New RAND research identifies early predictors of cognitive impairment and dementia using a nationally representative U.S. dataset, highlighting the role of modifiable factors and baseline cognitive health in prevention and intervention strategies.
A new report published by RAND, the nonprofit research organization, has identified early predictors of cognitive impairment and dementia (a progressive decline in cognitive abilities that interferes with daily functioning) using a large, nationally representative United States (U.S.) sample to enhance early diagnosis, prevention, and resource allocation strategies.
Background
Dementia is a leading cause of disability and dependency among older adults, imposing significant financial and emotional burdens on families and healthcare systems globally. Age is the strongest risk factor, but other determinants, including genetics, education, socioeconomic status, and lifestyle, also play critical roles. Recent studies suggest that modifiable factors, such as physical activity, social engagement, and cognitive stimulation, can influence the risk of cognitive decline. However, many existing prediction models lack precision and fail to incorporate sufficiently diverse datasets, limiting their effectiveness in early detection and intervention planning. Further research is essential to refine these models, particularly by enhancing generalizability through representative datasets and innovative methodologies.
About the Report
The report utilized data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a nationally representative, longitudinal survey of U.S. adults aged 50 and older, spanning from 1992 to 2016. Participants included individuals aged 65 and above who were dementia-free at baseline. Cognitive impairment and dementia were measured using a validated probabilistic model calibrated to clinical diagnoses from a subsample. This approach reduced classification errors, improved model accuracy, and minimized false-positive transitions between cognitive states.
To predict dementia incidence and prevalence, 181 potential risk factors were analyzed and categorized into demographic, socioeconomic, psychosocial, lifestyle, health behaviors, and cognitive domains. Predictors included variables such as education, health status, physical and cognitive activities, and genetic markers. The report also emphasizes long-term prediction, using baseline data at age 60 to forecast dementia outcomes at age 80. Regression models estimated the relationship between these predictors and dementia outcomes, with separate models for two-year, four-year, and long-term predictions. Predictors were ranked based on their explanatory power using partial R-squared values.
The analysis accounted for missing data through imputation or categorical inclusion, ensuring comprehensive coverage. Variables were selected based on their availability and relevance, with emphasis on modifiable factors. Statistical adjustments accounted for demographic and population-level disparities, such as differences in age, sampling weights, and SES indicators.
Results
The report used data from a nationally representative sample to identify several predictors of cognitive impairment and dementia. The analysis revealed that baseline cognitive ability, physical health, and functional limitations were among the most significant predictors. Among cognitive measures, delayed and immediate word recall, serial sevens, and self-reported memory showed the highest predictive power. These findings highlight the critical role of baseline cognitive function in identifying individuals at risk for cognitive decline.
Health and functional limitations were also significant predictors. Poor self-reported health, limitations in instrumental and basic activities of daily living, and physical performance metrics, such as walking speed and balance, strongly correlated with higher dementia risk. Additionally, chronic health conditions, such as diabetes and high body mass index, substantially increase the likelihood of cognitive impairment.
Socioeconomic status (SES) indicators, including education level, total years worked, and private health insurance coverage, demonstrated significant associations with dementia risk. Individuals with lower educational attainment and fewer years of work history faced a higher risk, emphasizing the potential long-term impact of SES on cognitive health. Lifestyle behaviors, such as regular physical activity and moderate alcohol consumption, were protective, while inactivity and excessive alcohol use were associated with increased risk.
Demographic factors, including age, race, and geographic birth region, also contributed to the risk. Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic individuals exhibited higher dementia incidence, although these disparities diminished when controlling for SES and health factors. Birth in the southern US or abroad was linked to elevated risk, suggesting regional and environmental influences.
Psychosocial factors provided additional insights. Engagement in hobbies, novel information activities, and social interactions correlated with a lower risk of dementia, as did traits such as conscientiousness and positive affect. Conversely, loneliness and high levels of negative affect were associated with increased risk. The long-term prediction models strongly emphasized cognitive and physical health factors, confirming their predictive power for outcomes measured two decades later.
Conclusions
The report identified key predictors of cognitive impairment and dementia, emphasizing the importance of early intervention and prevention strategies that focus on modifiable risk factors. Cognitive measures such as word recall, self-reported memory, functional limitations, and physical health metrics emerged as significant contributors. Socioeconomic status, including education and work history, and lifestyle behaviors, such as physical activity, further influenced dementia risk. Demographic and psychosocial factors provided additional insights, highlighting the multifactorial nature of dementia risk.
The findings suggest that targeted interventions, particularly those addressing physical and cognitive health, lifestyle behaviors, and SES disparities, could significantly reduce dementia prevalence. Policymakers are urged to consider evidence-based strategies to promote these protective measures.
New RAND research identifies early predictors of cognitive impairment and dementia using a nationally representative U.S. dataset, highlighting the role of modifiable factors and baseline cognitive health in prevention and intervention strategies.
A new report published by RAND, the nonprofit research organization, has identified early predictors of cognitive impairment and dementia (a progressive decline in cognitive abilities that interferes with daily functioning) using a large, nationally representative United States (U.S.) sample to enhance early diagnosis, prevention, and resource allocation strategies.
Background
Dementia is a leading cause of disability and dependency among older adults, imposing significant financial and emotional burdens on families and healthcare systems globally. Age is the strongest risk factor, but other determinants, including genetics, education, socioeconomic status, and lifestyle, also play critical roles. Recent studies suggest that modifiable factors, such as physical activity, social engagement, and cognitive stimulation, can influence the risk of cognitive decline. However, many existing prediction models lack precision and fail to incorporate sufficiently diverse datasets, limiting their effectiveness in early detection and intervention planning. Further research is essential to refine these models, particularly by enhancing generalizability through representative datasets and innovative methodologies.
About the Report
The report utilized data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a nationally representative, longitudinal survey of U.S. adults aged 50 and older, spanning from 1992 to 2016. Participants included individuals aged 65 and above who were dementia-free at baseline. Cognitive impairment and dementia were measured using a validated probabilistic model calibrated to clinical diagnoses from a subsample. This approach reduced classification errors, improved model accuracy, and minimized false-positive transitions between cognitive states.
