Page 46 - Media Effects Advances in Theory and Research

2. EXEMPLIFICATION THEORY OF MEDIA INFLUENCE 35

original program employed sanitized imagery of melanoma (i.e., a dime-
sized affliction). This footage was replaced by more graphic, shocking,
emotion-arousing images of tumors spread across arm and shoulder.
Embedded in an ostensibly unrelated survey of health-related behav-
iors such as smoking, excessive drinking, and sexual practices, the risk to
others and self of contracting melanoma from extended sunbathing, as
well as the willingness to use sunblock lotions for protection, was ascer-
tained either shortly after exposure to the program or after a 2-week delay.
The findings, summarized in Fig. 2.2, show that shortly after exposure the
effect of threatening imagery was not appreciably different from that of
sanitized imagery. Presumably, the message as a whole was potent enough
to prevent an enhancement of concerns by the more ominous display of

FIG. 2.2. Personal risk of contracting skin cancer from excessive sunbathing, and
acceptance of preventive measures, as a function of exposure to a health broadcast
featuring either sanitized or scary, threatening images of tumors. Effects were ascer-
tained either shortly after exposure or after a 2-week delay. Relative sleeper effects of
exposure are evident in the diverging gradients. Specifically, the effects of the threat-
ening broadcast proved stable over time, whereas those of the sanitized broadcast
deteriorated markedly. From Exemplification in communication (p. 102), by D. Zillmann
and H.-B. Brosius, 2000, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Copyright 2000
by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Adapted with permission.