Communication Process and Effects
Term Paper
Evaluation of a Public Service Announcement in Hong Kong

Web Link of Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3Bsu_TB0Ug&feature=related

Name:

Mok Sin Yi, Sindy

Student ID: 0045024 Date of Submission: 4th January, 2012

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This paper discusses about the intended message, and various persuasive strategies being adopted in a public service announcement produced by the Hong Kong SAR Government. This selected public service announcement was produced for the Gambling Counseling Hotline Service (1834-633). It is a hotline service provided by the Hong Kong Home Affairs Bureau. The target audience of this PSA video is the problem and pathological gamblers. The PSA is produced in a hope that gamblers will call the hotline to seek for assistance in helping them to quit gambling.

The underlying persuasive message of the PSA is that gamblers will disappoint and lose their family if they continue to be obsessed with gambling, they should call this hotline for assistance in quitting gambling.

The PSA was creative in using metaphorical comparison to create irony in a gamblers’ confession. The man was portrayed as having more concern over gambling than his family. Different kinds of gambling, such as cards, horse racing, and soccer are used to correlate with his family members. The “Q” in the cards is compared with his wife, the horse is compared with his father, and the soccer player is compared with his son. Although he confessed that he loves his family, his behaviors are opposite to what he said.
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The video is strongly persuasive as the source has similarities to the receiver. The use of a problem gambler’s testimonial brings out the key message and creates common ground with the target audience. The target audience, who are problem gamblers, would associate themselves to the man in the video. They would find the testimonial of the man personally relevant to them as they are also obsessed with these kinds of gambling, and they may share the same experience. These problem gamblers will share the same thinking as the man: although their pathological gambling behaviors are disappointing their family, they try to find excuses to escape from the problem, and still claim that they love their family very much.

The video has used a fear-inducing message to persuade the audience: they will lose their family if they continue to be obsessed with gambling. It has used emotional appeal by arousing negative emotion within the target audience. The video has generated a sad feeling by its gloomy color tone, sad background music, and the sad faces of the man and his family. By warning the target audience of the danger of losing their family for gambling, this proposed real risk has cognitive impact that they will think rationally to quit gambling as a response on danger control. The video also has affective impact that they will be scared of the consequences and seek to reduce the fear by quitting gambling as a response to fear control. To reduce the fear and
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danger of losing their family, calling the hotline is a solution and thus results in behavioral impact of quitting gambling.

Quitting gambling involves great cognitive and behavioral effort as the problem gamblers have to change how they perceive and act on gambling instead of hiding from the problem because of fear. Some do not realize their gambling habit is pathological, others know that gambling is detrimental, but they lack determination or are swayed by peer pressure. The PSA video is effective as the receiver is persuaded in both central and peripheral processing route of the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM). To engage the receiver to the video by peripheral route, the use of animation has drawn their attention and interest into the video and made the message easier to accept. In the video, the word “gambling” and the consequences of gambling were never mentioned in the man’s script. When the receiver pays attention to the video, the animation will have impact in visual persuasion. The image that the man’s family leaves him because of gambling will stay in receiver’s memory out of their conscious awareness, together with emotional appeal created by the sad atmosphere in the video. As the receiver is attentively engaged in the video and realizes that the message is relevant to him, the receiver would also be engaging in central route. The message is reinforced in receiver’s central route by the
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slogan at the end, “To bet with your family, are you ready to afford?” (賭到眾叛親離， 你輸得起嗎?), which engage the receiver to think consciously and repeatedly about the message. They will have more careful and thoughtful considerations in quitting gambling. The message is processed in this dual-process and thus was effective in persuasion.

To conclude, the PSA is effective as it has identified the audience fear of losing their family and has established a common ground with them with emotional appeal that is personally relevant. As the audience is persuaded by both central and peripheral processing route, it may cause a permanent change in them in quitting gambling. The audience may respond favorably to phone the hotline and reached the aim of this video.

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