Exploring the influence of message framing and image valence on the effectiveness of anti-speeding posters

Abstract

Road safety advertisements that generate emotions have been acknowledged to increase the potential persuasiveness of an advertisement message. Nonetheless, there has been much debate about which message framing and image valence strategy is the most robust and influential persuader. In the current study, 40 UK vehicle users completed a simulated driving experiment and a series of self-report measures exploring the influence of three different types of anti-speeding advertisements: a negative loss-framed poster accompanied with a negative valence image, a positive gain-framed poster paired with a positive valence image, and a neutral anti-speeding poster. No significant differences were found between the three different types of anti-speeding advertisements and participants’ visual attention, memory or speeding behaviour. The results, however, showed that the negative anti-speeding advertisement was rated as significantly more effective in its ability to convince both other vehicle users and the vehicle user themselves to adhere to the legal speed limit. The influence of the differential advertisement strategies also appeared to fluctuate depending on several distinct factors and the disposition of the vehicle user. These findings suggest that emotionally-laden anti-speeding advertisements based on theoretical frameworks may effectively reduce the likelihood for participants to engage in risky driving behaviours and increase vehicle users’ intentions to adhere to the legal speed limit.