Need for Cognition, Transportability, and Engagement with Interactive Narratives

Testing the Effect of an Interactive Narrative: The Mediating Role of Transportation and the Moderating Roles of Narrative Ending and Issue Involvement

There has been a growing literature focusing on the persuasive effect of interactive narratives, but the findings are mixed. Furthermore, very few studies have examined how the impact of interactive narratives varies depending on story features and characteristics of the recipients. Informed by the research of interactive narratives and message framing, the current study empirically tests the indirect effect of an interactive narrative on attitude change using a digital anti-indoor tanning game, with transportation as a mediator and narrative ending and issue involvement as two second-stage moderators. Findings suggested a moderated moderated mediation relationship in which the indirect effect of the interactive narrative was the strongest for low-involvement participants when they experienced a loss-framed ending and was the weakest for high-involvement participants when they encountered the same type of ending. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

A Story is Better Told With Collective Interests: An Experimental Examination of Misinformation Correction During the COVID-19 Pandemic

PURPOSE

To examine strategies that help motivate social correction behaviors to combat COVID-19-related health misinformation on social media.

DESIGN

2 (message types: narrative vs statistics) x 2 (social frames: individual vs collective) between-subjects experiment.

SETTING

Qualtrics-based online experiment via Lucid.

SUBJECTS

The final sample consisted of 450 participants (Mage = 45.31).

MEASURES

Manipulation check, discussion and correction intentions, and need for cognition (NFC).

ANALYSIS

ANCOVA and PROCESS model 3 were used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

Significant interaction effects emerged between message types and social frames on discussion intention, F (1, 442) = 5.26, P = .022, and correction intention, F (1, 442) = 4.85, P = .028. Collectively framed narrative correction (Mdiscussion = 3.15, Mcorrection = 3.17) was more effective than individually framed narrative correction (Mdiscussion = 2.73, Mcorrection = 2.77). Individually framed statistical correction (Mdiscussion = 3.10, Mcorrection = 2.95) was more persuasive than collectively framed statistical correction (Mdiscussion = 2.89, Mcorrection = 2.69). The interaction effects were more evident for people low on NFC, P = .031.

CONCLUSION

In motivating social correction behaviors, a story is better told with an emphasis on collective interests, and numbers are better presented with personal gains and losses. Future interventions should identify the target audience based on the level of NFC.