| Summary: | Introduction
Smoking cessation is a significant public health issue for young people.
Social media provide the public with health knowledge through various types
of videos. Bilibili is a trendy social video platform among the young population
in China, and the number of smoking cessation videos on this platform is
continuously increasing. Different content creators advocating smoking cessation
through videos may influence young people’s attitudes and behaviors towards
tobacco and smoking. This study aims to measure the message sensation value
(MSV) and the information appeals in smoking cessation videos on Bilibili,
examining their impact on communication effectiveness.
Methods
This study collected 337 videos from Bilibili and conducted a content
analysis regarding the content creator’s information, video presentation, MSV,
and message appeals. The communication effectiveness of the videos was defined
as a dependent variable and was divided into three dimensions: communication
breadth, recognition, and participation.
Results
The average MSV (rated on a scale of 0 to 11) for smoking cessation-themed
videos was 4.49 (SD=2.23). Chi-squared analysis revealed significant differences
among different types of videos in the use of threat appeal (p<0.001), humor
appeal (p<0.001), and psychological benefit (p<0.05). Additionally, different
types of creators showed differences in the use of threat appeal (p<0.05), humor
appeal (p<0.001), and psychological benefit (p<0.05). ANOVA results indicated
significant differences in the level of MSV among different smoking cessation
videos (F=39.775, p<0.001). Linear regression analysis showed that MSV, threat
appeal, humor appeal, and economic benefit positively impacted dissemination
effects (p<0.001).
Conclusions
The results indicate that young people are likelier to watch smoking
cessation videos with higher MSV and information appeal. These elements can
enhance persuasion and the effectiveness of communication. Therefore, when
video creators aim to promote smoking cessation among young people, they can
consider factors such as MSV, threat appeal, humor appeal, and economic benefit
to enhance communication effects.
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