Testing the Efficacy of Attitudinal Inoculation Videos to Enhance COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance: A Quasi-Experimental Intervention Trial (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, a variety of COVID-19 related misinformation has spread and been amplified online. The spread of misinformation can influence COVID-19 beliefs and protective actions including vaccine hesitancy. Belief in vaccine misinformation is associated with lower vaccination rates and higher vaccine resistance. Attitudinal inoculation is a preventative approach to combating misinformation and disinformation which leverages the power of narrative, rhetoric, values, and emotion. OBJECTIVE This study seeks to test inoculation messages in the form of short video messages to promote resistance against persuasion by COVID-19 vaccine misinformation. METHODS We designed a series of 30-second inoculation videos and conducted a quasi-experimental study to test the use of attitudinal inoculation in a population of individuals who were unvaccinated. The three intervention videos were distinguished by their script design- with Intervention Video 1 focusing on narrative/rhetorical (“Narrative”) presentation of information, Intervention Video 2 focusing on delivering a fact-based information (“Fact”), and Intervention Video 3 using a hybrid design (“Hybrid”). Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) models were used to compare the main effect of intervention group on the three outcome variables: ability to recognize misinformation tactics (“Recognize”, willingness to share misinformation (“Share”), and willingness to take the COVID-19 vaccine (“Willingness”). RESULTS There were significant effects across all three outcome variables comparing inoculation intervention groups to controls. For the Recognize outcome, the ability to recognize rhetorical strategies, there was a significant intervention group effect (F(3,1929)=8.5, p<0.0001). For the Share outcome, support for sharing the mis-disinformation, the intervention group main effect was statistically significant (F(3,1928)=3.4, p=0.0168). For the Willingness outcome, there was a significant intervention group effect; intervention groups were more willing to get the COVID-19 vaccine compared to controls (F(3,1929)=4.1, p=0.0064). CONCLUSIONS Across all intervention groups, inoculated individuals showed greater resistance to misinformation than their non-inoculated counterparts. Relative to those who were not inoculated, inoculated participants showed significantly greater ability to recognize and identify rhetorical strategies used in misinformation, were less likely to share false information, and had greater willingness to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Attitudinal inoculation delivered through short video messages should be tested in public health messaging campaigns to counter mis-disinformation

Testing the Efficacy of Attitudinal Inoculation Videos to Enhance COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance: A Quasi-Experimental Intervention Trial (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, a variety of COVID-19 related misinformation has spread and been amplified online. The spread of misinformation can influence COVID-19 beliefs and protective actions including vaccine hesitancy. Belief in vaccine misinformation is associated with lower vaccination rates and higher vaccine resistance. Attitudinal inoculation is a preventative approach to combating misinformation and disinformation which leverages the power of narrative, rhetoric, values, and emotion. OBJECTIVE This study seeks to test inoculation messages in the form of short video messages to promote resistance against persuasion by COVID-19 vaccine misinformation. METHODS We designed a series of 30-second inoculation videos and conducted a quasi-experimental study to test the use of attitudinal inoculation in a population of individuals who were unvaccinated. The three intervention videos were distinguished by their script design- with Intervention Video 1 focusing on narrative/rhetorical (“Narrative”) presentation of information, Intervention Video 2 focusing on delivering a fact-based information (“Fact”), and Intervention Video 3 using a hybrid design (“Hybrid”). Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) models were used to compare the main effect of intervention group on the three outcome variables: ability to recognize misinformation tactics (“Recognize”, willingness to share misinformation (“Share”), and willingness to take the COVID-19 vaccine (“Willingness”). RESULTS There were significant effects across all three outcome variables comparing inoculation intervention groups to controls. For the Recognize outcome, the ability to recognize rhetorical strategies, there was a significant intervention group effect (F(3,1929)=8.5, p<0.0001). For the Share outcome, support for sharing the mis-disinformation, the intervention group main effect was statistically significant (F(3,1928)=3.4, p=0.0168). For the Willingness outcome, there was a significant intervention group effect; intervention groups were more willing to get the COVID-19 vaccine compared to controls (F(3,1929)=4.1, p=0.0064). CONCLUSIONS Across all intervention groups, inoculated individuals showed greater resistance to misinformation than their non-inoculated counterparts. Relative to those who were not inoculated, inoculated participants showed significantly greater ability to recognize and identify rhetorical strategies used in misinformation, were less likely to share false information, and had greater willingness to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Attitudinal inoculation delivered through short video messages should be tested in public health messaging campaigns to counter mis-disinformation

Research on Cognitive Effects of Narrative Rhetoric in Print Advertisement Based on Eye Movement

This article uses eye movement experiments to study the cognitive effects of consumer groups on different narrative-quality advertisements. The experiment selects typical advertising cases, takes college students as subjects, and uses computers to track and analyze eye movement data. The experimental results show that the quality of narrative rhetoric directly affects the number of attention, duration, and pupil diameter of the subjects, and the subjects’ browsing time and memory of advertisements are positively related to the quality of narrative rhetoric of advertisements. Among them, in the Low-involvement/Thinking product advertisements, consumers' eye movement data for advertisements with better narrative quality is relatively more significant.

The Narrative Rhetoric of Speech and Silence in the Acts of the Apostles

Approaches to ancient texts that focus exclusively on speech are inherently imbalanced. Far from simply an innocuous absence of language, silence can carry thundering significances. Yet, these meanings are not always obvious, and they can be especially difficult to interpret in texts, without attendant non-verbal cues such as facial expressions or gestures. How can New Testament interpreters best discern and describe the interwoven words, whispers, silences and subtexts of ancient narratives? In this article, I seek to build on my earlier narratological study of speech and silence, Silent Statements: Narrative Representations of Speech and Silence in the Gospel of Luke. There, I demonstrate how focusing on silences as well as speech enriches our understanding of the narratological dimensions of Luke's Gospel, including Lukan plot, characterisation, theme(s) and readerly experience(s). The obvious next step is to extend this work to the Lukan sequel. The guiding question of this article is therefore: how do speech and silence contribute to the narrative rhetoric of the Acts of the Apostles?

Logic is (Somewhat) Overrated: Image-Based Versus Concept-Based Rhetoric in Crowdfunding Narratives

Drawing on image-based versus concept-based rhetoric research, we test whether concept-based rhetoric—evoking rational, logical, and concrete thinking—could be less useful than image-based rhetoric—evoking more primal, imaginative, and irrational imagery—in driving crowdfunding performance. We further examine how these forms of narrative rhetoric might serve to moderate the relationship between narcissistic rhetoric and crowdfunding performance. Based on a sample of 75,636 Kickstarter projects, image-based rhetoric is positively related to crowdfunding performance, and concept-based language suppressed the relationship between narcissistic rhetoric and crowdfunding performance. Our findings have implications for understanding how narrative elements interact to influence crowdfunding outcomes.