abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the utility of the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) in guiding message design for a new health context, reducing meat consumption. The experiment was a posttest only design with a comparison and a control group. Message design was informed by the EPPM and contained threat and efficacy components. Participants (Americans ages 25-44 who eat meat approximately once a day) were randomly assigned to view a high threat/ high efficacy video, a high threat/ low efficacy video, or to be in a control group. Dependent variables were danger control outcomes (i.e., attitudes, intentions, and behavior) and fear control outcomes (i.e., perceived manipulative intent, message derogation, and defensive avoidance). Outcomes were assessed at an immediate posttest (Time 1) and at a one-week follow up (Time 2). There were 373 participants at Time 1 and 153 participants at Time 2. The data did not fully fit either the EPPM or the additive model; both videos were equally persuasive and resulted in greater message acceptance (attitude change, behavioral intention, and behavior) than the control group. Because the high threat/ low efficacy group was more persuasive than the control group, the data more closely fit the additive model. Fear control outcomes did not differ between the two video groups. Overall, the study demonstrated the effectiveness of using the EPPM to guide video message design in a new health context, reducing meat consumption. The results supported the EPPM prediction that a high-threat high-efficacy message would result in message acceptance, but support was not found for the necessity of an efficacy component for message acceptance. These findings can be used to guide new or existing health campaigns that seek to improve public health outcomes, including reducing the incidence of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and obesity. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Communication 2015

abstract: Background: This study examines how pro-vaccine flu messages, guided by the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM), affect parents’ intentions to vaccinate their children. Methods: Parents of children six months to five years old (N = 975) were randomly exposed to one of four high-threat/high-efficacy messages (narrative, statistical, combined, control) and completed a follow-up survey. Differences between message conditions were assessed with one-way ANOVAs, and binary logistic regressions were used to show how constructs predicted intentions. Results: There were no significant differences in the ANOVA results at p = .05 for EPPM variables or risk EPPM variables. There was a significant difference between message conditions for perceived manipulation (p = 0.026), authority, (p = 0.024), character (p = 0.037), attention (p < .000), and emotion (p < .000). The EPPM model and perceptions of message model (positively), and the risk EPPM model and fear control model (negatively), predicted intentions to vaccinate. Significant predictor variables in each model at p < .05 were severity (aOR = 1.83), response efficacy (aOR = 4.33), risk susceptibility (aOR = 0.53), risk fear (aOR = 0.74), issue derogation (aOR = 0.63), perceived manipulation (aOR = 0.64), character (aOR = 2.00), and personal relevance (aOR = 1.88). In a multivariate model of the significant predictors, only response efficacy significantly predicted intentions to vaccinate (aOR = 3.43). Compared to the control, none of the experimental messages significantly predicted intentions to vaccinate. The narrative and combined conditions significantly predicted intentions to search online (aOR = 2.37), and the combined condition significantly predicted intentions to talk to family/friends (aOR = 2.66). Conclusions: The EPPM may not be effective in context of a two-way threat. Additional constructs that may be useful in the EPPM model are perceptions of the message and fear control variables. One-shot flu vaccine messages will be unlikely to directly influence vaccination rates; however they may increase information-seeking behavior. The impact of seeking more information on vaccination uptake requires further research. Flu vaccine messages should be presented in combined form. Future studies should focus on strategies to increase perceptions of the effectiveness of the flu vaccine. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Public Health 2015

Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communications / Joye Gordon / Obesity in the U.S. has become a national epidemic. The military, in particular Military spouses are not exempt from the challenging issue of obesity. Understanding risk perception and health behavior is key to reducing the obesity epidemic, however insufficient research has been conducted among U.S. military spouses to understand their perceived risk and health behaviors. This quantitative study was conducted among 291 military spouses using the Extended Parallel Process Model and Social Cognitive Theory as the conceptual frameworks. The results indicated that perceived susceptibility of obesity and obesity related illness among overweight and obese military spouses while reinforcing both response and self-efficacy is the focal area for communication. Key barriers to weight loss and health goals were identified and the setting of health goals is identified as important. The researcher provides a digital intervention recommendation to address the findings of this study.

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Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of modern times. Environmental organizations do their utmost to inform the public about environmental problems and to invite action to prevent them. To this direction, they run campaigns with posters that combine images and text and evoke emotions in the recipient about these issues. The study focuses on such multimodal texts and analyzes the multimodal resources used in environmental campaign posters from a visual rhetorical perspective with a focus on fear appeals and their expected persuasiveness. More specifically, the study examines how the environmental organizations WWF and Greenpeace use fear appeal as a rhetorical strategy in their campaigns. The visual and textual resources are analyzed to identify the purpose, arguments and emotional appeals of the posters that seek to increase people's awareness and power to act. The study also examines how the rhetorical strategies and effectiveness of the multimodal resources differ between the two organizations. The study shows that the two organizations make use of appeals to fear in a way that matches their different profiles to create awareness and encourage action concerning climate change.