2007 Summaries of Wildlife Research Findings - Minnesota State ...

Section 2: Factual Versus Narrative Communication
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Respondents agreed slightly that all treatment messages were (a) persuasive (Table 2-1), (b)
conversational (Table 2-2), (c) fact-oriented (Table 2-3), (d) dramatic (Table 2-4), and (e) telling a story
(Table 2-5). There were significant differences in the mean rating of narrative quality for all items.
Through post-hoc analysis, we found that the control message was rated significantly less persuasive,
conversational, fact-oriented, dramatic, and ‘telling a story.’
Based on research conducted by Polyorat (2007), we constructed a scale to test the narrative manipulation
of the messages, which included whether the message was dramatic, and ‘telling a story.’ Using this scale
(r = 0.490), we found that the control message was perceived as having significantly lower narrative
quality compared to all treatment messages. Unlike Polyorat (2007), there was no difference in our factual
versus narrative messages in perception of narrative quality.