A Model for Customization Reducing Reactance to Persuasive Messages
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The Impact of Source and Message Customization on Reactance: A Model for Customization Reducing Reactance to Persuasive Messages DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Michael D. Hanus, M.A. Graduate Program in Communication The Ohio State University 2016 Dissertation Committee: Jesse Fox, Advisor Brad Bushman Nancy Rhodes Emily Moyer-Gusé Copyrighted by Michael David Hanus 2016 Abstract As consumers are becoming increasingly jaded toward traditional advertising methods, creators of persuasive messages are turning to new ways to make their appeals. Interactive technology allows the means to give users control over the persuasive message, message source, or product. When users are given control, a host of psychological benefits work in tandem to reduce resistance to being persuaded and ultimately increase favorable attitudes towards the advertised product. These studies assess the means by which customizing a persuasive source or message can change attitudes towards an advertised product. Using the theory of interactive media effects (TIME) and the entertainment overcoming resistance model (EORM) as theoretical foundations, an explanatory model, the customization reactance reduction model (CRRM), was created to assess the role of customization in reducing resistance to persuasive appeals. Three studies were conducted to establish the means by which allowing users to customize can improve their attitudes toward a product and to give support for the CRRM. Study 1 allowed users to create the avatar for a salesperson who would give them a persuasive pitch in a virtual environment. These users liked the product in the pitch better than those who could only watch an avatar customization video and had no direct control over the source’s appearance. It was also established that the customization ii process increases intrinsic motivation, which ultimately increase favorable attitudes toward the product. Study 2 expanded on Study 1 by requiring participants to use a pre- selected avatar (zero choices), choose from one of four possible avatars (single choice) or create a new avatar (multiple choices) designed to represent the source of a persuasive message. This test was conducted in a two-dimensional, text-based environment. Study 2 found that although there were no direct effects between customization condition and product as shown in Study 1, increasing customization options led to higher perceptions of similarity and agency, and that those perceptions lead to a reduction in state reactance and counterarguments against the product. This reduction in reactance lead to an increase in favorable product attitudes. Having established the important role of customization in Studies 1 and 2, Study 3 expanded on findings by allowing participants to customize the actual persuasive message, rather than the persuasive source. Study 3 allowed participants to create an advertisement based on goals described in a fictional company briefing, or edit or read an existing advertisement based on these goals. Results indicate that the overall model shows poor model fit. However, many of the hypothesized path relationships were significant. Study 3 demonstrates that both need fulfillment and perceptions of identity affect engagement, which reduces psychological reactance, which ultimately leads to more favorable product attitudes. Further, results demonstrate the important indirect effect of perceived interactivity on product attitudes through need fulfillment, identity perceptions, engagement, and reactance. Findings showed no support for executive functioning resources as a predictor variable in the model. iii The three studies taken together show evidence for the power of customizing a persuasive source or message in reducing psychological reactance to a persuasive attempt. The findings illustrate the important role of perceived interactivity and give support for the use of identity perceptions in the model. These findings have practical relevance for persuasive message creators by suggesting that the use of interactive media can provide a new, alternative way to reduce resistance to persuasion. iv Acknowledgments I could not have done this without the help of some very excellent people. I owe the completion of this dissertation to a helpful and accommodating committee; to an advisor who was always available with great advice, always pushed me to do better, and shaped me into the scholar I am today; to a supportive and loving fiancé; and to an amazing community of fellow graduate students who were there to commiserate, help with just about everything, and made these last six years fun. v Vita June 2006 .......................................................Lexington Catholic High School May 2010 .......................................................B.A. English, Psychology, Miami University May 2012 .......................................................M.A. Communication, The Ohio State University 2010 to present ..............................................Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of Communication, The Ohio State University Publications Hanus, M. D., & Fox, J. (2015). Persuasive avatars: The effects of customizing a virtual s appearance on brand liking and purchase intentions. International ׳salesperson Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 84, 33-40. Cruz, C., Hanus, M. D., & Fox, J. (in press). The need to achieve: Players’ perceptions and uses of extrinsic meta-game reward systems for video game consoles. Computers in Human Behavior. vi Mahood, C., & Hanus, M. D. (2015). Role-playing video games and emotion: How transportation into narrative mediates the relationship between immoral actions and feelings of guilt. Psychology of Popular Media Culture. Hanus, M. D., & Fox J. (2015). Assessing the effects of gamification in the classroom: A longitudinal study on motivation, satisfaction, effort, and grades. Computers & Education, 80, 152-161. Bushman, B. J., DeWall, C. N., Ponds, R. S., & Hanus, M. D. (2014). Low glucose relates to greater aggression in married couples. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111, 6254-6257. Hanus, M. D., & Cruz, C. (in press). Leveling up the classroom: A theoretical approach to education gamification. In H. Gangadharbatla & D. Davis (Eds). The Handbook of Research on Trends in Gamification. IGI Global. Fields of Study Major Field: Communication vii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... v Vita ..................................................................................................................................... vi List of Tables .................................................................................................................... xii List of Figures .................................................................................................................. xiv Chapter 1: Introduction to the Use of New, Interactive Technology in Persuasion .......... 1 Chapter 2: The Theory of Interactive Media Effects (TIME) with Conceptual Considerations................................................................................................................... 11 The Theory of Interactive Media Effects (TIME) ......................................................... 11 Issue 1: Conceptual Overlap of TIME affordances ....................................................... 14 Interactive Media Affordances .................................................................................. 14 Modality, Agency, Interactivity, and Navigability (MAIN) ..................................... 16 Conceptual Overlap and the Four Affordances of TIME .......................................... 19 Finding a New Affordance Framework ..................................................................... 21 Issue 2: TIME and a Focus on Structural Elements ...................................................... 25 viii Concerns with Focus on Perceived Interactivity ....................................................... 31 Issue 3: TIME & Lack of Executive Functioning as Predictor Variable ...................... 32 Engagement ............................................................................................................... 36 Using the TIME as a Foundation for the CRRM .......................................................... 38 The Next Stages of the CRRM: Identity and Need Fulfillment .................................... 39 Identity ....................................................................................................................... 39 Need Fulfillment ........................................................................................................ 41 Chapter 2: Rooting the CRRM within Persuasion ............................................................ 45 Applying the Initial CRRM to Persuasive Messaging .................................................. 45 Psychological Reactance & Resistance to Persuasive Attempts ................................... 46 Executive Functioning & Reactance ......................................................................... 49 Self-Determination Needs & Reactance .................................................................... 51 Identity & Reactance