Citation

Banerjee SC, Greene K. J. Health Commun. 2012; 17(5): 564-581.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences , Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center , New York , New York , USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10810730.2011.635779

PMID

22475073

Abstract

Transportation theory is concerned with the immersion of individuals within narrative content and the subsequent effects of the transportation experience. More recently, many researchers have shown interest in narrative theory due to the impact narrative have on individuals beliefs and attitudes. The term 'transportation' coined by Richard Gerrig, refers to a transporting effect or immersion into a narrative. The conceptual definition Green and Brock use for the Transportation is derived from Gerrig's Book Experiencing Narrative Worlds. In this book, Gerrig defines the term transportation as immersion in a narrative, which after the experience leaves the reader changed.

This study examined transportation effects of first- and third-person narratives as well as the role of transportation in the persuasion process. In particular, the authors evaluated the role of transportation in affecting cognitive and affective responses. Last, they addressed the relation between (a) cognitive and affective responses and (b) antidrug expectancies. Participants were 500 undergraduate students at a large northern university in the United Kingdom who were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 conditions: first- or third-person narratives on cocaine use. The results demonstrated that there was no difference between first- and third-person narratives in terms of transportation. However, overall, greater transportation was associated with more favorable cognitive responses, and more favorable cognitive response was associated with stronger anticocaine expectancies. In terms of affective responses, results indicated the mediating role of sadness and contentment in the association between transportation and anticocaine expectancies. In particular, increased transportation was associated with greater sadness and lower contentment. Lower sadness and contentment were associated with stronger anticocaine expectancies. Important theoretical and empirical implications are discussed.

Language: en