1. Developing persuasive message appeals to encourage young people to discuss their organ donation wishes with family
- Author
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Shakespeare-Finch J, Katherine M. White, Melissa K. Hyde, and Ioni Lewis
- Subjects
business.industry ,Organ donation ,Public relations ,business ,Psychology - Abstract
Many young donors (i.e., young people who wish to donate organs upon death) are unaware of the need for family discussion to increase the likelihood of family consent for donation. They have low motivation to discuss and have not notified family of their wishes. We addressed a gap in existing research by developing and piloting six persuasive message appeals targeted specifically at young donors to encourage family discussion about donation. Young donors, who were Australian residents (7 females, 2 males) aged 21-25 years (M = 23.00; SD = 1.73), participated in qualitative interviews. Participants commented on their reactions to each message appeal, message effectiveness, and preferred appeals. Responses to message appeals were mixed. Mixed reactions were reflected in preferences for solely positive appeals or both positive and negative. Some participants felt negative emotional appeals were more impactful and memorable. Reactions to the provision of strategies to aid actual discussion (i.e., what to say, when to discuss, reminder prompts) in messages were guided by young donors’ views of family discussion as either ‘no big deal’ or requiring preparation. Participants believed that including scenarios in which a person makes a donation decision for themselves or a loved one was thought provoking, motivating, and clearly conveyed the impact of the choice not to discuss on others. The four preferred message appeals included equal numbers of messages with positive and negative framing, high and low/no strategy, and individual vs. other perspective. Future piloting of these message appeals with a larger audience of young donors will determine message effectiveness in encouraging family discussion.
- Published
- 2021