Citation

Plant BR, Irwin JD, Chekaluk E. Accid. Anal. Prev. 2017; 100: 65-74.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, 2109, Australia. Electronic address: eugene.chekaluk@mq.edu.au.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.aap.2017.01.003

PMID

28119216

Abstract

Recent examinations of road safety communications, including anti-speeding advertisements, have considered the differential effects of positive and negative emotional appeals on driver behaviour. However, empirical evaluations of anti-speeding messages have largely relied on measures of viewers' reported intentions to comply with speed limits and the self-reported driving behaviour of viewers post-exposure, which might not be indicative of the direct effects that these messages have on real-world driving behaviour. The current research constitutes a first empirical evaluation of different real-world anti-speeding advertisements, as measured by their effects on young drivers' speeding behaviour, using a driving simulator. Licensed drivers (N=116) aged 17-25 years completed driving measures prior to, immediately following, and 7-10days after viewing one of four social marketing advertisements.

RESULTS indicated that young drivers' average driving speeds were modestly reduced immediately after they viewed an anti-speeding advertisement that depicted social consequences for speeding and employed a positive emotional appeal when compared to an emotion-matched control advertisement; however, this effect was not found for the anti-speeding advertisement depicting a crash. Interestingly, the results based on reported intentions to reduce speeding predicted the opposite pattern of results. However, there was no evidence that the immediate changes to speeding were maintained 7-10days later, and prompts during Phase 2 did not appear to have an effect. The implications of these findings for road safety advertisements targeting young drivers are discussed.

Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Advertising; Emotional appeals; Road safety; Social threats; Young drivers