The effect of Type 2 diabetes risk communication and risk perception on health behaviour intentions in a substance dependence population

Background: The risk and burden of diabetes is greatest among vulnerable populations such as people living with mental health and substance use disorders. However, there is a paucity of research examining Type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk in this population. There is a wealth of research in health risk communication which suggest the effectiveness of message framing and tailored risk feedback; however, little is known about their potential utility when used concurrently for T2D prevention in people with substance use problems. Methods: Study 1 was a systematic review, comprised of 5 empirical studies, that examined health risk communication in people who experience substance use problems. Study 2 was an online randomised controlled trial which evaluated the effects of message framing and tailored risk feedback on T2D risk perception and behavioural intentions, and if these effects were varied by level of alcohol consumption. Three hundred and forty-seven online participants were stratified by levels of alcohol consumption and subsequently randomised to receive T2D information, risk estimates, and lifestyle recommendations that were subjected to 4 different message framing and tailoring manipulations. Study 3 involved conducting a secondary data analysis, using both archival data from cross-sectional study and data from Study 4, to examine the risk and rates of T2D among people with alcohol and/or other drug (AOD) problems. A 2x2 ANCOVA, with gender and age as covariates, was used to assess if there was a significant interaction effect between alcohol consumption and mental health disorder (MHD) on T2D risk. Study 4 assessed the effectiveness of an online T2D risk communication intervention (T2D-RC) in a sample of 459 participants with AOD problems. Participants were randomized to either the intervention or a control (COVID-19 health message) group. The T2D-RC was developed based on findings from Study 1 and 2 and it incorporated the Australian Type 2 Diabetes Risk Assessment Tool (AUSDRISK). Measures of T2D risk perception and behavioural intentions for physical activity and diet were assessed pre- and post-intervention for both Study 2 and 4. Results: Study 1 found that message framing, specifically gain-framed messages, had a positive impact on smoking cessation. However, the limited number of studies included were characterised by heterogeneous methods and measures. Study 2 did not find any significant differences in T2D risk perceptions or behavioural intentions by study arm. However, T2D risk perception scores and accuracies, and behavioural intentions significantly increased post-intervention across all conditions. In Study 3, the secondary data analysis of pooled participants with AOD problems indicated not only a high proportion of participants diagnosed with diabetes, but also an increased risk of T2D amongst the remaining participants despite their average age being lower than the typical age of T2D onset. After accounting for gender and age, there was no significant interaction effect but there were significant main effects of alcohol consumption and MHD on T2D risk. In Study 4, participants who received the T2D-RC reported a significantly greater increase in T2D risk perception. Additionally, there was a significantly larger proportion of participants who improved their T2D risk perception accuracy compared to the control group. Conclusion: This thesis highlights that people with AOD problems are an increased risk of developing T2D and that these individuals tend to not have an accurate perception of their risk. Health risk communication may be a viable intervention that can have positive implications on risk perception and behavioural intentions. Future research would benefit from a mixed methods approach and a greater focus on the subtle effects of message framing

We\u27re all friends here: Examining Transparasocial Interaction on Twitch and its Effects on Strategic Communications

In this paper, the author examines advertising on the video game live streaming platform, Twitch. Using a 2 (presence/absence of Transparasocial Interaction) x 2 (presence/absence of self-disclosure by the streamer), this study seeks to gain a better understanding of community perceptions of influencers, and advertising on the Twitch platform, a subject that is only recently becoming a topic of interest for advertising scholars

The Effects of Availability Heuristic Cues on Restaurant Purchase Decisions

This dissertation applied the theory of judgment heuristics to investigate the influence of availability cues on restaurant purchase decisions. Two studies were conducted in which respondents made food choice decisions. In the first study, respondents evaluated menu items in a 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 experimental design that manipulated scarcity cues, bundling, and price. In the second study, respondents evaluated restaurant appeal and menu choice in a 3 × 2 × 2 experiment that manipulated information vividness, message frequency, and price. The results of Study 1 suggest that respondents’ evaluations and purchase intentions can be influenced by scarcity messages communicated by the server but not by scarcity cue that appear on the menu. In the second study, respondents formed favorable expectations of the restaurant and the target menu item when they were exposed to dramatic reviews with storylines. The results of Study 2 demonstrate that the more frequent an item is mentioned in the reviews, the more likely the item is to be purchased. The lack of support for price bundling suggests that in low-price low-risk conditions, it can easily be overpowered by availability cues. The findings of this dissertation provide insights into underlying psychological cues that affect purchase decisions in today’s purchasing environment

MESSAGE EFFECTS AND THE COMMUNICATION THEORY OF IDENTITY: DOES MAKING MESSAGE RECIPIENTS MINDFUL OF IDENTITY GAPS INFLUENCE THEIR HEALTH BEHAVIOR DECISIONS?

