Tam Kim-Pong
Division of Social Science, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong.
Br J Soc Psychol. 2015 Mar;54(1):187-200. doi: 10.1111/bjso.12076. Epub 2014 Jun 5.
Anthropomorphic persuasive appeals are prevalent. However, their effectiveness has not been well studied. The present research addresses this issue with two experiments in the context of environmental persuasion. It shows that anthropomorphic messages, relative to non-anthropomorphic ones, appear to motivate more conservation behaviour and elicit more favourable message responses only among recipients who have a strong need for effectance or social connection. Among recipients whose such need is weak, anthropomorphic appeals seem to backfire. These findings extend the research on motivation and persuasion and add evidence to the motivational bases of anthropomorphism. In addition, joining some recent studies, the present research highlights the implications of anthropomorphism of nature for environmental conservation efforts, and offers some practical suggestions for environmental persuasion.
拟人化的说服性诉求很普遍。然而，它们的有效性尚未得到充分研究。本研究通过在环境说服背景下的两个实验来解决这个问题。研究表明，相对于非拟人化信息，拟人化信息似乎仅在那些有强烈效能需求或社会联系需求的受众中，能激发更多的环保行为并引发更积极的信息反应。在这类需求较弱的受众中，拟人化诉求似乎会适得其反。这些发现扩展了关于动机和说服的研究，并为拟人化的动机基础增添了证据。此外，与最近的一些研究一致，本研究强调了自然拟人化对环境保护努力的影响，并为环境说服提供了一些实用建议。