To predict dementia incidence and prevalence, 181 potential risk factors were analyzed and categorized into demographic, socioeconomic, psychosocial, lifestyle, health behaviors, and cognitive domains. Predictors included variables such as education, health status, physical and cognitive activities, and genetic markers. The report also emphasizes long-term prediction, using baseline data at age 60 to forecast dementia outcomes at age 80. Regression models estimated the relationship between these predictors and dementia outcomes, with separate models for two-year, four-year, and long-term predictions. Predictors were ranked based on their explanatory power using partial R-squared values.
The analysis accounted for missing data through imputation or categorical inclusion, ensuring comprehensive coverage. Variables were selected based on their availability and relevance, with emphasis on modifiable factors. Statistical adjustments accounted for demographic and population-level disparities, such as differences in age, sampling weights, and SES indicators.
Results
The report used data from a nationally representative sample to identify several predictors of cognitive impairment and dementia. The analysis revealed that baseline cognitive ability, physical health, and functional limitations were among the most significant predictors. Among cognitive measures, delayed and immediate word recall, serial sevens, and self-reported memory showed the highest predictive power. These findings highlight the critical role of baseline cognitive function in identifying individuals at risk for cognitive decline.
Health and functional limitations were also significant predictors. Poor self-reported health, limitations in instrumental and basic activities of daily living, and physical performance metrics, such as walking speed and balance, strongly correlated with higher dementia risk. Additionally, chronic health conditions, such as diabetes and high body mass index, substantially increase the likelihood of cognitive impairment.
Socioeconomic status (SES) indicators, including education level, total years worked, and private health insurance coverage, demonstrated significant associations with dementia risk. Individuals with lower educational attainment and fewer years of work history faced a higher risk, emphasizing the potential long-term impact of SES on cognitive health. Lifestyle behaviors, such as regular physical activity and moderate alcohol consumption, were protective, while inactivity and excessive alcohol use were associated with increased risk.
Demographic factors, including age, race, and geographic birth region, also contributed to the risk. Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic individuals exhibited higher dementia incidence, although these disparities diminished when controlling for SES and health factors. Birth in the southern US or abroad was linked to elevated risk, suggesting regional and environmental influences.
Psychosocial factors provided additional insights. Engagement in hobbies, novel information activities, and social interactions correlated with a lower risk of dementia, as did traits such as conscientiousness and positive affect. Conversely, loneliness and high levels of negative affect were associated with increased risk. The long-term prediction models strongly emphasized cognitive and physical health factors, confirming their predictive power for outcomes measured two decades later.
Conclusions
The report identified key predictors of cognitive impairment and dementia, emphasizing the importance of early intervention and prevention strategies that focus on modifiable risk factors. Cognitive measures such as word recall, self-reported memory, functional limitations, and physical health metrics emerged as significant contributors. Socioeconomic status, including education and work history, and lifestyle behaviors, such as physical activity, further influenced dementia risk. Demographic and psychosocial factors provided additional insights, highlighting the multifactorial nature of dementia risk.
The findings suggest that targeted interventions, particularly those addressing physical and cognitive health, lifestyle behaviors, and SES disparities, could significantly reduce dementia prevalence. Policymakers are urged to consider evidence-based strategies to promote these protective measures.
New RAND research identifies early predictors of cognitive impairment and dementia using a nationally representative U.S. dataset, highlighting the role of modifiable factors and baseline cognitive health in prevention and intervention strategies.
A new report published by RAND, the nonprofit research organization, has identified early predictors of cognitive impairment and dementia (a progressive decline in cognitive abilities that interferes with daily functioning) using a large, nationally representative United States (U.S.) sample to enhance early diagnosis, prevention, and resource allocation strategies.
Background
Dementia is a leading cause of disability and dependency among older adults, imposing significant financial and emotional burdens on families and healthcare systems globally. Age is the strongest risk factor, but other determinants, including genetics, education, socioeconomic status, and lifestyle, also play critical roles. Recent studies suggest that modifiable factors, such as physical activity, social engagement, and cognitive stimulation, can influence the risk of cognitive decline. However, many existing prediction models lack precision and fail to incorporate sufficiently diverse datasets, limiting their effectiveness in early detection and intervention planning. Further research is essential to refine these models, particularly by enhancing generalizability through representative datasets and innovative methodologies.
About the Report
The report utilized data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a nationally representative, longitudinal survey of U.S. adults aged 50 and older, spanning from 1992 to 2016. Participants included individuals aged 65 and above who were dementia-free at baseline. Cognitive impairment and dementia were measured using a validated probabilistic model calibrated to clinical diagnoses from a subsample. This approach reduced classification errors, improved model accuracy, and minimized false-positive transitions between cognitive states.
To predict dementia incidence and prevalence, 181 potential risk factors were analyzed and categorized into demographic, socioeconomic, psychosocial, lifestyle, health behaviors, and cognitive domains. Predictors included variables such as education, health status, physical and cognitive activities, and genetic markers. The report also emphasizes long-term prediction, using baseline data at age 60 to forecast dementia outcomes at age 80. Regression models estimated the relationship between these predictors and dementia outcomes, with separate models for two-year, four-year, and long-term predictions. Predictors were ranked based on their explanatory power using partial R-squared values.
The analysis accounted for missing data through imputation or categorical inclusion, ensuring comprehensive coverage. Variables were selected based on their availability and relevance, with emphasis on modifiable factors. Statistical adjustments accounted for demographic and population-level disparities, such as differences in age, sampling weights, and SES indicators.
Results
The report used data from a nationally representative sample to identify several predictors of cognitive impairment and dementia. The analysis revealed that baseline cognitive ability, physical health, and functional limitations were among the most significant predictors. Among cognitive measures, delayed and immediate word recall, serial sevens, and self-reported memory showed the highest predictive power. These findings highlight the critical role of baseline cognitive function in identifying individuals at risk for cognitive decline.
