Exemplification Effects in the Promotion of Safety and Health

Abstract

After explicating essentials of exemplification theory, research demonstrations of the effects of exemplar presentations on the formation and modification of beliefs about safety and health, as well as on the consequences of these beliefs for self-protective behavior, are summarized. Affective reactivity connected with exemplifications, especially with exemplifications presented in pictorial formats, is given special consideration. The implications of theory and research for the promotion of safety and health via the media of communication are then enumerated. The influence of exemplifications on matters of personal welfare is further considered in concert with the influence projected by complementary theoretical approaches that focus on strategic decision making.Exemplification theory (Zillmann, 1999(Zillmann, , 2002 addresses the formation and modification of beliefs about phenomena and issues on the basis of samplings of experienced and directly or indirectly witnessed concrete, unitary occurrences that share focal characteristics. The theory examines the conditions under which such samplings are aggregated and come to represent, impartially or in distorted ways, the whole of the respective phenomena and issues. Affective reactivity to exemplifying occurrences is central to the theory as it fosters depth of information processing and gives impetus to emotive action.Much of the research generated by the theory (Zillmann & Brosius, 2000) focuses on assessments of risks to safety and health, as well as on contingent apprehensions that motivate risk avoidance and related protective behavior. More specifically, the research concentrates on the formation of beliefs about threats to the welfare of others and ultimately of the threats to self, along with beliefs about effective and ineffective coping with these threats, on the basis of the exemplification of threats and their management in the informative and entertaining media of communication.Before summarizing some of the pertinent findings, we shall review the essentials of exemplification theory and the mechanisms invoked by it in particular. Presentation of research demonstrations is then followed by the extrapolation Corresponding author: Dolf Zillmann;

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“…The key to exemplification is the "recognition of shared features between an example (aka exemplar) and the exemplified, as well as between all possible examples of the exemplified" (p. 72). Exemplars are essentially evocative words, phrases, images, and sometimes sounds that serve as cognitive shortcuts to glean meaning about complex ideas or situations (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993;Zillmann, 2002Zillmann, , 2006. In other words, they are easy to understand and process with limited (if any) analytic thought.…”

De effecten van other-benefit appeals, self-benefit appeals en exemplars bij het werven van vrijwilligers voor charitatieve organisaties

“…Exemplars zijn korte voorbeeldgeschiedenissen die aan de hand van het verhaal van één persoon de situatie van een grotere groep mensen illustreren (Zillmann, 2006). Van exemplars wordt gedacht dat ze een tekst levendig en begrijpelijk maken (Brosius, 1999).…”

“…De effecten van exemplars op de overtuigingen van de lezer kunnen worden verklaard aan de hand van een aantal heuristieken. De representativiteitsheuristiek houdt in dat mensen aan de hand van voorbeelden een representatief beeld van de werkelijkheid vormen, en zich bij het vormen van een oordeel baseren op de kennis uit die voorbeelden (Zillmann, 2006;Kahneman, 2003). De beschikbaarheidsheuristiek houdt in dat mensen hun oordeel eerder laten bepalen door informatie die beter te onthouden is dan informatie die minder goed te onthouden is.…”

“…Exemplars zijn concrete voorbeelden die voor de lezer makkelijk te verwerken zijn (Zillmann, 2006). Concrete informatie maakt een tekst interessanter (Sadoski, Goetz, & Rodriquez, 2000) en daarom wordt verwacht dat wervingsbrieven met een exemplar beter gewaardeerd worden dan wervingsbrieven zonder exemplar.…”

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“…The key to exemplification is the "recognition of shared features between an example (aka exemplar) and the exemplified, as well as between all possible examples of the exemplified" (p. 72). Exemplars are essentially evocative words, phrases, images, and sometimes sounds that serve as cognitive shortcuts to glean meaning about complex ideas or situations (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993;Zillmann, , 2006. In other words, they are easy to understand and process with limited (if any) analytic thought.…”