A Content Analysis of Online Messages about Sugar-Sweetened Beverages.

Media campaigns can reduce or promote the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). Brief, US-based English-language online messages were gathered from searchable media platforms, a process that yielded 112 anti-SSB videos and 29 pro-SSB commercials. Using a combination of inductive and deductive methods, a content analysis of those messages was conducted to identify their properties. They were coded for the direction (pro vs. anti), target of the advocacy (e.g., consumption vs. policy), actor demographics (gender, age, and ethnicity), persuasive theme (e.g., excessive sugar, nurturing), and message sensation value. Anti-SSB appeals primarily targeted individual-level consumption behavior. They utilized six persuasive themes and often included more than one theme in a single message. Pro-SSB messages used feel-good themes and utilized only one theme per message. The proportions of adults, adolescents, and children differed by the direction of the advocacy. Black, Hispanic, and Asian actors were under-represented in the anti-SSB sample relative to Whites. Pro-SSB appeals were slightly higher than anti-SSB appeals in message sensation value (p = 0.09). The findings illuminate the message features that characterize the universe of brief anti-SSB appeals available online, highlight messaging disparities, and reveal the absence of certain common, effective persuasive themes.

Talking about Sugar-Sweetened Beverages: Causes, Processes, and Consequences of Campaign-Induced Interpersonal Communication.

Media campaigns may influence audience members directly, via message exposure, or indirectly, via conversations about the campaign. Either process has the potential to produce persuasion or counter-persuasion (i.e., boomerang). A laboratory experiment (N = 297) was conducted in which individuals viewed three anti-sugar-sweetened beverage PSAs under three conditions: Prompt (discussion allowed with instructions to evaluate the effectiveness of the PSAs), no prompt (discussion allowed, but not guided), and discussion not allowed. Conversations between dyad members were coded for quantity of on-topic talk and frequency of cognitive process words (e.g., because, therefore). Results showed persuasion and counter-persuasion via direct and indirect processes. On-topic talk and cognitive process words predicted intentions to reduce beverage consumption among heavy drinkers. The study is among the few to examine conversations provoked by media messages and to demonstrate how an experimental manipulation can guide the quantity and quality of those interactions.

Anti-Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Messages Elicit Reactance: Effects on Attitudes and Policy Preferences.

Messages that convey the dangers associated with consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) may be the most effective means of changing attitudes toward consumption and policy preferences. However, there is a risk that this message type also stimulates reactance, a form of resistance to persuasion. A study (N = 618) using messages from the 2012 New York City anti-SSB campaign and a sample of New York City residents showed just such effects. Reactance was heightened by prior message exposure, conservative political orientation and prior consumption of SSBs. The net message effect was still persuasive overall for attitudes, but could be improved by 17% if reactance were eliminated. In contrast, the net message effect on policy preferences was counterpersuasive, due to processes other than reactance. Anti-SSB threat appeals can change attitudes toward one's own behavior in a more healthful direction, while simultaneously eroding support for more restrictive SSB policies.