Fuyuan Shen

• Professor (Full) at Pennsylvania State University

In e-commerce, Augmented Reality (AR) employs computer vision and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to enhance the shopping experience through personalized recommendations based on users’ physical data. However, concerns regarding privacy and perceived intrusiveness can undermine the persuasive appeal of personalized AR for e-commerce experie...

Health misinformation, defined as false or misleading claims lacking scientific evidence, poses a significant threat to public health. This paper investigates factors associated with the failure to discern misinformation, including health consciousness, information processing strategies, and inaccurate self-assessments of health literacy. Through a...

The purpose of the present study is to explore how narrative political ads interact with other message strategies in affecting recipients’ ad responses. To accomplish that, we conducted a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment whereby participants viewed political ads manipulated by message format (non-narrative vs. narrative), message valence (nega...

This research explored the underlying mechanisms of soft-text native advertising’s effectiveness, as well as the impact of engagement metrics of social media advertising. An online experiment among Chinese consumers was conducted. The results showed that compared to hard-sell social media advertising, soft-text native advertising is more effective...

Encouraging hepatitis C screening, particularly among young adults who are at increased risk of infection, is essential for eliminating viral hepatitis. A 3 (narrative vs. exemplar vs. informational message) × 2 (processing motivation: low vs. high) between-subjects experiment was conducted among college students to compare the effectiveness of dif...

Celebrity disclosures and narratives are popular strategies in health promotion. However, less is known about their joint effects and the mechanisms through which they function. A 2 (narrative type: celebrity vs. layperson) x 2 (personal relevance: low vs. high) online experiment (N = 248) tested the impact of different narrative types in increasin...

This study examined two-sided conversion messages in relation to one-sided advocacy messages in reducing vaccine hesitancy related to COVID-19 vaccine uptake. Results demonstrated that, for vaccine-hesitant participants, conversion messages increased pro-COVID-19 vaccination attitudes and behavioral intentions. For high vaccine-hesitant participant...

The success of video streaming social networking sites (e.g., YouTube) is reliant upon savvy integration of advertising into massive amounts of user-generated content. These sites must weigh when, where, and how much advertising should be utilized to increase profit without causing irritation. This study examined two key variables related to stream...

Carousel advertisements (ads) on social media provide consumers with the opportunity to scroll left and right when reading an ad’s content. Such an interactive advertising format has great potential to elevate consumers’ interactive and engagement experience with ads, which might be further linked with increased advertising effectiveness. The prese...

An online 2 (evidence type: narrative vs. informational) × 2 (message frame: gain vs. loss) × 2 (involvement: low vs. high) between-subjects factorial experiment was conducted to examine their effects in skin cancer awareness campaigns. Results showed that loss-framed narratives were convincing for high-involved individuals, whereas both gain-frame...

Radio-based entertainment education (EE) programs have long been a way to communicate health-related information, particularly in developing countries. To explore the effectiveness of these campaigns, we used meta-analysis to examine the results of 20 published studies on the effectiveness of health messages embedded in radio-based EE programs. The...

This paper examines the impact of using narratives to communicate a controversial health issue, gaming disorder, on adolescents’ issue attitudes. In a between-subjects experiment, 115 adolescent participants read either a narrative or an informational message on gaming disorder. Results indicated that compared to the informational message, the narr...

This study examined the effects of narratives and visuals in the news coverage of the issue of growing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the agriculture industry. A 2 (evidence type: narrative vs. nonnarrative) × 2 (presentation format: visual vs. nonvisual) between-subjects online experiment was conducted whereby participants read different...

A meta-analysis of 37 studies was conducted to investigate the cognitive effects of website interactivity. Study results suggested that interactivity significantly enhanced user involvement, but did not help with message comprehension, elaboration, memory, or knowledge gain. Other findings showed that the cognitive effects of website interactivity...

Prior research has indicated that narratives are more persuasive than nonnarrative messages. One of the reasons for this effectiveness is that the narratives' intention to persuade is often not explicit, thus making them less likely to be disputed. The goal of this research is to examine the moderating role of persuasive intent in narrative persuas...

Background Risky sexual behaviors are associated with the transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unwanted pregnancies, both major health concerns for youth worldwide. This review studies the effectiveness of narrated mass media programs in promoting safer sexual practices among youth in developed and developing countries. Metho...