Health and functional limitations were also significant predictors. Poor self-reported health, limitations in instrumental and basic activities of daily living, and physical performance metrics, such as walking speed and balance, strongly correlated with higher dementia risk. Additionally, chronic health conditions, such as diabetes and high body mass index, substantially increase the likelihood of cognitive impairment.
Socioeconomic status (SES) indicators, including education level, total years worked, and private health insurance coverage, demonstrated significant associations with dementia risk. Individuals with lower educational attainment and fewer years of work history faced a higher risk, emphasizing the potential long-term impact of SES on cognitive health. Lifestyle behaviors, such as regular physical activity and moderate alcohol consumption, were protective, while inactivity and excessive alcohol use were associated with increased risk.
Demographic factors, including age, race, and geographic birth region, also contributed to the risk. Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic individuals exhibited higher dementia incidence, although these disparities diminished when controlling for SES and health factors. Birth in the southern US or abroad was linked to elevated risk, suggesting regional and environmental influences.
Psychosocial factors provided additional insights. Engagement in hobbies, novel information activities, and social interactions correlated with a lower risk of dementia, as did traits such as conscientiousness and positive affect. Conversely, loneliness and high levels of negative affect were associated with increased risk. The long-term prediction models strongly emphasized cognitive and physical health factors, confirming their predictive power for outcomes measured two decades later.
Conclusions
The report identified key predictors of cognitive impairment and dementia, emphasizing the importance of early intervention and prevention strategies that focus on modifiable risk factors. Cognitive measures such as word recall, self-reported memory, functional limitations, and physical health metrics emerged as significant contributors. Socioeconomic status, including education and work history, and lifestyle behaviors, such as physical activity, further influenced dementia risk. Demographic and psychosocial factors provided additional insights, highlighting the multifactorial nature of dementia risk.
The findings suggest that targeted interventions, particularly those addressing physical and cognitive health, lifestyle behaviors, and SES disparities, could significantly reduce dementia prevalence. Policymakers are urged to consider evidence-based strategies to promote these protective measures.
Authors: Wan S. Jung1, Won Yong Jang2, and Soo Rhee3
1Department of Professional Communications, Farmingdale State College, New York 2Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, Wisconsin 3Department of Mass Communication, Towson University, Maryland
Corresponding Author:
Wan S. Jung, Ph.D Knapp Hall 30 2350 Broadhollow Road, Farmingdale, NY 11735-1021 jungw@farmingdale.edu 934-420-2276
Wan S. Jung, PhD is an Associate Professor of Professional Communications at Farmingdale State College, NY. His research interests focus on the credibility assessment process of digital information.
Won Yong Jang, PhD is a Professor at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire. He specializes in 1) international communication, 2) news media and society in East Asian countries, 3) climate change policy & communication, 4) public opinion on North Korea’s Nuclear Program, and 5) territorial disputes in the Asia-Pacific Region.
Soo Rhee, PhD is a Professor at Towson University, Maryland. Her research interests include luxury brand advertising, gender portrayals in advertising, dynamics of electronic word-of-mouth, cross-cultural studies in advertising and message strategies in health advertising.
ABSTRACT An increasing number of people rely on the Internet as their primary information source and use it to share their opinions and thoughts with others. Generally, individuals adopt a systematic approach when processing sports information, evaluating its completeness and accuracy due to the serious consequences of incomplete or inaccurate information, such as monetary loss and negative impacts on child development. However, our study finds that the heuristics of online information, even with subtle changes in design features, generate more positive attitudinal and behavioral changes compared to central cues (i.e., informational posting). Our findings suggest a dissociation between involvement and the effects of heuristics. This study also provides an empirical framework for predicting how people process information in digital media environments. Additional findings and implications are discussed.
Key Words: youth sport communication, visual impact of social media posting, message appeal
INTRODUCTION The youth sport market is a huge and fast-growing industry, ranging from organized sports leagues to recreational activities. The market for youth sports in the United States stood at 15.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2017 and grew to 19.2 billion U.S. dollars by 2019 (11). With a fast-growing trend (i.e., a growth rate of 25.4% from 2017 to 2019) with various options, parents became more active in searching for information. As social media are pervasive, rapidly evolving, and increasingly influencing parents’ daily life and their sport consumption, parents increasingly turn to the internet as a source of community, which helps them connect, communicate, and share information (18).
The rapid growth of online sports information production and dissemination through social media parenting communities (e.g., Facebook local groups and Nextdoor) raises important research questions about how individuals process online information provided by other consumers (i.e., experienced parents whose child(ren) have participated in your sport programs) in youth sport consumption decision making. Moreover, since sport consumers make decisions about whether or not to adopt online sports information based on their own judgement (e.g., attitudinal formation), how individuals evaluate online information is central to sports communication agendas.
Although the formation of attitudes toward information can be attributed to multiple aspects of that information (e.g., source credibility, information completeness), sport consumers using online resources are more reliant on how the information is presented than on the quality of the argument (10), and subtle graphical adjustments become relevant when online parenting community members share their own experiences with other members on social media platforms. In order to emphasize their own views, web users often create visual prominence using subtle design elements, such as capitalized subject lines, copy-and-paste text art (also called keyboard art, e.g., ≧◡≦), or bullet-point symbols. In addition to subtle design changes, the characteristics of the online posting can be varied based on the degree of informativeness (i.e., emotion-based versus information-based).
The purpose of the current study is twofold. First, it will explore the effect on attitudinal formation and behavioral intentions of the message appeals and subtle graphical adjustments of posts in online parenting communities in the youth sport consumption context. Second, the study will investigate whether the strength of the relationship between attitude and behavioral intentions varies based on message appeals. Overall, the study will seek to advance understanding of digital media by examining how small graphical changes and message appeals impact youth sport consumers’ attitudes and behaviors when searching for consumer-generated information (e.g., testimonials) in online communities.
