The Impact of Emotional Responses to Public Service Announcements: The Case of Gun Violence in Schools
Abstract
We examine how people’s emotional reactions to gun violence public service announcements (PSAs) influence information acquisition, policy preferences, and political engagement. Utilizing a non-student sample of more than 100 participants, we look people’s emotional reactions (i.e., anger, sadness, contempt, and fear) to two Sandy Hook Promise PSAs. We assess people’s emotional reactions by relying on two complimentary measures: the traditional self-report measures as well as facial expression analysis. We demonstrate that when people are feeling sad after watching the Sandy Hook Promise PSAs, they are significantly more likely to retain information from a news article about school violence. Furthermore, feelings of contempt and fear lead people to seek out additional information about gun violence. In addition, we find when people feel anger, contempt, and fear after watching the PSAs, they change their views of gun policies. Finally, fear and contempt increase people’s likelihood of becoming politically mobilized.
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Biographies
Kim Fridkin is a foundation professor of Political Science at Arizona State University. She has authored or co-authored five books, including Taking Aim at Attack Advertising (Oxford University Press, 2019). The Changing Face of Representation: The Gender of U.S. Senators and Constituent Communications (University of Michigan, 2014), No Holds Barred: Negative Campaigning in the U.S. Senate (Prentice Hall, Inc., 2004), The Spectacle of U.S. Senate Campaigns (Princeton University Press, 1999), and The Political Consequences of Being a Woman (Columbia University Press, 1996). Her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation and has been published in the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, and the Journal of Politics.
Patrick Kenney is the dean of The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a foundation professor of Political Science at Arizona State University. He has authored and co-authored articles in the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics. He has co-authored four books, “Taking Aim at Attack Advertising” (Oxford University Press, 2019). “The Changing Face of Representation” (University of Michigan Press, 2014), “No-Holds Barred: Negativity in U.S. Senate Campaigns” (Prentice Hall, 2004) and “The Spectacle of U.S. Senate Campaigns” (Princeton Press, 1999). He has received funding from the National Science Foundation.
Manuel A. Gutiérrez is a PhD candidate in political science at Arizona State University and received his BA and MA from the University of Texas, El Paso. He is the co-author of “Measuring Emotional Responses to Negative Commercials: A Comparison of Two Methods” published at the Political Research Quarterly.
Ryan Deutsch is a JD student at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Previously, Ryan earned his M.A. in Political Science at Arizona State University, focusing on American Politics and public opinion towards gun violence.
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Article first published online: March 30, 2021
Issue published: July 2021
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