Citation

Stephenson MT, Witte K, Vaught C, Quick BL, Booth-Butterfield S, Patel D, Zuckerman C. J. Saf. Res. 2005; 36(1): 9-17.

Affiliation

T A&M University, 4234 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-4234, USA. mstephenson@tamu.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, U.S. National Safety Council, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jsr.2004.09.003

PMID

15752479

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: This longitudinal field study was designed to encourage Appalachian coal miners in West Virginia and Pennsylvania to engage in hearing-protection behaviors. METHOD: Participants were mailed postcards that featured either a positive, negative, or neutral message on the outside of the postcard and a message encouraging hearing protection behaviors on the inside. The first posttest measurement of the effectiveness of the persuasive messages was conducted about a week after the postcards were mailed. The delayed posttest measurement was conducted six weeks later. RESULTS: Responses from 307 coal miners revealed that the positive or neutral messages generated significantly more self-reported hearing protection behaviors than the negative message. Identical results were obtained in a delayed posttest assessment of miners' self-reported hearing protection behaviors. The positive message was also more effective than either the neutral or negative message in preventing defensive mechanisms from emerging over time. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Positive and neutral messages were convincingly more successful than negative messages in facilitating self-reported hearing protection behaviors among coal miners. Similarly, the positive messages kept defensive processes at bay.