LITERATURE REVIEW Parent-to-Parent Online Information in Youth Sport Consumption “It takes a village to raise a child” is a proverb to explain the role of and community support in parenting. As social aspect is one of the primary factors that drives parents and their children to be involved in sport program (1), the influence of other parents’ opinion and the role of parent community are even more prominent in youth sport consumer’s decision making process. Braunstein-Minkove & Metz (2019) noted in their research on the role of mothers in sport consumption that youth sport consumption might not always about the sport but the experience. Therefore, parents of youth rely on other parents’ opinion to obtain relevant and sufficient information and evaluate various youth sport program options available. In order to provide the best sporting and exercise experience for their children, parents of young children are willing to hear voices of other parents (i.e., testimonial) regarding the type of sports, sports programs, and sporting events their children would participate in.
With the modern technology and the advent of social media, the notion of the village (or supporting community) has been expanded from a physical village to a digital community. Social media platforms support a variety of user generated content to be disseminated to other users and allows users to participate in interactive discussions. Among the various types of social media platforms, Facebook have become the most prevalent web-based service in the world (21) and remaining the most popular site by far (12). Also, Facebook recently provides an option to mark the group type as parenting group, which gives parents new ways to discover and engage with their communities (5). Though the role of online community and the influence of information from other youth sport consumers (i.e., testimonials from other parents in such online community) in youth sport consumer’s decision-making process became more prominent, there is no previous research to explore the effects of the presentation of online information on consumers’ attitudinal and behavioral response in youth sport consumption context.
The Impact of Visual Prominence Quick and low effort cognitive information processing has been investigated in the field of psychology since the 1970s (e.g., 9, 13), and the research indicates that impression formation is the result of the perceiver’s rapid response to selective or incomplete information. In other words, one’s appraisal of an event occurs without intention or conscious thought. Theories of impression formation in the context of digital communication have been developed by Fogg (2003) and Wathen and Burkell (2002), and their studies suggest that visual prominence—the visual salience that allows people to effortlessly notice the presence of graphic elements (e.g., bold vs. non-bold font)—is a primary driver of attitudinal formation, rather than information quality.
The impact of visual prominence can also be explained by individuals’ reliance, when making decisions, on transactive memory systems, which consist of two key elements: internal memory (e.g., personal experience) and external memory (e.g., another person’s expertise; 14). The presence of an external memory will activate a transactive memory system, and such a dependency on external memory increases efficiency and cognitive labor power (20). Thus, external sources of knowledge can have a significant impact on one’s perception of what to accept as true and how confidently to accept it.
The theoretical and empirical evidence for transactive memory systems is based on offline social interactions (e.g., interactions within family groups). However, recent studies suggest that online sources can also trigger transactive memory systems due to the similarity between the process of outsourcing cognitive tasks to other people and the process of outsourcing cognitive tasks to the Internet (6). This nonhuman transactive memory network is further fueled by the unique features of the Internet (e.g., accessibility, breadth, immediacy of information), but such features may distort one’s ability to calibrate personal knowledge because the boundary between internal and external memory becomes unclear. That is, individuals often mix up information obtained through the Internet with information stored in the brain, and this illusion inflates self-ratings of competence regarding personal knowledge and decision-making (17). Recent research on such illusions also suggests that people tend to believe they can solve problems even in unfamiliar domains and that their decision-making processes are often based on heuristics, such as visual prominence (7, 8); the impact of visual prominence would thus be greater in digital media environments.
Since online parenting community members can establish the visual prominence of their postings on social media platforms only with subtle graphical adjustments, the current study will investigate how subtle changes (e.g., capitalizing subject lines, use of text art) to posts in online youth sport communities influence individuals’ attitude formation and behavioral intentions. Given the exploratory nature of the topic of individual information judgment in digital media environments, the following hypotheses are proposed: H1: Visually prominent postings in online youth sport communities form stronger attitudes than less prominent postings. H2: Visually prominent postings in online youth sport communities form stronger behavioral intentions than less prominent postings.
The Impact of Involvement on Message Appeals The persuasiveness and prevalence of various appeal types (e.g., emotional, informative) have been extensively examined in different contexts, such as brand familiarity (Rhee & Jung, 2019), cultural variability (Han & Shavitt, 1994), and involvement (Flora & Maibach, 1990). However, less is known about the differential effects of appeal types in the context of online youth sport communities, and the current study therefore presents an exploration of the question of which type of message appeal is most persuasive in such communities. The elaboration likelihood model (ELM; 16) is one of the most prominent theoretical frameworks employed in the message appeal literature and is applied in various contexts, such as public health service announcements (Perse et al., 1996), crisis management (Lee & Atkinson, 2019), and advertising (Stafford & Day, 1995). Studies have also commonly found a moderating effect of involvement on message appeals, and according to the ELM, people tend to rely on argument quality (e.g., information completeness, comprehensiveness) when processing information under high involvement conditions, with persuasion less likely to occur through peripheral cues, such as peers’ emotional experiences. The converse is also true under low involvement conditions.
However, a recent study by Jung et al. (2017) found evidence that contradicts the prevailing literature on the role of involvement in digital media environments; the study claims that individuals often find it hard to motivate themselves to process information thoroughly, regardless of involvement levels, due to the nature of the Internet, which inundates them with massive amounts of non-verifiable information. Individuals therefore tend to compromise the accuracy of their decisions, which can require extensive cognitive effort, by relying on the heuristic aspects of information.
In addition, in the context of online youth sports communities, people tend to seek others’ prior experiences (e.g., a coach’s personality) and emotionally supportive messages because any objective information about a youth sports program (e.g., fees, coach’s experience, facilities) can be easily found through sources such as the program’s website. It can therefore be assumed that the moderating role of involvement in appeal types might be limited by the dominance of social media. Nevertheless, because there is still insufficient evidence for the limited role of involvement in the social media context, we propose the following research question: RQ1: What effect does involvement have on the appeal types of posts in online youth sport communities?
