¡@¡@¡@This study aimed to examine the third-person effect of product placement in the television news, for clarifying the effect of persuasiveness of news with product placement and comparing the assessment of the impact on others and themselves. The study also concerned about the media literacy if it can help the audience to identify the messages of persuasive intention, to evaluate the impact of product placement in the television news is greater on others than on themselves, and to support the government to prohibit product placement in the television news. ¡@¡@¡@In this study, the main research method was questionnaire survey, and the research participants were junior high school students from three sections in Kaohsiung. There were 476 valid questionnaires totally. Data were analyzed by methods of independent t-test, paired t-test, correlation and hierarchical regression analysis. The results found that product placement of television news would cause the third-person effect: messages of product placement of different levels would result in different intensities of third-person perception. Compared to implicit-style placements in the television news, obvious ones triggered strong media impact on others, but did not trigger third-person perception differential. It meant people tend to view product placement in the television news had impact on others as well as on themselves. ¡@¡@¡@Another focus of this study was personal media literacy ability. Analytic results showed that literacy ability was a better predictor of the third-person effect perception. The result of the study was similar to the findings of the past research: media literacy could assist in identifying the purpose of product placement in the television news, and could avoid the perceived effect of media messages on themselves (Cohen, 1982; Rucinski & Salmon, 1990; Wei, Lo & Lu, 2008). ¡@¡@¡@Most importantly, this study contributed to the growing literature on behavioral component of the third-person effect by demonstrating that the third-person effect perception was a great predictor of support for restriction of product placement in the televiton news than the third-person perception differential. The reason was that the third-person perception differential could not distinguish perceived effects of product placement in the television news on others as well as themselves (Wen-Hui Luo, 2000b). As research result of Xu and Gonzenbach on the behavioral component of the third-person effect, third-person perception differential was the most significant predictor of support for media censorship. Therefore, this study suggests that future research could probe into the mechanisms through which the third-person effect of product placement in the television news occurs.

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The current study projects the third-person perception phenomenon into the area of emergency management, specifically regarding risk communication in the context of religious gatherings. This study utilized the Umrah religious gathering in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, during summer 2019 as a case study (N = 257). This study aimed to investigate whether pilgrims perceive there was a greater effect of health information on others than on themselves. Survey results were translated and then coded and analyzed statistically using SPSS software. The findings indicated that third-person perception existed among pilgrims. Specifically, the perception of pilgrims that the influence of news about MERS-CoV, believed to be undesirable in its effect on themselves, was greater on others than on themselves was found statistically significant. Further, the findings indicated that the more pilgrims watched, listened to, or read news about MERS-CoV, the larger the effect of the news they perceived on themselves and others was. Thus, exposure to MERS-CoV news did not increase, but rather decreased the perception of difference between self and others. Also, the empirical findings indicated that pilgrims who were knowledgeable about MERS-CoV could relate to the coverage. Moreover, if pilgrims believed they were affected by MERS-CoV news, they believed that the MERS-CoV news had a similar or greater effect on other pilgrims. The findings indicated socio-demographics had a partial effect on third-person perception, Finally, the stronger the perceived effect of MERS-CoV news on oneself, the more likely these pilgrims were to take protective actions against the MERS-CoV epidemic. However, the third-person perception anticipated in the use of impersonal communication (pamphlets, television, radio, newspapers, Internet, social media, text message, health clinics, mosques messages, public events, and billboards) and of interpersonal communication (friends, family member, or others you know) was not found significant. Moreover, the perceived effects of MERS-CoV news on others did not show third-person perception regarding behavior intention or consequences. These findings have implications for risk communication and its governance during religious gatherings as well as for the prepared individuals to promote preparation for risk and actions toward risk mitigation.

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