Situated within the context of college students’ excessive drinking behaviors, the current study drew from dissonance theory, self-consistency theory, and hypocrisy induction methodology to evaluate the utility of the Communication Theory of Identity within persuasive health message design. Specifically, it examined whether hypocrisy induction manipulations that focused participants on salient identity layers made them mindful of corresponding identity gaps, which in turn caused them to experience cognitive dissonance that they sought to resolve by reporting intentions to change their excessive drinking behavior. Participants (N = 279) completed an online experiment in which they were randomly assigned either to one of four treatment conditions (i.e., traditional hypocrisy, personal-enacted identity gap hypocrisy, relational-enacted identity gap hypocrisy, communal-enacted identity gap hypocrisy) or one control condition. When compared to those in the control condition, participants in the personal-enacted and communal-enacted identity gap hypocrisy conditions reported significantly lower future intentions to engage in excessive drinking. There were no significant differences across conditions, however, in terms of identity gap magnitude or level of cognitive dissonance. These findings are noteworthy, considering that identity gap magnitude was significantly positively related to levels of cognitive dissonance and significantly negatively related to future intentions to engage in excessive drinking. Analyses also explored potential moderating variables in this process, finding that issue involvement moderated the relationship between level of cognitive dissonance and future intentions to engage in excessive drinking, such that intentions were lowest when cognitive dissonance was high and issue involvement was low. Finally, analyses indicated that there was a significant association between experimental condition and level of state reactance, such that participants in the personal-enacted identity gap hypocrisy condition experienced significantly lower levels of state reactance than participants in other conditions. Moreover, there was a significant positive relationship between identity gap magnitude and level of state reactance. The theoretical and contextual implications of these results are discussed. Namely, these results affirm that making message recipients mindful of identity gaps can be a viable persuasive health message design strategy; however, they also suggest that more research is needed to understand how best to make message recipients mindful of identity gaps and how best to integrate identity gaps into persuasive health messages

Valuing value: Value-in-use and marketing performance

A unified subject matter defines every scientific discipline. Marketing then, like other disciplines, consists of a finite set of core concepts. This dissertation focuses specifically on the core concept of value as being among the most central of concepts and more specifically elaborates theoretically on the concept of value-in-use. Historically, marketing\u27s received view suggests customer satisfaction is a key contributor to firm success. However, the extant literature reports a weak relation between customer satisfaction and a firm\u27s organizational performance (Woodruff, 1997). This dissertation makes a theoretical case for value as among the most telling metrics in all of marketing and considers the extent to which value drives marketing and business performance. The recent paradigm shift toward a service-dominant logic (SDL) suggests that the underlying premise of any exchange relationship is for parties to perform activities for each other that create value (Vargo and Lusch 2004). A strong conceptual background of value-in-use exists in the SDL literature, but to date the concept remains unintegrated into the larger theoretical net. The advancement of SDL requires a theoretically sound and well-delineated value-in-use construct. This research builds on previous theory on value and its role in capturing marketing outcomes for consumers and businesses (Zeithaml 1988; Babin, Darden and Griffin 1994). A multipronged research approach is taken. Interpretive research provides in-depth descriptions of value expressions and the meanings of experience. A descriptive research approach in the form of a broad-based consumer survey allows the development and testing of a measurement theory necessary to examine research questions related to value, satisfaction and performance. The survey employs a representative sample of US consumers obtained through a worldwide online-panel firm. A graphic overview of the potential conceptual framework is as follows:* The study offers a three-fold contribution. First, a thorough development of the evolutionary concept of value-in-use is undertaken. A shift in focus from value in exchange to value-in-use provides an important strategic development to the marketing discipline. The majority of value studies conducted through marketing history assess consumers\u27 value perceptions before consumption takes place and are therefore more representative of value expectation than of value itself. Second, an assessment of the relationship between value, satisfaction, and quality with business performance measures will enable managers to employ the best marketing customer metric with the performance measures that are most valuable to the firm. Overcoming the customer satisfaction trap with more appropriate concepts that actually relate to firm outcome measures will be a contribution to both the academic and practitioner literature (Dahlsten 2003). In other words, firms that pursue customer satisfaction at the expense of value are caught in a trap if value is more critical in shaping performance than is satisfaction. Third, this dissertation matches select firms in two industries consistent with the American Satisfaction Index. The two industries are airlines and retailers. Department stores, discount stores, and supermarkets comprise the retailers. The present samples will allow assessment of the value measure across different contexts to provide further evidence of the impact of value. Key results point to a correlation between hedonic value, overall value, and performance metrics including ROA and EPS in the retail context. Contextual differences emerged with respect to retailers\u27 success with utilitarian value and airlines\u27 success with hedonic value. The use of an overall value question, in conjunction with satisfaction, directly relating to outcome variables including loyalty and performance variables met with mixed success

