Personal Migrant Stories as Persuasive Devices: Effects of Audience–Character Similarity and Narrative Voice

The design of campaigns for the improvement of intergroup attitudes requires innovative approaches that consider both the characteristics of the messages and the psychological processes they evoke. This work addresses the study of factors that increase the persuasive effectiveness of testimonial messages aimed at improving attitudes towards stigmatized immigrants. An experiment was conducted on the effect of similarity to the protagonist and the narrative voice. Two mediating mechanisms (identification with the protagonist and cognitive elaboration) were evaluated, and the indirect effect of the two independent variables was studied with respect to two dependent variables: the attitude towards immigration and the intention to collaborate with NGOs to support immigrants. Similarity to the protagonist of the narrative message increased identification only when the participants read the version written in the first person. In addition, a conditional process model was tested, revealing that identification increased cognitive elaboration, which, in turn, was associated with a more favorable attitude towards immigration and a greater intention to collaborate with immigrant support organizations. This study highlights the relevance of the characteristics of narrative messages to increase affective (identification) and cognitive (elaboration) processes that explain their persuasive impact. The results are discussed in the context of research on narrative persuasion and the design of campaigns for the prevention of racism and xenophobia.

本研究旨在探讨旨在提升对受歧视移民态度的见证信息说服力的因素，并关注了信息特征与引发的心理过程。研究通过实验方法，探究了与主角相似性和叙事声音对说服效果的影响。评估了两种中介机制（主角认同和认知加工），并研究了两个自变量对两个因变量（移民态度和对支持移民的 NGOs 合作意愿）的间接效应。当参与者阅读以第一人称书写的版本时，对叙事信息主角的相似性仅增加了认同感。此外，研究还测试了条件过程模型，揭示了认同感的提升促进了认知加工，进而与对移民更为有利的态度和更强的与移民支持组织合作意愿相关联。本研究强调了叙事信息特征对增强情感（认同）和认知（加工）过程的重要性，这些过程解释了其说服力。研究结果在叙事说服研究和预防种族主义及仇外心理的宣传活动设计中被讨论。