Entertainment-education and HIV-AIDS prevention. Moderating and mediating processes

Abstract

This article is part of an entertainment-education research (EE) from the perspective of narrative persuasion. It presents the results of experimental research aimed at contributing to the improvement of the design of EE strategies to promote HIV testing in men who have sex with men (MSM). Specifically, we assessed the effect of the entertainment-education message (written vs. audiovisual) and the moderating role of the ability to generate mental imagery in the persuasive impact of EE pieces. In this experimental research, 109 MSM were randomly distributed into two experimental conditions (audiovisual versus written message). The results showed that the ability to generate mental imagery moderated the effects of the EE message modality on narrative transportation and the identification with characters. Besides, it was verified that narrative transportation and identification with characters are relevant mediating mechanisms, but these indirect effects were conditioned by the ability to generate mental imagery. These results suggest an advance in the knowledge process of narrative persuasion, the role of individual differences, and the provision of relevant information for the design of EE interventions.