Page 45 - Media Effects Advances in Theory and Research

34 ZILLMANN

presented alongside. In two similar experiments, it was once again
observed that respondents base their perception of issues, the economic
prospects of farming in this case, on exemplar distributions rather than on
abstract base-rate information.
The findings of these investigations, in aggregate, give considerable
support to Prediction 4, along with Prediction 1, and they are obviously
consistent with Assumption 3, the basis of Prediction 4. Specifically, recip-
ients of exemplar distributions apparently assess the relative incidence of
exemplars with particular characteristics and retain a record of this quan-
tification in memory. The implicit sensitivity to frequencies accords with
the quantification heuristic, and the longevity of the consequences is evi-
dent from the observed effect duration of one and two weeks.

Effects of Emotional Exemplars

The consequences of audiovisually presented emotion-laden exemplars
for issue perception, for the assessment of danger and risk in particular,
have been examined by Aust and Zillmann (1996). Two broadcast-news
reports were especially created and similarly manipulated. One of the
stories concerned the risk of contracting food poisoning in fast-food
restaurants. The reporter of the story conveyed the essential facts about
a case of salmonella poisoning in which various parties had come to
harm. Focus was on a retired couple that had died. This information
comprised the entire control version of the report. In two additional ver-
sions, interviews with the retirees’ adult daughter, along with the testi-
mony of other victims, were incorporated. These interviews, although
verbally identical, were given either in a nonemotional, calm and col-
lected manner or in highly emotional fashion, with speech disrupted by
choking and weeping.
The findings of the investigation reveal that emotional exemplars
indeed convey threats of harm more effectively than exemplars devoid of
emotion. In this particular case, the perception of risk to others and to self
of contracting food poisoning in fast-food establishments, compared
against the control condition, increased markedly after exposure to emo-
tional exemplars, but not appreciably after exposure to nonemotional
ones.
The effects of danger-conveying visual exemplars of a health broadcast
were investigated by Zillmann and Gan (1996). The program was
designed to apprise sunbathers of the danger of contracting skin cancer.
After exhibiting beach lovers’ habits of excessive sunbathing, it featured
dermatologists who explained the etiology of melanoma and showed
incidents of the cancer. The program ended with a summary of the threat
of melanoma and a call for using sunblock lotion to minimize risk. The