INFLUENCES OF SENSATION SEEKING, MESSAGE SENSATION VALUE, AND PROGRAMCONTEXT ON EFFECTIVENESS OF ANTICOCAINE PUBLIC-SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS

A sample of 120 participants (half high sensation seekers [HSSs] and h alf low sensation seekers [LSSs]) were randomly placed in one of four experimental viewing conditions: (a) high sensation value (HSV) televi sed anticocaine Public Service Announcements (PSAs) embedded in HSV te levision program context, (b) HSV PSAs embedded in low sensation value (LSV) context, (c) LSV PSAs embedded in HSV context, and (d) LSV PSAs embedded in LSV context. After participants observed the PSAs embedde d in the context, they completed items dealing with free/cued recall, attitude toward cocaine, behavioral intention to use cocaine, and perc eived effectiveness of the PSAs. A message sensation value (MSV) scale , developed in prototype form for this study, was used to establish ca tegories of HSV and LSV PSAs. Sensation seeking and MSV interacted to affect recall, attitude, behavioral intentions, and perceived recall. HSSs tended to recall more, have more negative attitudes toward cocain e, cite less likelihood to use cocaine, and perceive messages as more effective after viewing HSV PSAs. LSSs tended to recall more, have mor e negative attitudes toward cocaine, cite less likelihood to use cocai ne, and perceive messages as more effective after viewing LSV PSAs as compared to HSV PSAs. LSSs' differences were not as marked as HSSs'.. Program context approached significance in only one interaction, sugge sting that congruous program contexts and messages would enhance these effects.