Persuasive Communication

Our research focuses in particular on persuasive communication in the context of social marketing.

We examine how different types and formats of information can be designed to achieve the highest possible persuasive impact. This is investigated in a variety of empirical studies.

Among other things, we analyze the effects of statistical versus narrative/anecdotal information, message framing, and fear appeals, as well as various psychological positioning strategies for information.

The effectiveness of such information and its presentation is typically studied under varying conditions, including:

• Characteristics of the recipients (e.g., optimism, vaccine skepticism, gender identity),
• Characteristics of the promoted behavior and message appeal (e.g., psychological distance to the target group),
• Characteristics of the depicted protagonists (e.g., similarity).

Specific research questions that we have already examined can be found under 'Current Publications'.