An Integration of Self-Conscious Emotion into Public Service Announcement: The Effect of Framing Messages Based on Guilt and Shame-Inducing Strategies on the Intention of Behavior Change

Abstract

PSAs (Public service announcements) about social issues have become important tools of persuasion that aimed to direct the public regarding attention to those problems that intended to bring attitude and behavior change. Prevailing studies indicated that message framing that links to a different type of emotional experiences has played different roles in changing the perception of individuals.Specifically, fear appeal-inducing techniques and their effectiveness were the main focus of scientific studies in the area. However, a new line of research indicated that, besides fear, other types of emotions might be important for effective message framing that can bring changes through some forms of persuasion. Following this new development, in this paper, it was proposed that the way the message is framed (either behavior-focused or self-focused) elicits different self-conscious emotions (i.e., guilt and shame) that will differently affect intention for behavior change. The core assumption of the proposed model is that messages framed based on guilt-inducing strategies may lead to intention for behavior change due to the absence of suppression, while messages framed on shame-inducing techniques suppress behavioral change due to the activation of suppression. In line with his, an alternative model was proposed which posits that the potential effectiveness of framing messages based on guilt and shame-inducing techniques varies with respect to a cultural orientation that persists in a given society. In the course of enhancing the proposed model, the paper attempts to draw some examples of message framing based on guilt and shame-inducing and concludes with limitation inherent in the current model.