senior project presentation
DESCRIPTION
My Senior Project Presentation was called "The Gift of Life: Current Organ Donation Attitudes and Persuasive Messages". The study was conducted in order to discover what types of messages influence the decision to register or not register as an organ donor. Through quantitive methods and extensive research, our study found that emotional and sympathetic messages were the most effective in persuading people to register as organ donors.TRANSCRIPT
The Gift of Life:
Current Organ Donation Attitudes and Persuasive Messages
Julie BalzariniNicole Federico
Allison O’DonnellKelly Re
Villanova University
Agenda • Overview• Previous
Research • Method • Results• Discussion• Limitations• Conclusion
Agenda • Overview• Previous
Research • Method • Results• Discussion• Limitations• Conclusion
The Facts Currently 109, 935 are waiting to
receive organs
Between January and August of 2010 only 9,729 people donated
19 people will die every day waiting for an organ
www.UNOS.org
Two Questions Arise
Why is this number so large?
Why aren’t more people organ donors?
Agenda • Overview• Previous
Research • Method • Results• Discussion• Limitations• Conclusion
Previous Research
Attitudes
Media Influence
Types of Messages
Research Questions & Hypotheses
RQ1: Why aren’t Villanova undergraduates organ donors?
H1: The most common reason why Villanova undergraduates are not organ donors is that they do not have enough information to make an educated decision.
RQ2: Why are Villanova undergraduates organ donors?
H2: The most common reason why Villanova undergraduates are organ donors is that they want to save lives.
Research Question & Hypotheses
RQ3: What is the relationship between attitudes toward registering as a donor and actually registering?
H3: There will be a positive relationship between positive attitudes toward registering as an organ donor and registration.
RQ4: What type of organ donation message will be most effective in persuading people to register as organ donors.
H4: A sympathetic/emotional message about organ donation will be more persuasive than messages intended to educate people about common organ donor myths or inspirational messages that show organ recipients with their families.
Agenda • Overview• Previous
Research • Method • Results• Discussion• Limitations• Conclusion
Method
An experimental design was chosen for this study to analyze if exposure to a certain type of emotional message
will yield persuasive responses. This experimentation allows for control
of the variable to determine if the message was successful in altering
behavior.
Participants
• 60 Villanova undergraduates
• Students were offered extra credit for participation
• Age range 19-24
• College students are the ideal subjects
Procedure
Introduction/Directions
Pre-test Questionnaire
Video exposure
Post-test Questionnaire
Opportunity to Register
InstrumentsMcCroskey &
Richmond’s six-item generalized
attitude scale
Participants responded using
six 7-point semantic differential items
Video Messages
Agenda • Overview• Previous
Research • Method • Results• Discussion• Limitations• Conclusion
Reasons For Not Registering
“I had not given it
enough thought” 13.3%
Reasons for Registering
“I want to give my organs to
someone who can use them”
25%
Confidence In Medical Systems
Of the 11 participants that became organ donors as a result of the study
– 9 indicated that they have a “great deal” of confidence in hospitals
– 8 indicated that they have a “great deal” of confidence in emergency care providers.
Attitudinal Changes Video 1
Video 2
Attitudinal Changes
Attitudinal Changes Video 3
Message Effects on Intent to Register
Signing Behavior Video 1 9 participants were already registered organ donors11 participants were not registered organ donors
– After viewing Video 1, 6 participants signed an organ donor card
Video 28 participants were already registered organ donors12 participants were not registered organ donors
– After viewing Video 2, 3 participants signed an organ donor card
Video 3 6 participants were already registered organ donors14 participants were not registered organ donors
– After viewing Video 3, 2 participants signed an organ donor card
Agenda • Overview• Previous
Research • Method • Results• Discussion• Conclusion
DiscussionVideo 1
Most effective in persuading people to register
Most emotional/sympathetic message
20% of the participants indicated they learned something new
Discussion Video 2
More negative attitudes initially
Decrease in attitudes on the “Good vs. Bad” item (McCroskey and Richmond
scale)
The majority of Video 2 participants (75%) indicated they learned
something new.
Discussion Video 3
Yielded the most significant change in attitudes
Least amount of signers
Shortest in length
55% indicated they learned something new
Suggestions For Future Messages
Emotional/Sympathetic Messages
Airing PSAs during popular medical TV shows
Informational/Emotional DMV Video for new drivers
Chapter in DMV Driver’s Manual
Agenda • Overview• Previous
Research • Method • Results• Discussion• Limitations• Conclusion
Limitations Small sample size of college students
Extra Credit Reward
Gender Ratio
Peer Influence
Unequal representation of race and religion
Video Message Length
Opportunity to register
Agenda • Overview• Previous
Research • Method • Results• Discussion• Limitations• Conclusion
1 Person can save the lives of 8 people…
…and/or improve the lives of 50
As a result of our study, potentially
88 lives will be saved and
550 people will have an improved quality of life.
Q&A