Positive or negative communication in social activism

Pinazo-Calatayud, Daniel and Nos-Aldas, Eloisa and Agut-Nieto, Sonia Positive or negative communication in social activism. Comunicar, 2020, vol. 28, n. 62, pp. 69-78. [Journal article (Paginated)]

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English abstract

This study analyses the role of communication in social activism from models that surpass the mere emotional reaction, prior belief reinforcement or brand identification. This paper tests the hypothesis that a message focused on the cause (and its results) will motivate a previously sensitized audience depending on their interactions with source favorability. The methodology is based on the design of a bifactor experimental action result study 2 (failure versus success) x 2 valences (favorable versus unfavorable source) with the participation of 297 people who are pro-avoidance of evictions. The results allow us to infer that the messages from sources hostile to the cause that report negative results have the potential to emotionally and behaviorally motivate activists to a greater extent than messages with more positive results from favorable sources. The conclusions point to the dialogue between social injustice frames and pro-cause action emotions as a way to increase social mobilization. The theoretical and empirical implications of these findings are discussed in the present-day context of social media prevalence.

Spanish abstract

Esta investigación analiza el papel de la comunicación en el activismo social desde modelos que superen la mera reacción emocional, el refuerzo de creencias previas o la identificación con la marca. Este estudio pone a prueba la hipótesis de que un mensaje que centre la atención en la causa (en sus resultados) motivará a una audiencia previamente sensibilizada en favor de dicha causa cuando interactúe con la favorabilidad de la fuente. Se ha diseñado un estudio experimental bifactorial 2 resultado de la acción (fracaso versus éxito) x 2 valencia (fuente favorable versus fuente desfavorable) con la participación de 297 personas pro-evitación de desahucios. Los resultados permiten deducir que los mensajes emitidos por fuentes hostiles para la causa que informen de resultados negativos tienen el potencial de motivar afectiva y conductualmente a los activistas en mayor medida que mensajes con resultados más positivos en fuentes favorables. Las conclusiones finales señalan al diálogo entre marcos discursivos de injusticia social y emociones de acción pro-causa como vía para incrementar la movilización social. Se discuten las implicaciones teórico-prácticas de estos resultados en el contexto actual de predominio de redes sociales.

Item type: Journal article (Paginated)
Keywords: Communication; activism; engagement; social change; efficacy; persuasion; social motivation; reception; Comunicación; activismo; compromiso; cambio social; eficacia; persuasión; motivación social; recepción
Subjects: B. Information use and sociology of information > BJ. Communication
G. Industry, profession and education.
G. Industry, profession and education. > GH. Education.
Depositing user: Alex Ruiz
Date deposited: 03 Apr 2020 19:42
Last modified: 03 Apr 2020 19:42
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10760/39832

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