Shark bytes: message sensation value and emotional appeals in shark diving websites

Abstract

Websites designed to promote risky activities provide a novel context for studying the role of emotional appeals and message sensation value (MSV) in risk messages in order to ultimately understand the type of messages that motivate people to engage in risk behaviors. Framed in theories of message design and emotion, this study investigates representations of threat, efficacy, and the extent to which risk messages appeal to a range of positive and negative emotions through the examination of 53 shark diving websites using content analysis and computer generated linguistic analysis. Results indicate that few websites provide explicit threat information (i.e. severity and susceptibility) but many do present implicit threats. Efficacy-related messages were present on all websites. Positive emotion was more common than negative emotion and there is little representation of the traditional components of MSV. Implications for theory development and communication about risk-seeking are addressed.

Keywords:

• risk
• message sensation value
• website content
• wildlife
• emotion

Notes

1. The International Shark Attack file notes that the number of shark attacks in any given year or region is highly influenced by the number of people entering the water. The odds of an unprovoked shark attack is estimated to be 1 in 11.5 million; the odds of an unprovoked shark attack fatality is 0 is 264.1 million. Shark diving may constitute a provoked encounter depending on how the dive operator chooses to facilitate the human-shark interaction. http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/ISAF/ISAF.htm (Accessed 10/22/2012).

2. The sample was limited to the American version of the Google search engine because of the tourism focus of the research. This is appropriate because the current study is focused on individuals who are using the websites to aid in their decision making about potential shark diving. Redoing the sampling procedures in October 2011 revealed 49 of the 53 sites were still active.

3. Actual search terms were: shark AND ‘tiger OR white OR bull’ AND ‘dive OR diving OR swim OR cage dive OR cage diving OR tour OR trip OR vacation OR operator OR tourism OR excursion OR holiday’.