Binge Drinking Status as a Moderator in Narrative Versus Non-Narrative Pictorial Warning Labels: Roles of Cognitive Elaboration and Retrospective Reflection

2024/12/16 by Zexin Ma, Joshua Haworth, Carla J. Rash +1 · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Media Influence and Health #Media Studies and Communication #Climate Change Communication and Perception

paper · doi:10.1080/10410236.2024.2439360

openalex publication_date 2024/12/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/13

Abstract

This study examined the potential role of binge drinking status in moderating the persuasive effects of narrative versus non-narrative pictorial warning labels (PWLs). In an online longitudinal experiment involving moderate and heavy drinkers, we found that the interaction between binge drinking status and PWL type was significant for intentions to reduce and stop drinking upon immediate PWL exposure (N = 649) and at two-week follow-up (N = 598). Among non-binge drinkers, narrative (vs. non-narrative) PWLs led to higher intentions to reduce drinking upon immediate exposure and higher intentions to stop drinking at two-week follow-up. Among binge drinkers, non-narrative (vs. narrative) PWLs resulted in higher intentions to stop drinking upon immediate exposure and at two-week follow-up. In addition, our results revealed that narrative PWLs increased behavioral intentions through heightening cognitive elaboration and retrospective reflection among non-binge drinkers, while non-narrative PWLs improved intentions only through enhancing retrospective reflection among binge drinkers. These results indicate that the effectiveness of narrative versus non-narrative PWLs depends on individuals’ drinking habits.

Citations

• Identification as a Mechanism of Narrative Persuasion
• The Differential Impact of Statistical and Narrative Evidence on Beliefs, Attitude, and Intention: A Meta-Analysis
• Entertainment?Education and Elaboration Likelihood: Understanding the Processing of Narrative Persuasion
• The Role of Narrative Pictorial Warning Labels in Communicating Alcohol-Related Cancer Risks
• Show Me a Photo of the Character: Exploring the Interaction between Text and Visuals in Narrative Persuasion
• “I Can See a Story from the Warning”: Understanding the Role of Perceived Narrativity in Pictorial Warning Labels
• “You are Telling the Story Yourself”: Defining and Developing Narrative Pictorial Warning Labels
• “Are we saying every time you drink, you’ll get cancer?” Lessons learned from a focus group study of communicating difficult-to-swallow health-risk information

Discussions

• Ma, Z., Haworth, J., Rash, C., & Hu, J. (2024). Binge drinking status as a moderator in narrative versus non-narrative pictorial warning labels: Roles of cognitive elaboration and retrospective reflec [bsky, 0 points, 1 comments]