TY - JOUR
T1 - The effect of ending disclosure on the persuasiveness of narrative PSAs
AU - Orazi, Davide C.
AU - Lei, Jing
AU - Bove, Liliana L.
PY - 2021/4
Y1 - 2021/4
N2 - Cautionary stories in which misbehavior results in negative outcomes are often used in public service announcements (PSAs) to promote behavioral change. These cautionary stories can either disclose or withhold their endings and the associated negative outcomes for the characters involved. In four experiments, we show that disclosing (vs. withholding) a story's ending increases persuasion due to greater counterfactual thinking about alternative actions that could have prevented the negative outcomes. Integrating these findings within the Transportation-Imagery Model of narrative persuasion, we also show how dispositional levels of need for cognitive closure can amplify the effect of ending disclosure in a PSA. Our findings have important implications for both marketing communicators and policy makers who seek to improve the effectiveness of PSAs.
AB - Cautionary stories in which misbehavior results in negative outcomes are often used in public service announcements (PSAs) to promote behavioral change. These cautionary stories can either disclose or withhold their endings and the associated negative outcomes for the characters involved. In four experiments, we show that disclosing (vs. withholding) a story's ending increases persuasion due to greater counterfactual thinking about alternative actions that could have prevented the negative outcomes. Integrating these findings within the Transportation-Imagery Model of narrative persuasion, we also show how dispositional levels of need for cognitive closure can amplify the effect of ending disclosure in a PSA. Our findings have important implications for both marketing communicators and policy makers who seek to improve the effectiveness of PSAs.
KW - Counterfactual thinking
KW - Marketing communications
KW - Narrative persuasion
KW - Public service announcements
KW - Story ending
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85100234994&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.01.024
DO - 10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.01.024
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85100234994
VL - 127
SP - 241
EP - 251
JO - Journal of Business Research
JF - Journal of Business Research
SN - 0148-2963
ER -