Une communication menaçante est une stratégie persuasive se caractérisant par l’exposition à une menace (i.e., une conséquence négative causée par l’adoption d’un comportement risqué) en vue d’inciter à l’application d’une recommandation (i.e., une action permettant la protection face à la menace). Si de nombreux travaux ont été réalisés afin de comprendre les effets de la menace sur la persuasion, peu d’entre eux se sont néanmoins intéressés au format de présentation de la menace et à l’influence qu’il exerce dans une communication menaçante. La présente thèse vise à pallier cette lacune et évalue l’effet de la vividité de la menace (i.e., le degré avec lequel une menace est claire et concrète). Notre programme de recherche se décline en huit expérimentations : quatre expérimentations testent l’effet de la vividité sur la persuasion (i.e., élaboration, attitude, intention), quatre autres testent l’effet de la vividité sur l’attention (i.e., évitement, vigilance). Nos principaux résultats montrent qu’une communication menaçante produit un impact différencié selon la vividité de la menace. Si la vividité est forte, la menace est en mesure d’améliorer l’acceptation du message via l’expression d’une plus grande vigilance attentionnelle sur la recommandation. A l’inverse, si la vividité est faible, la menace ne produit aucun impact, aussi forte soit-elle. Ainsi, l’influence d’une communication menaçante est-elle dépendante du format de présentation de la menace. Les implications théoriques et pratiques auxquelles conduisent ces résultats, ainsi que des perspectives de recherches, seront finalement discutées. / A threatening communication is a persuasive strategy including the presence of a threat (i.e., a negative consequence due to the adoption of maladaptive behaviors) to incite the use of an action recommendation (i.e., a protective solution to cope with the threat). Despite a large body of research, few of them were interested in the presentation format of the threat and the influence that it is likely to exert in a threatening communication. The present thesis aims to contribute to a better understanding of threatening communications by focusing on the effects of the vividness of the threat (i.e., the extent to which a threat is clear and concrete). Our research program is divided into eight independants experiments: four experiments assessing the effect of vividness on persuasion (i.e., elaboration, attitude, and intention), four others experiments assessing the effect of vividness on attention (i.e., avoidance, vigilance). Our main results showed that a threatening communication differentially impacts persuasion depending on how much the threat is vivid. If vividness is high, a threat is actually likely to increase the acceptance of the message and greater attentionnal vigilance toward the recommendation. Conversely, if vividness is low, the threat has no impact, no matter how threatening. Therefore, the influence of a threatening communication is function of the presentation format of the threat. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings, as well as research perspectives, will finally be discussed.

Childhood immunization has been one of the most important public health measures in the 20th century. In the United States, 95% of avoidable childhood diseases have been prevented through vaccinations. However, there have been growing concerns around the safety of vaccines, and this increased uncertainty has led to decreases in vaccination participation and increases in cases of preventable diseases. As such, is it important to understand why parents are not vaccinating their children. A qualitative approach was utilized to conduct this study. Flyers to recruit participants were distributed by healthcare providers and were posted in church facilities. Ten parents of children ages 3 to 8 years volunteered to participate to discuss their refusal to or delay in vaccinating their children. The health belief model functioned as the theoretical context to guide this phenomenological study approach in examining the reasons parents are not vaccinating or delaying vaccination of their children. Analysis included constructing a written description of the phenomenon as experienced by the research participants using their responses to the research question, followed by developing response coding schemes, identifying themes, justifying findings, and ensuring sound analysis and reporting of information. For example, word frequency and common phrases were the first steps of the analysis. Results showed that parents had a negative reaction towards childhood vaccination and felt that either the vaccine schedule was too aggressive or contained dangerous toxins that may have side effects. These findings can be used to assist healthcare providers in the way they provide outreach and education to parents as well as potentially helping develop tools that would encourage parents to vaccinate their children.

Subjects' reported dream recall frequency, dream content and vividness or recall were discussed and examined in relation to sex of the subject and MMPI Conscious Anxiety, Conscious Repression and Ego-strength scores. Fifty-three Utah State University students, who volunteered to participate in a study of dreaming behavior, were administered the MMPI and asked to complete a dream log diary. The dream log required a daily recording of total number of dreams recalled, the number of vividly and vaguely recalled dreams and a rating of each dream in one of four dream content-process categories. Content-process categories included pleasurable, working, conflict and disorganized/frightening dreams. Relationships and possible interaction effects for the variables measured were tested for significance. No significant relationship was found between Conscious Anxiety, Conscious Repression or Ego-strength and dream recall frequency, sex of the subject, percentage of vivid dreams recalled, or percent of dreams recalled in the positive (pleasurable and working dreams) versus negative (conflict and disorganized/frightening) categories. Several significant differences were found, however, between the percentage of dreams reported in dream content-process categories for male subjects when analyzed according to higher-lower MMPI scale score categories and higher-lower dream recall level. Results of subcategory analysis tended to support an interaction between anxiety, repression and dream process consistent with the continuity and adaptive theories of dreaming. Male subjects with higher Conscious Anxiety reported a significantly greater percent of disorganized/frightening dreams. Higher anxiety tended to produce a higher percentage of working dreams as long as repression of threatening material was low enough to permit the recall of more emotion-laden dream processes. There was also a significant interaction between reported precent of pleasurable dreams, recall level and repression, which was explained as possibly indicating that pleasurable dreams may serve as an escape of integrating process for high repression male subjects. Results of analysis for female subjects indicated that higher recall subjects reported a significantly higher percent of disorganized dreams, which is consistent with the salience theory of recall. Recalled dream processes seemed to be not as strongly tied to personality variables for female subjects. Contentless dreams have been proposed in previous research to reflect repression by the subject. Results showed no significant difference between higher and lower repression subjects on the number of contentless dreams reported.

