Abstract
Findings from the literature onProtection Motivation Theory (PMT) show that variables proposed within the PMT model(vulnerability, severity, efficacy, andcosts) have an impact on persuasion measures; however, little is known about the manner in which these variables are considered by the consumer. Exploratory research was conducted into the decision-making process to determine the sources of information used (i.e., whether the decision is mostly stimulus -or memory-based) and the variables considered (i.e., whether all the PMT variables are evaluated by the consumer even in the absence of information provided in the communication, and how much thought is put in the evaluation of each of the PMT variables).
Findings show a predominantly stimulus based decision, where the information provided in the stimulus ad determines which memories are retrieved and which variables are considered in the decision-making process.
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The authors wish to acknowledge funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
They also wish to thank Jill Raddysh and Gina Clark for their research assistance.
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Cismaru, M., Lavack, A.M. Marketing communications and protection motivation theory: Examining consumer decision-making. Int Rev on Public Marketing 3, 9–24 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02893617
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02893617