Summary of findings for the main comparison. (DOCX)

Funnel plot for primary analysis (n = 8). (DOCX)

Characteristics of included studies and support for risk of bias assessment. (DOCX)

Meta-regression effect size vs timing of the follow up. (DOCX)

MEDLINE search strategy. (DOCX)

Intervention and reason for exclusion. (DOCX)

Effects on individual behavior outcomes. (DOCX)

List of 36 studies excluded from the meta-analysis. (DOCX)

Over the last few years, significant research has been conducted to examine the impact of web interactivity. However, mixed results have been found regarding why and how web interactivity could affect users’ attitudes and other psychological responses. This meta-analysis reviewed prior research that examined the extent to which web interactivity co...

This study examined the use of narrative political advertisements during the 2014 midterm elections. A content analysis of 243 ads identified three narratives types: autobiographical, voter stories, and testimonials. Narrative ads were mostly positive and focused almost equally on issues and candidates’ characters. Negative attack ads and anonymous...

Although cartoons are widely used in health communication, their effectiveness has seldom been tested. In this study, the effects of four humor–threat antismoking cartoon posters are evaluated in a sample of 12- to 15-year-olds (n = 183) in Hong Kong. The five-group comparison (including the control group) revealed that these posters did not increa...

As media technology becomes increasingly participatory, individuals may use social media to share health information and connect with those who have similar health concerns. While prior research has focused on evaluating the feasibility, usability, and effectiveness of traditional health messages, this study investigates the effects of user-generat...

This study examines the extent to which message format and social support may affect individuals’ participatory responses in online health support groups and their subsequent affective and attitudinal responses. An experiment with a 2 (message format: narrative vs. nonnarrative) × 2 (social support: emotional support vs. informational support) betw...

This meta-analysis examined the persuasive impact of culturally tailored messages in cancer communication. The study sample includes 36 articles with 58 experimental pairs (N = 30,006). Results showed that culturally tailored cancer messages had an overall small and significant influence on persuasion (r = .120, p < .001). Deep tailoring, which int...

This research investigated the influence of message framing (gain or loss) and temporal distance (present or future) on the intention of Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. A total of 156 Chinese undergraduates participated in a controlled experiment in Macau, a Special Administrative Region of China. Results showed that message framing and tem...

This meta-analysis assessed the persuasive effects of narratives in health communication. A search of the literature identified 25 studies (N D 9,330) that examined the effects of narratives on persuasion as measured by changes in attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. Analyses of the effect sizes indicated that, overall, narratives had a small impa...

In this paper, we conducted a meta-analysis of published studies on the effects of entertainment education (EE) on health communication. A search of databases identified 22 studies (N = 19517) that met our inclusion criteria and contained relevant statistics. Analysis of the results suggested that overall, EE's effects on health outcomes - as measu...

This paper examines the impact of using narratives to frame a political issue on individuals’ attitudes. In an experiment, we asked participants to read either narrative or informational news articles that emphasized the potential economic benefits or environmental consequences associated with shale gas drilling. Results indicated both news formats...

This study examined the joint effects of message framing (gain vs. loss) and visual image (image vs. no image) on persuasion as it related to the use of dental floss and the use of sunscreen (N = 252). For both topics, the results revealed a Frame × Image interaction effect on fear. The interaction was such that the presence (vs. absence) of an ima...

This study reports findings from a survey of media directors of interactive advertising agencies regarding how they price, evaluate, and pretest banner ads. Results suggest that more than 90% of the responding agencies used cost per thousand frequently to price banner ads, whereas about 33% used click-throughs. In addition, a majority of the agenci...

This study explored the effects of premessage emotions (happiness, anger, and fear) and chronic levels of motivational system activation (behavioral approach system: BAS, and behavioral inhibition system: BIS) on the processing of gain- and loss-framed persuasive messages. The data showed that emotion functions (approach and avoidance), not valence...

This study examined the effects of message frames when they were culturally tailored. Focusing on one aspect of culture-individualism and collectivism-the study discovered some similar patterns across cultures: The effect of message framing in motivating preventive behaviors could be moderated by the cultural values embedded in the messages. Messag...

This article examined the effects of media framing of obesity on adolescents' causal attributions, causal beliefs, and evaluations of health messages. The goal was to understand what types of messages are most effective in communicating the risks of obesity, leading to changes in beliefs and attitudes. To do so, an experiment was conducted with a 2...

This study examined the effects of regulatory focus and the framing of product attributes in advertisements. An experiment with a 2×2×2 between-subjects design was conducted to see if the compatibility among regulatory focus, frames and product attributes could affect ad and brand attitudes, and purchase intention. Participants' regulatory focus (p...

