Document Type
Presentation
Publication Date
8-1995
Publisher
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
Source Publication
AEJMC Annual Convention
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) in the context of news reports about a hazard. Content elements of outcome severity, vulnerability and response efficacy were systematically varied in stories about a fabricated risk: fluorescent lighting lowering student academic performance. Results from this laboratory experement suggest that information about the severity of consequences results in greater information seeking about a hazard. In addition, information about vulnerability, severity and response efficacy jointly combined to produce higher levels of behavioral intention to take actions designed to avoid the hazard.
Recommended Citation
Neuwirth, Kurt; Dunwoody, Sharon; and Griffin, Robert J., "The Influence of Severity, Vulnerability, and Response Efficacy on Information Seeking and Behavioral Attention" (1995). College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications. 669.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/comm_fac/669
Comments
Author version. "The Influence of Severity, Vulnerability, and Response Efficacy on Information Seeking and Behavioral Attention." A Paper presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, annual convention. San Francisco, California, August 1995. DOI. ©1995 The Author. Used with permission.