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Virtual Reality (VR) has gained tremendous interest within the last decades and is rapidlybecoming a disruptive marketing tool across all industries. Predictions show that the VR marketis expected to reach a staggering US$120 billion by 2026 (Fortune Business Insights, 2019).While previous research has investigated the impact of VR on consumer attitudes, theconnection between its immersive characteristic, i.e. telepresence (Steuer, 1992), and thecomplexity of consumer attitudes (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993), is still relatively unknown. Hence,this paper addresses the discrepancy in extant literature by applying a qualitative researchapproach. We conduct in-depth interviews using a quasi-experiment design, displaying anapartment through 2D (pictures) and followingly 3D stimuli (VR). The increased telepresencefrom VR and its impact on participants’ responses towards the apartment is thereby captured.Results show that both technological variables of telepresence (vividness & interactivity) arepositively influential in the three-dimensional spectrum of consumer responses (affective,cognitive & conative). Moreover, this study reveals that telepresence contributes to enhancedproduct knowledge, produces a hedonic experience and aids in decision-making. Conclusively,managerial recommendations are provided, detailing aspects to consider before implementingsuch immersive technologies.

Virtual Reality (VR) has gained tremendous interest within the last decades and is rapidly becoming a disruptive marketing tool across all industries. Predictions show that the VR market is expected to reach a staggering US$120 billion by 2026 (Fortune Business Insights, 2019). While previous research has investigated the impact of VR on consumer attitudes, the connection between its immersive characteristic, i.e. telepresence (Steuer, 1992), and the complexity of consumer attitudes (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993), is still relatively unknown. Hence, this paper addresses the discrepancy in extant literature by applying a qualitative research approach. We conduct in-depth interviews using a quasi-experiment design, displaying an apartment through 2D (pictures) and followingly 3D stimuli (VR). The increased telepresence from VR and its impact on participants’ responses towards the apartment is thereby captured. Results show that both technological variables of telepresence (vividness & interactivity) are positively influential in the three-dimensional spectrum of consumer responses (affective, cognitive & conative). Moreover, this study reveals that telepresence contributes to enhanced product knowledge, produces a hedonic experience and aids in decision-making. Conclusively, managerial recommendations are provided, detailing aspects to consider before implementing such immersive technologies.

While previous research on episodic memory vividness aims at measuring episodic memory, such cognitive tasks also involve visual mental imagery since vividness is primarily a property of visual mental imagery. Literature also shows that subjective measurements of visual mental imagery (e.g., the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire; VVIQ) are confounded by demand characteristic effects, either by participant response biases or instructional cues. Investigating such claims is most suitable in those who report an absence of visual mental imagery, that is, in aphantasia. Therefore, this study examines whether subjective vividness ratings are interpreted differently between a “visualize” and a “recollect” version of the VVIQ. One hundred and thirty-nine participants filled out online either one of the versions of the questionnaire, which also included an additional manipulation on demand characteristics (i.e., instructional cues on what alleged previous research found on response patterns). Eighty-nine participants self-described with aphantasia. Results showed that irrespective of self-describing with aphantasia or not, participants scored comparably on the two versions of the questionnaire (with aphantasic participants scoring overall lower than control participants), favouring the interpretation that episodic memory vividness involves visual mental imagery. Furthermore, no demand characteristic effects were found in those self-describing with aphantasia, whereas controls’ questionnaire scores were affected only negatively by the employed instructional cues. Different interpretations of such results are discussed, highlighting the idea that it is a difficult methodological exercise to discern the two theoretical constructs: visual mental imagery and episodic memory.

In recent years, with the rapid development of Internet technology, live streaming e-commerce has gradually become the focus of public attention and has occupied an increasingly important position in consumers' daily lives. The significant difference between online retail and offline retail is whether consumers can directly touch the products, and the perception of the products plays a key role in consumers' purchasing decisions. Therefore, how to display products effectively is crucial for online retailers. This study aims to explore how the product display method of live streaming e-commerce affects consumers' impulsive buying behaviour, and collect consumers' views on live streaming e-commerce through questionnaires. The results show that improving the vividness and interactivity of product displays significantly enhances virtual touch, which in turn promotes impulsive buying behaviour. However, there is a positive correlation between virtual touch and perceived risk, and perceived risk fails to significantly inhibit impulsive buying behaviour, but instead shows a positive correlation, that is, high perceived risk increases impulsive buying behaviour. The conclusions of this study provide new insights into the future interaction model between online retailers and consumers, promote two-way communication, and improve communication efficiency. Through this study, online retailers can provide consumers with an experience closer to offline shopping when using live streaming e-commerce, thereby more effectively prompting consumers to make purchasing decisions.

