Abstract
Objective
To synthesize experimental research on the impact of narrative point of view (POV) on message processing and persuasion outcomes in health promotion. Moderators examined included characteristics of study design, participants, and experimental stimuli.
Design and Main Outcome Measures
Random effects model meta-analysis of 16 health promotion experiments, using the metafor package in R. Studies included compared the effects of first- and third-person POV on risk perceptions, attitudes, behavioral intention, identification and transportation.
Results
There was no evidence of publication bias. Narratives told in the first-person POV led to higher levels of perceived susceptibility (d = 0.10, 95% CI [0.01, 0.20]) and identification feelings (d = 0.10, 95% CI [0.10, 0.21]) than third-person narratives. The effects of first-person POV narratives were significantly stronger for stories that were written in the past-tense and that depicted the protagonist as being similar to message recipients.
Conclusion
Findings support a theoretical model of POV impact in which a first-person perspective increases identification with the character, thereby leading to higher levels of perceived susceptibility to the health threat. The practical implication is that the effectiveness of narrative persuasion is enhanced by using the first-person point of view, emphasizing target audience-protagonist similarities, and telling stories in the past tense.
Acknowledgement
We would like to thank the study authors who provided us with information necessary for the meta-analysis. We also thank Dr. Jeanette R. Ruiz for her comments on earlier drafts of the manuscript.
Disclosure statement
The authors declare no competing interests.
Data availability statement
Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.
Notes
1 References marked with an asterisk (*) indicate studies included in the meta-analysis.