scholarly journals Reactance to social authority in entertainment-education (E-E) media: study protocol for an online randomized controlled trial (Preprint)

10.2196/25343 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alain Vandormael ◽  
Maya Adam ◽  
Merlin Greuel ◽  
Violetta Hachaturyan ◽  
Caterina Favaretti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Study Protocol ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Entertainment Education ◽  
Media Study ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Social Authority

scholarly journals Reactance to social authority in entertainment-education media: study protocol for an online randomized controlled trial (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alain Vandormael ◽  
Maya Adam ◽  
Merlin Greuel ◽  
Violetta Hachaturyan ◽  
Caterina Favaretti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Secondary Outcome ◽  
Placebo Control ◽  
Entertainment Education ◽  
Health Message ◽  
Online Data ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Social Authority ◽  
Sugar Reduction

BACKGROUND Entertainment-education (E-E) media can be an effective strategy for influencing health behaviors. To improve E-E effectiveness, we investigate if the social authority of a person delivering a health message arouses motivation to reject that message—a phenomenon known as reactance. Using a short, animated video, we measure reactance to a sugar reduction message that is narrated by a child (low social authority), the child’s mother (equivalent social authority to the target audience), and the family physician (high social authority). OBJECTIVE This study aims to 1) determine the effect of the narrator’s social authority on reactance to the sugar reduction message; 2) establish the video’s effectiveness in improving behavioral intent to reduce the intake of added sugars; and 3) quantify participant’s interest in watching the E-E intervention video. METHODS This is a parallel group, randomized controlled trial comparing an intervention video narrated by a (i) low, (ii) equivalent, or (iii) high social authority against an (iv) attention placebo control video, and a (v) control video. The primary outcomes will include measures of antecedents of reactance, its components, and its attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. For our secondary outcome, we will assess participant engagement with the sugar intervention videos. We will leverage a regression framework to analyze online data collected from 4,000 English-speaking participants aged 18 to 59 years. RESULTS The study received ethics approval from the Heidelberg University’s Ethics Committee on March 18th, 2020 (S-088/2020). The participant recruitment has not started yet but is planned to be completed by December 2020. The data analysis is planned to be finished in February 2021 and the final results are planned to be published by April 2021. CONCLUSIONS This trial will utilize several randomization procedures, list experimentation methods, and new online technologies to investigate the effect of social authority on reactance to a persuasive health message. Our results will inform the design of future E-E videos for public health promotion needs. CLINICALTRIAL This study was registered at the German Clinical Trials Register (www.drks.de) on July 24th, 2020: DRKS00022340.

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