Good organizers who can get other people to take action

Formal opinion leader

People who have position or office

Ex: student gov, faculty members, staff with positions

Informal opinion leader

No position but they're popular

Ex: celebs, influencers

Uses and Gratifications Theory

- People choose media to satisfy personal needs or desires

- Audience seen as active consumers of media, not passive

- Social and psychological factors guide, filter, or mediate communication behavior

- The media compete with other forms of communication for selection, attention and use

- Audience members generally have more influence than media

Motivations for media use

- Diversion

- Personal relationships

- Personal identity

- Surveillance

Framing

- Communicating an idea in such a way that the audience is influenced by the way it is expressed

- Not what you say, but how you say it

Ex: illegal alien vs. illegal immigrant

Agenda setting

- news media set the political agenda by the stories they cover and the order they cover them in

- Mass media may not be effective in telling us what to think, but they are successful in telling us what to think about

Priming

- effects of media content on audience's later behavior or judgments (relative to that behavior)

- Exposure to media content can influence users' later thoughts, behaviors, and judgements

- Effect is influenced by intensity and recency

- Effects fade with time

Explain how digital media have changed and how activists organize

- Enable faster, wider information sharing and collaborative production (e.g., Wikipedia)

- Lower barriers to entry—anyone can participate and spread messages

- Require ongoing engagement—"set it and forget it" no longer works

- Allow decentralized, peer-to-peer influence rather than top-down control

- Enable real-time feedback, dialogue, and community-building

- BUT also risk slacktivism

Mass Media

- Wide reach

- Controlled

- Message dissemination

- Hands-off

- Expensive

Social Media

- Wide and niche reach

- Uncontrolled

- Participation

- Hands-on

- No-cost

Challenges of social media

- Lack of message control

- Message distortion

- Blurred boundaries

- Diminishing role of the "authority" and increasing influence of peers

- Time / expertise needed

Opportunities of social media

Affordable, engaging, narrowcasting, community building, peer influence

Explain the goals of a community mobilization (CM) program

- Build partnerships with local agencies and organizations

- Find solutions that build on a community's strengths

- Facilitate partnerships with other segments of society

- Mobilize community members to act

- Achieve community-wide change

Explain the overall strategy of a CM program

Media

F2F educational opportunities

Workplace involvement

Classes

Community events

Identify the stages of a CM program

1. Conduct community analysis

2. Design and initiative campaign

3. Implement campaign

4. Program maintenance

5. Reassessment and evaluation

Understand the goals of a media advocacy campaign and how they differ from other campaign strategies

- Influence public policy and social norms through strategic use of media

- Shape public agenda by framing issues for policymakers and the public

- Create pressure for legislative or systemic change

- Focus more on policy change than individual behavior change

- Use media as a tool to influence power structures, not just awareness or education

- Target decision-makers and the media, not just the general public

Strategies used in media advocacy campaigns

- Broad plans to achieve campaign goals (e.g., influencing policy change, shaping public opinion)

- Identify target audiences like policymakers, media, or the public

- Define key messages to frame the issue effectively

Tactics used in media advocacy campaigns

- Specific actions or tools to execute strategies (e.g., press releases, social media campaigns, opinion editorials, protests)

- Use earned media, interviews, events, or partnerships to amplify messages

- Tailor tactics to engage media and decision-makers

Explain three functions of summative campaign research

1. Improves the likelihood of campaign success

2. Helps planners understand why a campaign worked or didn't work

3. Provides info to planners in the future

Basic logic model

Inputs → outputs → outcomes → impacts

How do all the parts of the campaign fit together?

Inputs (Basic Logic Model)

What we invest, all the resources put into the campaign

Ex: Expertise, Staff, Time, Money, Research Base, Materials

Outputs (Basic Logic Model)

- Activities of the campaign, what will your campaign do

- Flaw: doesn't measure the effect of these things on your audience

Ex: events, workshops, meetings, trainings, mailers

Outcomes (Basic Logic Model)

- Things your campaign is creating and putting out there

- Short term results: learning, awareness, knowledge

- Medium term results: action, behavior, practice (ex: hand-washing in COVID)

Impact (Basic Logic Model)

Broader, societal impact on issue

Ex: hand-washing/masking in COVID reduced the number of COVID cases

Explain the notion of backwards-design

- SMART objectives represent outcomes or impact

- What needs to happen in the medium term for these objectives to be met?

- What needs to happen in the short term?

- What activities must be conducted, and with what audience to achieve short-term outcomes

- What resources are needed to conduct these activities

Identify potential survey study designs

- Data collection methods

- Sampling

Statistical tests

- How large does your sample have to be detect significance

- Levels of analysis

- Demonstrating impact

Validity

is there another interpretation for the data, provides alternative explanations for what happened?

Potential threats to validity

- History: occurrence of uncontrollable events during the study

- Maturation: aging of subjects

- Testing: pre-test influences post-test

- Selectivity: bias due to selection

- Sensitization: interaction b/t pretest and intervention

From social cognitive theory, which variable refer to the notion that individual characteristics, external environment and behavior all mutually influence each other?

Reciprocal determinism

According to the Extended Process Model, the ideal response to a fear appeal is danger control

True

The Mackert et. al (2014) study on promoting naps among college students was informed by two theories: Theory of Planned Behavior and Transtheoretical Model

False

ELM & Health Belief Model

You're not that interested in politics, but you were watching your favorite reporter discuss how effective a particular political candidate has been. The reporter had a top 10 list of reason why this candidate would make an excellent nominee for office. You were persuaded by the quantity of her arguments and the fact that the reporter is so smart.

According to Elaboration Likelihood Model, through which route were you persuaded?

Peripheral

In media advocacy campaigns, what is an access strategy primarily concerned with?

Engaging with the media

Shifting the discussion from "assisted suicide" to "medical aid in dying" is an example of the power of ____ in media advocacy campaigns

Framing