Public communication on donorcards: a comparison of persuasive styles

Due to scarcity of supply of transplantable human organs thousands of patients who definitely would benefit from an organ or tissue transplant are confronted with excessively long waiting lists, resulting in needless suffering and death. Public communication is suggested here as a possible instrument to reduce this scarcity. According to mass communication theory the nature of the persuasive appeal is the primary determinant of campaign-effectiveness, i.e. successfully influencing behaviour towards filling in donorcards. A conventional and a refutational message style are experimentally tested as to their effects. The main hypothesis, emanating from a SEU-type model of filling in donorcards is experimentally confirmed. It is therefore concluded that finally a campaign stressing both positive behavioural consequences and negative behavioural consequences by refutation is a more promising instrument in recruiting organ donors than a conventional campaign, stressing solely positive consequences.