The Moderating Impact of Involvement on the Attitude–Intention Relationship Attitudes are among the most significant predictors of behavioral intentions in psychology. According to the theory of planned behavior (TPB), intention functions as an antecedent of behavior and is attributable to individual attitudes, together with subjective norms and perceived behavioral control (Ajzen, 1991). Although a number of studies have provided strong evidence for the relationship between intentions and the three causal variables of the TPB, a meta-analytic study by Cooke and Sheeran (2004) also noted that less than 42% of the variance in intentions can be explained by those variables.
Consequently, there have been numerous attempts to increase the predictive power of the TPB by exploring moderators of the relationship between intention and the TPB variables, such as attitudinal ambivalence (Armitage & Conner, 2000) and certainty (Bassili, 1996). In addition to these moderating variables, Petty et al. (1983) has offered theoretical and empirical evidence that the attitude–intention relationship is more consistent under high involvement conditions, because attitudes established by highly involved people are more stable than those of lowly involved people. Verplanken (1989) also examined whether involvement can explain additional variance in the attitude–intention relationship, although that study was in the context of nuclear energy.
Therefore, the current study will examine the moderating role of involvement in the attitude–intention relationship in the sport communication context. H3: High involvement will be associated with greater attitude–intention consistency than low involvement.
METHOD Subjects and Procedure 192 participants who had parenting experiences (male = 64%) from the United States between the ages of 20 and 55 completed the study through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk). For participants’ ethnicity, the most common ethnicity was Caucasian (53.6%), followed by Asian (33.9%), African American (5.2%), Hispanic (3.6%), and other racial backgrounds (3.6%). To participate in the study, subjects were requested to provide electronic consent. And subjects were debriefed and compensated upon completion of the study.
Experimental Treatment Conditions To investigate the effects of visual prominence (high vs. low prominence) and message appeals (emotional vs. informative message) on online youth sport program postings, four versions of online postings were created as stimuli, and the subjects were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions: low prominence and emotional (n = 49), high prominence and emotional (n = 49), low prominence and informative (n = 49), and high prominence and informative (n = 45).
The postings contained an online community member-created message about a local youth soccer program. The community member-created posting consisted of either factual information about the soccer program (informative appeal) (i.e., up to 12 kids in one session with two coaches, all are CPR first aid and AED certified, and having an indoor field) or user experiences (emotional appeal) (i.e., it was such an amazing experience and my son loves his current coach). A youth soccer program was selected as the topic for this study because of popularity of the sport among young parents. The manipulation of visual prominence was carried out by differentiating graphic elements between high prominence and low prominence conditions. Since parent community members on social media platforms can emphasize their posting with subtle graphical alterations, the high prominence version was designed to help the study participants notice the key messages by capitalizing key words, using a bulleted list and line-breaks in order to increase readability, and using a text art. The low prominence version lacks those design features.
Dependent Measures Attitude toward the online posting The attitude toward the online youth program posting was measured using three semantically differential items (i.e., good/bad, favorable/unfavorable, negative/positive) emerged from the literature on the scale (Lee & Hong, 2016). The scale was internally consistent (Cronbach’s = .91, M = 4.70, SD = 1.81).
Behavioral Intentions Subjects were also asked to answer their intentions to 1) recommend the youth soccer program on the posting you just read and 2) register for the soccer program in the future on 7-point Likert-type scales ranging from 1 (not at all) 7 (extremely). The items were averaged to create a behavioral intention scale (Cronbach’s = .83, M = 4.33, SD = 1.73).
Independent Measure Involvement Involvement in sports activities may influence the attitudinal formation and behavioral intentions. Thus, this study measured personal involvement with sports activities by using three 7-point (1 = strongly disagree, 7 strongly agree) Likert-type scales, the participants reported on how much they agreed with the following three statements: “I enjoy playing sport,” “Sport plays a central role in my life,” and “Sport says a lot about who I am.” The three items were averaged to measure involvement (Cronbach’s = .86, M = 5.38, SD = 1.35). This study used a median split to categorize high-involvement (N = 86) and low-involvement conditions (N = 83).
RESULTS Manipulation Checks The visual prominence manipulations were examined. Using two seven-point sematic differential items, the participants were asked to rate the extent to which they thought the format of the online posting they just read were “attractive/not attractive” and “likable/not likable” (Cronbach’s = .83, M = 4.81, SD = 1.75). A t test between the two prominence conditions (low vs. high prominence) showed subjects felt that the youth sport program posting was more visually prominent when it included noticeable graphic elements (M = 5.60, SD = 1.23) than when it lacked the elements (M = 4.05, SD = 1.84), t (190) = 6.82, p < .001.
This study measured the degree of informativeness of online postings (emotional versus informative) by asking participants to rate the extent to which they though the posting they just read was “emotional” and “warmhearted” (Cronbach’s = .80 M = 4.39, SD = 1.61). A t test between two message appeal conditions showed that the emotional appeal group (M = 4.94, SD = 1.27) perceived the posting to be significantly more emotional than the informative appeal group (M = 3.82, SD = 1.73), t (190) = 5.11, p < .001. H1 and H2: Visual Prominence Main Effects
Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to determine the significant impacts of visual prominence, message appeal, and involvement on attitudes and behavioral intentions. H1 and H2 suggest that participants reading visually prominent postings would form stronger attitudes and behavioral intentions than did participants reading less prominent postings. Follow-up analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests were also performed the examine the effect of visual prominence for each of the dependent variables. Findings revealed that the effect of visual prominence was pronounced in relation to being able to determine consumers’ attitudes (M_High Prominence = 5.30, SD = 2.02 vs. M_Low Prominence = 4.14, SD = 1.38; F (1, 169) = 20.90, p < .001, partial η2 = .12) and behavioral intentions (M_High Prominence = 4.69, SD = 1.64 vs. M_Low Prominence = 4.01, SD = 1.73; F (1, 169) = 7.24, p < .01, partial η2 = .04). Thus, H1 and H2 were supported.