Is Advertising to Teenagers Ethical? Media’s Influence on Body Image and Behavior

An examination of the ethics involved in advertising to adolescents. Specifically, a content analysis and survey research was conducted dealing with how television commercials and magazine advertisements targeted towards males ultimately affect female body image and behavior. The content analysis consisted of Axe Body Spray advertisements, as well as Sports Illustrated: Swimsuit Edition. Findings of survey research include increased body monitoring as a result of exposure to advertisements. Implications and future opportunities are discussed

Humor and Social Support: An Investigation of the Influence of Humor on Evaluations of Supportive Messages

The purpose of this thesis study was to discover whether person-centered supportive messages utilizing affiliative humor were more likely to create positive outcomes than supportive messages that did not utilize these strategies. Receiving high quality social support when distressed has been associated with numerous positive outcomes. Research explaining different factors which influence supportive message outcomes can aid both laypersons and practitioners attempting to provide support to distressed individuals. To this end, this examination sought to explore whether the addition of affiliative humor can enhance the effectiveness of supportive messages. Three hypotheses were tested using a 2(scenario: academic, housing) x 2(person-centeredness: low, high) x 2(humor: included, not included) experimental survey design. Participants were first randomly assigned to imagine themselves in one of two distressing scenarios (academic or housing-related). They were then asked to read a message that ostensibly would come from a friend in reaction to the distressing scenario. Participants were then randomly assigned to a message that varied by degree of person-centeredness (low, high) and the inclusion of humor (not included, included). Participants were asked to evaluate the message’s perceived helpfulness, supportiveness and sensitivity. Results showed that highly person-centered messages were perceived as more helpful, supportive, and sensitive; however, humor did not enhance these perceptions. To the contrary, in some conditions, humorous messages were rated significantly less helpful and sensitive than their non-humorous counterparts. Further analysis revealed no interactions between person-centeredness and affiliative humor. Implications of the study and directions for future research are discussed

Make a Name for Yourself: Recognizability, Prosociality, and Identity Expression in Online Pseudonymous Contexts