This article examined how individuals' locus of control might moderate the effect of health message frames. An experiment was conducted whereby participants read either individual- or social-responsibility message frames after their locus of control was primed. Results indicated that messages presented in individual-responsibility frames were more...

This experimental study examined the perceived effects of negative political advertising on self versus others and whether such perceptual differences might be moderated by message type (issue versus character) and exposure. After viewing independently sponsored political ads from the 2004 presidential election, participants were found to have sign...

Health messages can be either informative or descriptive, and can emphasize either potential losses or gains. This study, guided by message framing theory and exemplification theory, specifically investigated the combined effects of messages with loss-gain frames mixed with statistics or exemplar appeals. The findings revealed a series of main effe...

Two experimental studies explored the interactive effects of mood, framing, and health behavioral advocacy on persuasion. In Study 1, happy and sad moods were found to activate the behavioral approach system (BAS) and the behavioral inhibition system (BIS), respectively. Assuming similar relationships with action-oriented BAS and restraint-oriented...

This research examined how brand congruity in joint advertising affects individuals’ processing of advertising messages. An experiment was conducted whereby ads promoting two congruent or incongruent brands were presented to subjects under low versus high processing load. Results showed that advertising messages for congruent brands were better rem...

Extrapolating from prior research that describes the persuasive effects of gain- versus loss-framed messages via the heuristic-systematic model (HSM), the current study incorporated two advertising-related factors – evidence type (informational vs. exemplar) and product involvement – and examined their influence on message-framing effects in advert...

It is well known that mass media have the ability to frame a sociopolitical issue in specific ways, which can have considerable impact on the public's thoughts and perceptions regarding the issue. Through analyzing coverage of capital punishment in the New York Times since 1960 and then conducting an experiment in which we assessed individual-level...

Prior research has indicated that exposure to negative political advertising can foster among individuals feelings of alienation, distrust, and apathy toward government or the political process. However, investigation regarding the amount of exposure to such advertising and the form in which it is presented remains scant. This experimental study ex...

Prior research has found that advertising contextual information can affect how consumers evaluate the target ad as well as the brand. This study extends the existing research by investigating how the immediate and longterm effects of contextual priming on ad attitudes and brand evaluations may differ due to the low or high applicability of the con...

Over the years, scholars have demonstrated that media framing of political issues may significantly affect the way in which individuals interpret and think about these issues. However, a growing body of recent research has indicated that the impact of framing may vary due to individual differences. This study extends framing research by examining h...

This study examines the effects of media framing on voter cognitions and how such effects can be moderated by voters' chronically accessible schemas. Participants in this study were exposed to political ads that have been systematically framed as either issue oriented or character oriented. Results indicated that, although message frames could inde...

This study investigated the effects of web site interactivity on consumers’ trust in brands and product evaluations, and their subsequent purchase intentions in a multi-channel context. Results from the experiment indicated that through greater interactivity, individuals developed greater trust in the vendor and better understanding of its products...

This study investigated the effects of news frames and schemas on audiences' issue interpretations and attitudes. An experiment was conducted whereby two political issues, systematically manipulated by value or consequence frames, were presented to participants in a controlled issue-framing environment. Results indicated that, while news frames cou...

The Creative Product Semantic Scale has been used to judge tangible creative products such as crafts, and intangibles such as the ideas produced by problem solving groups. In this study it was used to judge the creativity of 15 print advertisements, using samples representing college students, advertising professionals, and the general public. The...

This empirical study assessed the effects of negative issue advertisements sponsored by both political candidates and soft-money political organizations. An experiment was conducted to see how negative issue advertisements sponsored by different political entities affect people's assessment of the political candidates and voting decisions. Results...

This study investigated the effects of violence and brand familiarity on an individual's responses towards television commercials measured in terms of memory, brand attitude and purchase intention. Results indicated that violence had significant effects on the processing of advertising messages. These effects were more pronounced for familiar brand...

This article reports findings from two surveys conducted in 1987: the first involved over 25,000 television viewers throughout China and the second interviewed more than 1,100 urban residents of Beijing. The surveys measured audience attitudes and behaviour regarding commercial advertising. This is the first time such information based on probabili...

Abstract Issue framing afiects individual opinions, mass sentiment, and policy. While most frames reinforce the status quo distribution of opinion, occasionally frames redraw the line of debate. These \con∞ict- displacing" frames are distinctive because of what they ask, and most importantly what they do not ask, of opponents. Whereas \con∞ict-rein...