Source Credibility: Contextual Effects on Online Media-Embedded Health Campaigns Against Childhood Obesity

• In Event: Social Media, Exercise, and Obesity

Abstract

Provocative messages have always been an essential tool of health communication to overcome the attention threshold and motivate follow-up communication about the message. But what happens when different online media platforms such as blogs, online news sites or social networking sites take up the campaign, comment, re-contextualize, and evaluate it? What consequences does the debate have on affected and non-affected young people? Relating to preliminary findings of persuasion research we postulate that (1) source credibility perceptions vary across types of online media platforms and contextualization (reinforcing or impairing the original message of the message) of the message. Individual characteristics, in particular weight related factors are assumed to influence message effects (2). An experimental study with students (N = 749), aged between 13 and 18 years, was conducted. Students were randomly assigned to one out of three stimuli (blog, online news, Facebook), covering a provocative health related campaign against childhood obesity. Results show a two-sided effect of an online media embedded anti-childhood-obesity campaign as message characteristics significantly influence self-perceptions of weight.

Authors

• Tino GK Meitz, University of Tuebingen

• Alexander Ort, Eberhard Karls U Tuebingen

• Anja Kalch, Augsburg U

• Guido Zurstiege, U of Tuebingen