RQ1 and RQ2: Influence of Involvement on Visual Prominence and Message Appeals The impact of consumers’ involvement on visual prominence and messages appeals were examined by 2 (visual prominence) X 2 (involvement) ANOVAs and 2 (message appeal) X 2 (involvement) ANOVAs with attitudes toward the online posting and behavioral intentions as dependent variables. The ANOVA results showed that that there were not significant interaction effects of the involvement-appeal relation and the involvement-visual prominence relation. The p values of the aforementioned relations were greater than .37. However, the impacts of visual prominence and message appeals were greater under both involvement conditions (see Figure 1 and 2).
H3: Moderating effect of involvement on the attitude-intention relation This study anticipated that the attitude toward the online posting would form a stronger impact on the formation of behavioral intentions for high involvement conditions. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to examine whether involvement modifies the magnitude of the attitude-intention relation. Then, each correlation coefficient values for the high- and low-involvement conditions was converted into z scores by using Fisher’s r to z transformation. In order to compare the z scores for the two conditions, the following formula was implemented to determine the observed z score: Zobserved = (Z1−Z2) ∕ (square root of [1∕N1−3] + (1∕N2−3))
For the high involvement condition (n = 83), the correlation coefficient for the attitude-intention relation was .49 (p < .001). For the low involvement condition (n = 84), the correlation was .25 (p < .05). The test statistics, z = 1.78, p < .001 (one-tailed test), indicate that the correlation in the high involvement condition is significantly higher than it is in the low involvement condition. Therefore, Hypothesis 3 is supported.
DISCUSSION Our findings suggest a lack of association between involvement and the effects of heuristics. The moderating role of involvement has been well established since the introduction of Petty et al.’s (1983) ELM and Chaiken’s (1987) heuristic-systematic model. According to those theories, involvement is a significant determinant in the selection of an information processing route (peripheral versus central). It is also commonly acknowledged in the sport communication field that individuals generally use a systematic mode (i.e., evaluating completeness/accuracy) when processing online sport information under high-involvement conditions in order to avoid the serious consequences of incomplete or inaccurate information (e.g., monetary loss, negative impacts on child development). However, our study found that the non-systematic mode is often activated for both high-involvement and low-involvement participants, and this finding thus contributes to the literature on individuals’ approaches to online information processing.
According to evidence-accumulation models (2), individuals reach a conclusion once there is enough evidence to support a particular case, but they can also alter the amount of evidence needed for coming to that decision. Although individuals generally want to make accurate decisions, Internet users often compromise the accuracy of their decisions by reducing the amount of evidence required to validate the information they are investigating. This tendency is attributable to online information overload, in which individuals experience difficulties in understanding the nature of a particular topic (Robin & Holmes, 2008). The tendency suggests a new general pattern of the speed–accuracy trade-off (SAT) in social media environments. In line with the SAT, there are two driving forces in the decision-making process (4); one emphasizes faster (or more efficient) decisions, while the other emphasizes higher accuracy. Although there are trade-offs between speed and accuracy, the two can be pursued independently, but they produce a wide spectrum of outcomes, from slower but more accurate decisions to quicker but less accurate decisions. In social media environments, individuals are motivated to engage in less-effortful information processing and are more likely to trade accuracy for speed in the decision-making process.
The current study also found another reason for further examining the role of involvement in social media environments. It has been assumed that persuasion is less likely to occur through emotional messages when an individual is highly involved in an issue because people tend to scrutinize issue-relevant information. However, our findings suggest that emotional messages can be more persuasive than informational messages regardless of the level of involvement, especially in the online youth sport community context, and these findings can be explained by the types of information individuals seek in online communities. Objective information about a youth program (e.g., fees, coaches’ experience, facilities) can be easily found through sources such as the youth program’s website, but people also tend to seek others’ prior experiences and emotionally supportive messages when joining online communities. It is important to stress that the attitude–intention relationship varies with involvement levels. Our study shows that the attitudes of high-involvement participants are more predictive of the intention to perform a specific act (e.g., signing up a youth sport program) than the attitudes of low-involvement participants. Our findings regarding the attitude–intention relationship suggest that the moderating effect of involvement on that relationship is applicable to not only traditional media environments (e.g., Krosnick, 1988; Verplanken, 1989), but also to social media environments.
In addition to the theoretical implications of this study, understanding parents’ information processing in assessing youth sport program is an integral part of the sport communication landscape. With the growing importance of (local) parenting community groups on social media and the impact of user generated message, this study will help youth sport service providers understand the effective way of crafting online information. This study will shed lights on communication strategies for youth sport providers when they try to utilize a form of testimonial in introducing their services to the market. This study will also lead how social influencer marketing would be employed in delivering and disseminating the promotional messages to the consumers.
This study has some limitations. All its subjects were recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Although MTurk respondents tend to be more diverse than student samples in terms of demographic, psychographic, and geographic characteristics, some reliability issues (e.g., the work ethic of MTurk respondents) are unavoidable (3). Another limitation is that this study was conducted with samples of people who had parenting experiences because the study used a youth soccer program to develop the experimental stimuli, and the context of parenting might amplify reactions to emotional messages. We therefore recommend that future studies be conducted with more diverse samples and more popular sports topics (e.g., local sports events) in order to exclude the specific study topic and characteristics of the sample as potentially confounding factors.
REFERENCES
Braunstein-Minkove, J. R., & Metz, J. L. (2019). Sport MOMsumers: A Modern Reexamination of the Role That Mothers Play in their Families’ Professional Sport Consumption. Journal of Applied Sport Management, 11(3), 7.
Brown, S. D., & Heathcote, A. J. (2008). The simplest complete model of choice reaction time: Linear ballistic accumulation. Cognitive Psychology, 57, 153-178.
Buhrmester, M. Kwang, T., & Gosling, S. (2011). Amazon’s mechanical turk: A new source of inexpensive, yet high-quality, data? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6, 3-5.
Donkin, C. Little, D. & Houpt, J. (2014). Assessing the speed-accuracy trade-off effect on the capacity of information processing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 40(3), 1183.