本研究的主要目的在於運用自傳式記憶的作業探討高社交焦慮者是否有記憶偏誤的現象。根據Clark和Wells（1995）的模型，高社交焦慮者在社交焦慮情境中容易把大部分的注意力集中在自身相關（self-related）的訊息上，因而造成對自身相關訊息的記憶優於外界環境訊息的現象；然而根據Repee和Heimberg（1997）的模型則假設高社交焦慮者在社交情境中會關注與負向自我評價有關的訊息，而不論該訊息是來自自身或外界環境。本研究企圖同時檢測上述兩個模型。 本研究篩選出六十四名大學生分為高社交焦慮與低社交焦慮兩組，所有受試者皆須分別回憶一件社交焦慮事件及一件中性事件，受試者被要求先在腦海中形成對該事件的影像，然後寫下有關回憶事件的詳細描述並完成記憶清晰度的評估。 研究結果得出高社交焦慮者在進行社交焦慮事件的回憶時，傾向回憶出比低社交焦慮組更多的自身相關訊息；且高社交焦慮組在回憶社交焦慮事件時比低社交焦慮組更傾向評估自身相關訊息的記憶清晰度高於外界環境訊息，研究結果較支持Clark和Well（1995）的說法。 / The purpose of the present study was to utilize the autobiographical memory task to investigate the memory bias in socially anxious individuals. According to Clark and Wells’ (1995) view, socially anxious individuals were hypothesized to preferentially allocate almost attentional resources to self-related information and remember self-related information better than external information on entering an anxiety-provoking social situation. However, according to Repee and Heimberg’ s (1997) model, they supposed that socially anxious individuals tend to focus on negative self-evaluated information regardless of it were self-related or external information. The present study tried to examine the two models simultaneously. Sixty-four undergraduate students were assigned to either high or low social-anxiety group. All subjects were asked to recall one anxiety-provoking social situation about public-speaking and another neutral situation. They were requested to form an image of the event and write a detailed description about it. They then completed rating of memory vividness for each situation. The results revealed that high social anxiety group showed to retrieve more self-related information than low social anxiety group and displayed more preferential to rate the vividness of self-related information higher than external environmental information than low social anxiety group did when recalling anxiety-provoking social situation. The result supported Clark and Wells’ s model.

Les études sont mitigées sur les séquelles cognitives des commotions cérébrales, certaines suggèrent qu’elles se résorbent rapidement tandis que d’autres indiquent qu’elles persistent dans le temps. Par contre, aucunes données n’existent pour indiquer si une tâche cognitive comme l’imagerie mentale visuelle fait ressortir des séquelles à la suite d’une commotion cérébrale. Ainsi, la présente étude a pour objet d’évaluer l’effet des commotions cérébrales d’origine sportive sur la capacité d’imagerie mentale visuelle d’objets et d’imagerie spatiale des athlètes. Afin de répondre à cet objectif, nous comparons les capacités d’imagerie mentale chez des joueurs de football masculins de calibre universitaire sans historique répertorié de commotions cérébrales (n=15) et chez un second groupe d’athlète ayant été victime d’au moins une commotion cérébrale (n=15). Notre hypothèse est que les athlètes non-commotionnés ont une meilleure imagerie mentale que les athlètes commotionnés. Les résultats infirment notre hypothèse. Les athlètes commotionnés performent aussi bien que les athlètes non-commotionnés aux trois tests suivants : Paper Folding Test (PFT), Visual Object Identification Task (VOIT) et Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ). De plus, ni le nombre de commotions cérébrales ni le temps écoulé depuis la dernière commotion cérébrale n’influent sur la performance des athlètes commotionnés. / The research is mitigated on the cognitive after-effects of a concussion. Some studies suggest the effects disappear rapidly whereas others observe a continuation in their manifestation. However, no research has been done to indicate whether a cognitive task like mental imagery brings out these effects following a concussion. This study will evaluate the effects of sport-related concussions on object and spatial visual mental imagery of athletes. To achieve this goal, we compare the mental imagery capacity between two groups of male football athletes of University level. The first group (n=15) with no history of concussions and the second group (n=15) with one or more concussions. We hypothesize that the non-concussed athletes visualize better than the concussed athletes. Our results invalidate our hypothesis. Both groups have similar results on the three following measures: Paper Folding Test (PFT), Visual Object Identification Task (VOIT) and Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ). Furthermore, the quantity of concussions and the time past since the last concussion seems to have no impact on the visual mental imagery performance of concussed athletes.