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Chapter 11 The impact of argument strength in health communication

  • Hans Hoeken
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Health, Media, and Communication
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch Health, Media, and Communication

Abstract

Argument strength plays an important role in the formation of stable attitudes that are predictive of related behavior. Fortunately, arguments that meet normative criteria for argument strength are in actuality more convincing than arguments that meet such criteria to a lesser degree. However, these differences in persuasiveness are relatively small, and will only occur if the audience is paying attention to the arguments. And even then, the role of argument strength may be limited. Health communication often focuses on behavior related to food and exercise, which are strongly intertwined with emotionally loaded issues such as pleasure and beauty, and relate to culturally relevant practices. Such issues are prone to elicit a myside bias in the audience. As a result, people may aim to dismantle (strong) arguments that go against their opinions while boosting the (weak) arguments that are accordance with their preferences. Understanding how people can be motivated to unbiasedly evaluate a message’s arguments, will be important to improve health communication’s impact.

Abstract

Argument strength plays an important role in the formation of stable attitudes that are predictive of related behavior. Fortunately, arguments that meet normative criteria for argument strength are in actuality more convincing than arguments that meet such criteria to a lesser degree. However, these differences in persuasiveness are relatively small, and will only occur if the audience is paying attention to the arguments. And even then, the role of argument strength may be limited. Health communication often focuses on behavior related to food and exercise, which are strongly intertwined with emotionally loaded issues such as pleasure and beauty, and relate to culturally relevant practices. Such issues are prone to elicit a myside bias in the audience. As a result, people may aim to dismantle (strong) arguments that go against their opinions while boosting the (weak) arguments that are accordance with their preferences. Understanding how people can be motivated to unbiasedly evaluate a message’s arguments, will be important to improve health communication’s impact.

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface to Handbooks of Communication Science series V
  3. Contents IX
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Section 1: Message senders
  6. Chapter 1 Creating trust in health organizations 11
  7. Chapter 2 Creating trust and understanding in doctor–patient relationships 31
  8. Chapter 3 Social media influencers for health promotion 49
  9. Chapter 4 Celebrity health narratives and the celebrity sick-scape 69
  10. Section 2: Message content
  11. Chapter 5 Fear appeals in health communication 91
  12. Chapter 6 Messaging and affect processing 109
  13. Chapter 7 Narratives in health communication 127
  14. Chapter 8 Entertainment-Education in the new media landscape: Stimulating creative engagement in online communities for social and behavioral change 147
  15. Chapter 9 The communication of uncertainty in health 169
  16. Chapter 10 Social norms in health communication 187
  17. Chapter 11 The impact of argument strength in health communication 213
  18. Chapter 12 Behavioral change techniques in influencers’ social media messages 231
  19. Section 3: Medium types
  20. Chapter 13 Instagram and health 251
  21. Chapter 14 Twitter and health communication 269
  22. Chapter 15 Fantasy, facts and fun: Digital health games for impact and implementation 287
  23. Chapter 16 Chatbots for health communication 309
  24. Section 4: Message recipients
  25. Chapter 17 Information seeking, scanning, and processing 335
  26. Chapter 18 Health literacy and information processing 355
  27. Chapter 19 Language difficulties: Healthcare provider–migrant patient communication 375
  28. Chapter 20 Cognitive biases in depression: Implications for help-seeking messaging 391
  29. Chapter 21 Creating active involvement interventions to effectively reduce adolescent health risk behaviors 411
  30. Section 5: Contemporary challenges
  31. Chapter 22 Infodemics and health information overload 433
  32. Chapter 23 Fake news and misinformation 453
  33. Chapter 24 Health communication on social media during a crisis 469
  34. Section 6: Case studies
  35. Chapter 25 Exploring communication in multi-level strategies for promoting healthy diets: A South African case study 491
  36. Chapter 26 Physical activity and citizen science: Two case studies from Flanders (Belgium) 505
  37. List of contributors 527
  38. Index 539
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110775426-012

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface to Handbooks of Communication Science series V
  3. Contents IX
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Section 1: Message senders
  6. Chapter 1 Creating trust in health organizations 11
  7. Chapter 2 Creating trust and understanding in doctor–patient relationships 31
  8. Chapter 3 Social media influencers for health promotion 49
  9. Chapter 4 Celebrity health narratives and the celebrity sick-scape 69
  10. Section 2: Message content
  11. Chapter 5 Fear appeals in health communication 91
  12. Chapter 6 Messaging and affect processing 109
  13. Chapter 7 Narratives in health communication 127
  14. Chapter 8 Entertainment-Education in the new media landscape: Stimulating creative engagement in online communities for social and behavioral change 147
  15. Chapter 9 The communication of uncertainty in health 169
  16. Chapter 10 Social norms in health communication 187
  17. Chapter 11 The impact of argument strength in health communication 213
  18. Chapter 12 Behavioral change techniques in influencers’ social media messages 231
  19. Section 3: Medium types
  20. Chapter 13 Instagram and health 251
  21. Chapter 14 Twitter and health communication 269
  22. Chapter 15 Fantasy, facts and fun: Digital health games for impact and implementation 287
  23. Chapter 16 Chatbots for health communication 309
  24. Section 4: Message recipients
  25. Chapter 17 Information seeking, scanning, and processing 335
  26. Chapter 18 Health literacy and information processing 355
  27. Chapter 19 Language difficulties: Healthcare provider–migrant patient communication 375
  28. Chapter 20 Cognitive biases in depression: Implications for help-seeking messaging 391
  29. Chapter 21 Creating active involvement interventions to effectively reduce adolescent health risk behaviors 411
  30. Section 5: Contemporary challenges
  31. Chapter 22 Infodemics and health information overload 433
  32. Chapter 23 Fake news and misinformation 453
  33. Chapter 24 Health communication on social media during a crisis 469
  34. Section 6: Case studies
  35. Chapter 25 Exploring communication in multi-level strategies for promoting healthy diets: A South African case study 491
  36. Chapter 26 Physical activity and citizen science: Two case studies from Flanders (Belgium) 505
  37. List of contributors 527
  38. Index 539
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Heruntergeladen am 9.12.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110775426-012/html
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