Facebook. (2020, June 16) Introducing a New Group Type for Parenting. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/community/whats-new/new-parenting-group-type/
Fernbach, P. M., Rogers, T., Fox, C. R., & Sloman, S. A. (2013). Political extremism is supported by an illusion of understanding. Psychological Science, 24, 939-946.
Fisher, M., Goddu, M. K., & Keil, F. C. (2015). Searching for explanation: How the Internet inflates estimates of internal knowledge, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 144 (3), 52-66.
Fisher, M. & Keil, F. C. (2014). The illusion of argument justification. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 143, 425-433.
Fiske, S. T. (1980). Attention and weight in person perception: The impact of negative and extreme behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38, 889-906.
Fogg, B. J. (2003). Prominence-interpretation theory. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems CHI, 03, 722-723.
Gough, C. (2021, March 1). Youth sports market size in the U.S. 2017-2019. Statista. https://www.statista.com/
Greenwood, S., Perrin, A., & Duggan, M. (2016). Social media update 2016. Pew Research Center, 11(2), 1-18.
Hamilton, D. L. & Zanna, M. (1972). Differential weighting of favorable and unfavorable attributes in impressions of personality. Journal of Experimental Research in Personality, 6, 204-212.
Hollingshead, A. B. (2001). Cognitive interdependence and convergent expectations in transactive memory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 1080-1089.
Jung, W. S., Chung, M., & Rhee, E. S. (2017). The effects of attractiveness and source expertise on online health site. Health Communication
Petty, R., Cacioppo, J., & Schumann, D. (1983). Central and peripheral routes to advertising effectiveness: The moderating role of involvement. Journal of Consumer Research, 10, 135-146.
Pronin, E. (2009). The introspection illusion. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.) Advances in experimental social psychology (pp. 1-67). Burlington, VT: Academic Press.
Valtchanov, B. L., Parry, D. C., Glover, T. D., & Mulcahy, C. M. (2016). ‘A Whole New World’: Mothers’ Technologically Mediated Leisure. Leisure Sciences, 38(1), 50-67.
Wathen, C., & Burkell, J. (2002). Believe it or not: Factors influencing credibility of the Web. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 53, 134-144.
Wegner, D. M. (1987). Transactive memory: A contemporary analysis of the group mind. In B. Mullen & G. R. Goethals (Eds.) Theories of group behavior (pp. 185-208). New York, NY: Springer-Verlag.
Wittkower, D. E. (Ed.). (2010). Facebook and philosophy: what’s on your mind? (Vol. 50). Open Court.
Authors: Wan S. Jung1, Won Yong Jang2, and Soo Rhee3
1Department of Professional Communications, Farmingdale State College, New York 2Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, Wisconsin 3Department of Mass Communication, Towson University, Maryland
Corresponding Author:
Wan S. Jung, Ph.D Knapp Hall 30 2350 Broadhollow Road, Farmingdale, NY 11735-1021 jungw@farmingdale.edu 934-420-2276
Wan S. Jung, PhD is an Associate Professor of Professional Communications at Farmingdale State College, NY. His research interests focus on the credibility assessment process of digital information.
Won Yong Jang, PhD is a Professor at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire. He specializes in 1) international communication, 2) news media and society in East Asian countries, 3) climate change policy & communication, 4) public opinion on North Korea’s Nuclear Program, and 5) territorial disputes in the Asia-Pacific Region.
Soo Rhee, PhD is a Professor at Towson University, Maryland. Her research interests include luxury brand advertising, gender portrayals in advertising, dynamics of electronic word-of-mouth, cross-cultural studies in advertising and message strategies in health advertising.
ABSTRACT An increasing number of people rely on the Internet as their primary information source and use it to share their opinions and thoughts with others. Generally, individuals adopt a systematic approach when processing sports information, evaluating its completeness and accuracy due to the serious consequences of incomplete or inaccurate information, such as monetary loss and negative impacts on child development. However, our study finds that the heuristics of online information, even with subtle changes in design features, generate more positive attitudinal and behavioral changes compared to central cues (i.e., informational posting). Our findings suggest a dissociation between involvement and the effects of heuristics. This study also provides an empirical framework for predicting how people process information in digital media environments. Additional findings and implications are discussed.
Key Words: youth sport communication, visual impact of social media posting, message appeal
INTRODUCTION The youth sport market is a huge and fast-growing industry, ranging from organized sports leagues to recreational activities. The market for youth sports in the United States stood at 15.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2017 and grew to 19.2 billion U.S. dollars by 2019 (11). With a fast-growing trend (i.e., a growth rate of 25.4% from 2017 to 2019) with various options, parents became more active in searching for information. As social media are pervasive, rapidly evolving, and increasingly influencing parents’ daily life and their sport consumption, parents increasingly turn to the internet as a source of community, which helps them connect, communicate, and share information (18).
The rapid growth of online sports information production and dissemination through social media parenting communities (e.g., Facebook local groups and Nextdoor) raises important research questions about how individuals process online information provided by other consumers (i.e., experienced parents whose child(ren) have participated in your sport programs) in youth sport consumption decision making. Moreover, since sport consumers make decisions about whether or not to adopt online sports information based on their own judgement (e.g., attitudinal formation), how individuals evaluate online information is central to sports communication agendas.
Although the formation of attitudes toward information can be attributed to multiple aspects of that information (e.g., source credibility, information completeness), sport consumers using online resources are more reliant on how the information is presented than on the quality of the argument (10), and subtle graphical adjustments become relevant when online parenting community members share their own experiences with other members on social media platforms. In order to emphasize their own views, web users often create visual prominence using subtle design elements, such as capitalized subject lines, copy-and-paste text art (also called keyboard art, e.g., ≧◡≦), or bullet-point symbols. In addition to subtle design changes, the characteristics of the online posting can be varied based on the degree of informativeness (i.e., emotion-based versus information-based).
