Coping with Shocking Anti-Tobacco Advertising: What are Facebook users telling us?
(2015) SKPM08 20151Department of Strategic Communication
- Abstract
- This study seeks an understanding of how Facebook users cope with the impact of anti-tobacco shock advertising by posting comments on Facebook. It also clarifies how healthcare organisations help these people re-construct themselves online after they have been shocked.
The effectiveness of shock advertising at changing harmful behaviours has been extensively studied in the field of strategic communication. Its emotional impact in the context of anti-tobacco campaigns and how it is managed by its receivers has received very little attention by academics. Psychological theories such as the concept of coping, social cognitive theory and cognitive appraisal and stress were applied in this study to analyse the emotional impact of three... (More) - This study seeks an understanding of how Facebook users cope with the impact of anti-tobacco shock advertising by posting comments on Facebook. It also clarifies how healthcare organisations help these people re-construct themselves online after they have been shocked.
The effectiveness of shock advertising at changing harmful behaviours has been extensively studied in the field of strategic communication. Its emotional impact in the context of anti-tobacco campaigns and how it is managed by its receivers has received very little attention by academics. Psychological theories such as the concept of coping, social cognitive theory and cognitive appraisal and stress were applied in this study to analyse the emotional impact of three anti-tobacco shock advertisements produced by the National Health Service in the United Kingdom which, were uploaded onto their Facebook page.
A qualitative methodology was adopted and included the use of a content analysis of two hundred posts written in response to these advertisements in order to establish the coping strategies employed by Facebook users. Negative coping strategies outweighed positive coping strategies by far. The Facebook posts showed that the National Health Service’s message was more likely to be rejected or bi-passed with the use of humour and denial. These results were partially explained by the lack of engagement by the healthcare organisation on its own Facebook page. The study found that the shock advertisements are grabbing people’s attention as they are being commented on on Facebook. However the National Health Service is not using the most important characteristics of Facebook and consequently is losing an opportunity to further guide its public towards more positive coping strategies. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/5426051
- author
- Keenan, Lucy LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- A qualitative content analysis of the coping strategies used on Facebook to manage the impact of the National Health Service’s anti-tobacco shock advertisements. What is the NHS doing to help?
- course
- SKPM08 20151
- year
- 2015
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Coping, Anti-tobacco shock advertising, Facebook, NHS, Qualitative content analysis, Strategic communication
- language
- English
- id
- 5426051
- date added to LUP
- 2015-08-24 15:14:05
- date last changed
- 2015-08-24 15:14:05
@misc{5426051,
abstract = {{This study seeks an understanding of how Facebook users cope with the impact of anti-tobacco shock advertising by posting comments on Facebook. It also clarifies how healthcare organisations help these people re-construct themselves online after they have been shocked.
The effectiveness of shock advertising at changing harmful behaviours has been extensively studied in the field of strategic communication. Its emotional impact in the context of anti-tobacco campaigns and how it is managed by its receivers has received very little attention by academics. Psychological theories such as the concept of coping, social cognitive theory and cognitive appraisal and stress were applied in this study to analyse the emotional impact of three anti-tobacco shock advertisements produced by the National Health Service in the United Kingdom which, were uploaded onto their Facebook page.
A qualitative methodology was adopted and included the use of a content analysis of two hundred posts written in response to these advertisements in order to establish the coping strategies employed by Facebook users. Negative coping strategies outweighed positive coping strategies by far. The Facebook posts showed that the National Health Service’s message was more likely to be rejected or bi-passed with the use of humour and denial. These results were partially explained by the lack of engagement by the healthcare organisation on its own Facebook page. The study found that the shock advertisements are grabbing people’s attention as they are being commented on on Facebook. However the National Health Service is not using the most important characteristics of Facebook and consequently is losing an opportunity to further guide its public towards more positive coping strategies.}},
author = {{Keenan, Lucy}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Coping with Shocking Anti-Tobacco Advertising: What are Facebook users telling us?}},
year = {{2015}},
}