Given the increasing prevalence of social media in people’s social lives, understanding the dynamics of interpersonal interaction online is timely and important, both theoretically and practically. One key element in these dynamics is the way people identify themselves online. Identity can influence how people see themselves and others, as well as how people treat others. One way through which people create or claim an identity online is through the use of a pseudonym: a self-designed identifier that is used in place of one’s actual name. My dissertation investigates how Internet users come to value persistent online identifications, such as pseudonyms, as extensions of self and how this process shapes online behavior. The specific goals of this dissertation are to investigate how (a) pseudonymous settings online influence prosociality relative to anonymous settings, and (b) different features of pseudonyms, such as their persistence and level of expressiveness, can change people’s expectations for their own and others’ identifiability and thereby influence behavior and attitudes. This dissertation also studies how personality factors, social context, and group identity can serve to moderate the effects of pseudonymity on behavior and attitudes. The dissertation pursues these goals across six chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the key concepts and objectives in the dissertation. Chapter 2, which contrasts pseudonymity and anonymity, reviews the existing literature and outlines theoretical considerations that inform subsequent study designs. Chapter 2 explains how pseudonymity may make personal and group identities salient, and how personal and situational factors may interact with pseudonymity to influence behavior. Chapter 3 investigates in two studies how prosocial behavior online may be influenced through the use of personal identifiers. These two studies distinguish the effects of anonymity from pseudonymity (Study 1) between temporary and persistent pseudonymity (Studies 1 and 2) in online behavior. The results of Study 1 and Study 2 suggest that the effects of having a pseudonym, compared to being anonymous, or having a persistent versus temporary pseudonym, influence prosocial behavior primarily by affecting perceptions of recognizability. Chapter 4 presents an experiment (Study 3) that investigated how qualities of persistent pseudonyms can affect users’ psychological states and ultimately their online social behavior. It explored the effect of a pseudonym that contained “unique” personally-relevant information or one that was personally relevant but also is designed to be expressive of oneself, compared to a control condition in which participants had a persistent pseudonym that was designed to individuate them (a pseudonym that distorts personal information in an unrecognizable fashion), on online social experiences and behavior. Although, as expected, participants valued unique and expressive pseudonyms more than information pseudonyms and found expressive pseudonyms as being more personally reflective, inconsistent with expectations, unique and expressive pseudonyms did not make participants feel more recognizable to others than did information pseudonyms. Chapter 4 describes Studies 4 and 5 that further considered prosociality and group dynamics. Study 4 included an additional manipulation of others’ recognizability and a measure of participants’ concerns about leaving a good impression on others, and it also investigated participants’ everyday sadism as a moderator of prosociality. Guided by findings from Study 4, Study 5 manipulated the perceived group membership of participants and included other aspects of altruistic punishment (Fehr & Gächter, 2002) as behavioral measures. These two studies indicated that there may be an optimal amount of personal information to receive about another person online—particularly when one does not feel a strong sense of ingroup cohesion with this other person. When individual identities were emphasized, individuating information about others online appeared to be “too much information,” which discouraged prosocial feelings. By contrast, when group identity was salient, receiving personal information about others did not reduce prosociality relative to not receiving such information. Chapter 6 discusses implications, limitations, and future directions of my research. In particular, Chapter 6 compares the results of the studies to existing literature and explains the studies’ novel contributions, while also acknowledging their shortcomings. Chapter 6 then proposes future studies for testing wider implications of the dissertation research. Ultimately, I expect that my work will contribute to the psychological understanding of online social interaction, particularly in the context of identity, and that its implementation will help both website administrators and users to create social spaces that are safer, more collaborative, and more enjoyable to use

Security Guards and Counter-terrorism: Tourism and Gaps in Terrorism Prevention

Organisation operating in the tourism industry are high priority targets for terrorists. In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks tourism destinations, hotels and modes of public transportation have regularly been targeted by terrorists seeking to convey their violent message. As such, leaders and managers in the tourism industry carefully plan their security and counter-terrorism responses, often involving the hiring of security guards. It is here that I believe a significant gap in counter-terrorism preparedness exists. I argue that protecting tourism destinations is only possible if consideration is given the effectiveness of security guards and understanding that their well-being will impact upon their ability to deliver security. I want to draw attention to the often ignored social role of security guards. On 9/11, 42 security guards died whilst helping save the lives of thousands. They performed their jobs admirably, despite being low-paid, under-appreciated workers. In this paper I explore the social role of security guards in the context of tourism security. By drawing on representations of security guards in popular culture and reports on the state of the security guard industry. I argue that the lack of attention on the quality and well-being of guards is a significant black-spot in tourism security and terrorism preparedness

Are you too happy to serve others? When and why positive affect makes customer mistreatment experience feel worse

Service employees encounter frequent mistreatments on the job, and these mistreatments can occur unexpectedly. Despite the overall favorable impact of positive affect on coping with negative events, we argue that it could create an expectancy disconfirmation for service employees when they face customer mistreatment. Drawing from expectancy disconfirmation theory, we predict that such expectancy disconfirmation heightens service employees’ need for self-regulation and thus consumes self-control resources. Using a total of 791 service professionals in both online and field (i.e., e-commerce firms in China and a hotel in India) experiments, we found that positive expectancy disconfirmation was positively related to self-control depletion, which led to greater subsequent perceived mistreatment by customers and need for psychological detachment from work (Study 1 and 2). Furthermore, we identified expectation of customer mistreatment as a boundary condition that attenuated the relationship between expectancy disconfirmation and self-control depletion (Study 3 and 4). We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our work