Persuasiveness of HIV/AIDS public service announcements as a function of argument quality, personal relevance, and evidence form

• Jueman Zhang

  New York Institute of Technology , New York Institute of Technology

• T. Makana Chock

  Syracuse University

• Gina Masullo Chen

  The University of Texas at Austin

• Valarie Schweisberger

  TiVo Inc., San José,, California, USA

• Yi Wang

  University of Connecticut , University of Connecticut

We conducted an experiment with a mixed factorial design to examine how HIV/AIDS public service announcements (PSAs) that varied in quality of argument, level of personal relevance, and form of evidence, affected attitude and behavioral intention toward condom use with main and nonmain partners. Participants were 85 heterosexually active young adults at a northeastern university in the United States. Results showed that argument quality influenced attitude toward condom use regardless of partner type, and level of personal relevance influenced attitude toward condom use with main partners but not with nonmain partners. There was no difference in attitude or behavioral intention according to whether the evidence was narrative or statistical. The attitudinal effect of personal relevance was more prominent in narrative than in statistical PSAs.

1. Jueman Zhang, New York Institute of Technology, New York Institute of Technology

   Department of Communication Arts

2. T. Makana Chock, Syracuse University
   S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
3. Gina Masullo Chen, The University of Texas at Austin
   School of Journalism
4. Yi Wang, University of Connecticut, University of Connecticut
   Department of Communication

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