Citation

Hust SJT, Adams PM, Willoughby JF, Ren C, Lei M, Ran W, Marett EG. J. Health Commun. 2017; 22(9): 721-731.

Affiliation

Management and Information Systems , Mississippi State University , Mississippi State , Mississippi , USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10810730.2017.1343877

PMID

28796574

Abstract

Among the existing sexual assault prevention efforts on college campuses, few use mass communication strategies designed to simultaneously entertain and educate. Although many entertainment-education efforts are guided by social cognitive theory, other theories may be useful in entertainment-education design. Previous research has found that social cognitive theory and social norms theory can successfully influence participants' perceived norms and efficacy related to sexual assault reduction; however, whether such results can be replicated in a naturalistic setting and the extent to which the guiding theoretical foundation may influence outcomes remain unknown. We used a pre- and posttest field experiment with college students in residence halls to assess how different theoretical foundations may influence effects. Over the course of a semester, the participants viewed eight mini-magazines developed using (1) social cognitive theory, (2) social norms theory, (3) a combination of both theoretical frameworks, or (4) a control condition with no sexual assault prevention messaging. Participants in the combined content condition had greater levels of self-efficacy related to sexual assault prevention and more accurate norm perceptions. There were also effects for the mini-magazines developed with only one theoretical framework. Overall, we found that multiple theories can effectively guide entertainment-education message development.

Language: en