Ji-Yeon So

There is clear evidence that interpersonal social support impacts stress levels and, in turn, degree of physical illness and psychological well-being. This study examines whether mediated social networks serve the same palliative function. A survey of 401 undergraduate Facebook users revealed that, as predicted, number of Facebook friends associated with stronger perceptions of social support, which in turn associated with reduced stress, and in turn less physical illness and greater well-being.

For two decades, the extended parallel process model (EPPM; Witte, 1992 Witte, K. 1992. Putting the fear back into fear appeals: The extended parallel process model. Communication Monographs, 59: 330–349. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) has been one of the most widely used theoretical frameworks in health risk communication. The model has gained much popularity because it recognizes that, ironically, preceding fear appeal models do not incorporate the concept of

Despite growing concern over the public’s fatigue toward inundated health messages, communication research has largely neglected such ramifications of prolonged, real-life campaign exposure. This paper offers an initial conceptual and empirical treatment of message fatigue, an important, but understudied, side effect of campaigns. Specifically, it proposes conceptual and operational definitions of the construct and examines psychometric characteristics of a proposed message fatigue scale. The fi

Exposure to risk messages can motivate health information seeking, which can influence message acceptance or rejection. Theories of risk message design and effects (e.g., fear appeal models), however, have not considered information seeking as an integral part of the risk message processing. To address the gap, this experimental study (N = 927) offered participants an opportunity to seek threat- and/or coping-related information online after exposing them to a risk message about meningitis and r

Message fatigue refers to a state of being exhausted and tired of prolonged exposure to similarly-themed messages (e.g., anti-obesity messages; So, Kim, & Cohen, 2017). This study tests a mediational model that accounts for how one's preexisting fatigue toward anti-obesity messages may contribute to two different types of resistance-reactance and disengagement-toward an incoming anti-obesity message, which, in turn, reduce intention to adopt weight-management behaviors advocated in the message.

Recognizing inconsistencies between the extant fear appeal theories and emotion literature, this research integrated cognitive appraisal theory and functional emotion theory into a fear appeal literature and proposed a model that describes a process through which both fear and anxiety can contribute to adaptive responses. Findings from an experiment (N = 927) supported the predictions. Fear and anxiety emerged as distinct constructs. Perceived susceptibility was a stronger predictor of anxiety t

Twitter has been recognized as a useful channel for the sharing and dissemination of health information, owing in part to its "retweet" function. This study reports findings from a content analysis of frequently retweeted obesity-related tweets to identify the prevalent beliefs and attitudes about obesity on Twitter, as well as key message features that prompt retweeting behavior conducive to maximizing the reach of health messages on Twitter. The findings show that tweets that are emotionally e

The risk convergence model proposes reduction of perceived social distance to a mediated personality as a mechanism through which the mass media can influence audiences' personal risk perceptions. As an initial test of the model, this study examined whether 5 audience variables known to facilitate media effects on personal risk perceptions—identification, parasocial interaction, personal relevance, transportation, and perceived realism—would exert their influences through the reduction of percei

This study proposes a theoretical model postulating the impact of audience motivation on risk perception. Drawing from uses and gratifications theory and differential impact hypothesis, the model consists of 5 major propositions. First, an overarching proposition postulating the capacity of audience motivation to serve as a mental frame on media exposure is proposed. Surveillance motivation is postulated to influence social risk perception, whereas enjoyment motivation is postulated to influence

These findings underscore the importance of segmenting the audience based on their levels of message fatigue and using more novel message strategies and delivery methods to influence populations with relatively higher levels of anti-tobacco message fatigue.

The prevalence of messages advocating weight management has likely resulted in considerable anti-obesity message fatigue but the phenomenon remains understudied. This study examined two aspects of antiobesity message fatigue: (1) effects of <i>preexisting</i> anti-obesity message fatigue on cognitive processing of an incoming anti-obesity message and (2) predictors and effects of message fatigue <i>responses</i> expressed after exposure to the message. Results from a two-wave online experiment i

OBJECTIVE: While smoking may result in various harmful effects, such as mental health issues caused by addiction, antitobacco messages have typically focused on the physical health consequences of smoking for decades. Prolonged exposures to these conventional messages may have not only increased awareness about the harmful health effects of smoking but may have also caused message fatigue and resultant resistance to persuasion. The latter effects, however, remain largely unexamined. Addressing t

The extant empirical research examining the effectiveness of statistical and exemplar-based health information is largely inconsistent. Under the premise that the inconsistency may be due to an unacknowledged moderator (O'Keefe, 2002), this study examined a moderating role of outcome-relevant involvement (Johnson & Eagly, 1989) in the effects of statistical and exemplified risk information on risk perception. Consistent with predictions based on elaboration likelihood model (Petty & Cacioppo, 19

The smoking rate among adult men in South Korea is one of the highest in the world, standing at about 53%. Although various mass media-based educational initiatives have been taken to reduce this rate, their contribution toward the smoking risk perceptions of South Koreans has not been investigated. This study examined the association between genre-specific media exposure and personal and social risk perceptions of smokers and nonsmokers. Data from a survey of 558 South Korean college students (

Abstract This study offers a critical test of two competing theoretical accounts of message repetition effects—processing fluency and message fatigue—which have yet to be examined together under a coherent framework. Furthermore, integrating research on metacognition and motivated processing, we propose audience favorability toward message advocacy as a crucial moderator in this dynamic. A repeated-exposure experiment (N = 845) involving five different messages about climate change mitigation wa