The purpose of the current study is twofold. First, it will explore the effect on attitudinal formation and behavioral intentions of the message appeals and subtle graphical adjustments of posts in online parenting communities in the youth sport consumption context. Second, the study will investigate whether the strength of the relationship between attitude and behavioral intentions varies based on message appeals. Overall, the study will seek to advance understanding of digital media by examining how small graphical changes and message appeals impact youth sport consumers’ attitudes and behaviors when searching for consumer-generated information (e.g., testimonials) in online communities.
LITERATURE REVIEW Parent-to-Parent Online Information in Youth Sport Consumption “It takes a village to raise a child” is a proverb to explain the role of and community support in parenting. As social aspect is one of the primary factors that drives parents and their children to be involved in sport program (1), the influence of other parents’ opinion and the role of parent community are even more prominent in youth sport consumer’s decision making process. Braunstein-Minkove & Metz (2019) noted in their research on the role of mothers in sport consumption that youth sport consumption might not always about the sport but the experience. Therefore, parents of youth rely on other parents’ opinion to obtain relevant and sufficient information and evaluate various youth sport program options available. In order to provide the best sporting and exercise experience for their children, parents of young children are willing to hear voices of other parents (i.e., testimonial) regarding the type of sports, sports programs, and sporting events their children would participate in.
With the modern technology and the advent of social media, the notion of the village (or supporting community) has been expanded from a physical village to a digital community. Social media platforms support a variety of user generated content to be disseminated to other users and allows users to participate in interactive discussions. Among the various types of social media platforms, Facebook have become the most prevalent web-based service in the world (21) and remaining the most popular site by far (12). Also, Facebook recently provides an option to mark the group type as parenting group, which gives parents new ways to discover and engage with their communities (5). Though the role of online community and the influence of information from other youth sport consumers (i.e., testimonials from other parents in such online community) in youth sport consumer’s decision-making process became more prominent, there is no previous research to explore the effects of the presentation of online information on consumers’ attitudinal and behavioral response in youth sport consumption context.
The Impact of Visual Prominence Quick and low effort cognitive information processing has been investigated in the field of psychology since the 1970s (e.g., 9, 13), and the research indicates that impression formation is the result of the perceiver’s rapid response to selective or incomplete information. In other words, one’s appraisal of an event occurs without intention or conscious thought. Theories of impression formation in the context of digital communication have been developed by Fogg (2003) and Wathen and Burkell (2002), and their studies suggest that visual prominence—the visual salience that allows people to effortlessly notice the presence of graphic elements (e.g., bold vs. non-bold font)—is a primary driver of attitudinal formation, rather than information quality.
The impact of visual prominence can also be explained by individuals’ reliance, when making decisions, on transactive memory systems, which consist of two key elements: internal memory (e.g., personal experience) and external memory (e.g., another person’s expertise; 14). The presence of an external memory will activate a transactive memory system, and such a dependency on external memory increases efficiency and cognitive labor power (20). Thus, external sources of knowledge can have a significant impact on one’s perception of what to accept as true and how confidently to accept it.
The theoretical and empirical evidence for transactive memory systems is based on offline social interactions (e.g., interactions within family groups). However, recent studies suggest that online sources can also trigger transactive memory systems due to the similarity between the process of outsourcing cognitive tasks to other people and the process of outsourcing cognitive tasks to the Internet (6). This nonhuman transactive memory network is further fueled by the unique features of the Internet (e.g., accessibility, breadth, immediacy of information), but such features may distort one’s ability to calibrate personal knowledge because the boundary between internal and external memory becomes unclear. That is, individuals often mix up information obtained through the Internet with information stored in the brain, and this illusion inflates self-ratings of competence regarding personal knowledge and decision-making (17). Recent research on such illusions also suggests that people tend to believe they can solve problems even in unfamiliar domains and that their decision-making processes are often based on heuristics, such as visual prominence (7, 8); the impact of visual prominence would thus be greater in digital media environments.
Since online parenting community members can establish the visual prominence of their postings on social media platforms only with subtle graphical adjustments, the current study will investigate how subtle changes (e.g., capitalizing subject lines, use of text art) to posts in online youth sport communities influence individuals’ attitude formation and behavioral intentions. Given the exploratory nature of the topic of individual information judgment in digital media environments, the following hypotheses are proposed: H1: Visually prominent postings in online youth sport communities form stronger attitudes than less prominent postings. H2: Visually prominent postings in online youth sport communities form stronger behavioral intentions than less prominent postings.
The Impact of Involvement on Message Appeals The persuasiveness and prevalence of various appeal types (e.g., emotional, informative) have been extensively examined in different contexts, such as brand familiarity (Rhee & Jung, 2019), cultural variability (Han & Shavitt, 1994), and involvement (Flora & Maibach, 1990). However, less is known about the differential effects of appeal types in the context of online youth sport communities, and the current study therefore presents an exploration of the question of which type of message appeal is most persuasive in such communities. The elaboration likelihood model (ELM; 16) is one of the most prominent theoretical frameworks employed in the message appeal literature and is applied in various contexts, such as public health service announcements (Perse et al., 1996), crisis management (Lee & Atkinson, 2019), and advertising (Stafford & Day, 1995). Studies have also commonly found a moderating effect of involvement on message appeals, and according to the ELM, people tend to rely on argument quality (e.g., information completeness, comprehensiveness) when processing information under high involvement conditions, with persuasion less likely to occur through peripheral cues, such as peers’ emotional experiences. The converse is also true under low involvement conditions.
However, a recent study by Jung et al. (2017) found evidence that contradicts the prevailing literature on the role of involvement in digital media environments; the study claims that individuals often find it hard to motivate themselves to process information thoroughly, regardless of involvement levels, due to the nature of the Internet, which inundates them with massive amounts of non-verifiable information. Individuals therefore tend to compromise the accuracy of their decisions, which can require extensive cognitive effort, by relying on the heuristic aspects of information.
In addition, in the context of online youth sports communities, people tend to seek others’ prior experiences (e.g., a coach’s personality) and emotionally supportive messages because any objective information about a youth sports program (e.g., fees, coach’s experience, facilities) can be easily found through sources such as the program’s website. It can therefore be assumed that the moderating role of involvement in appeal types might be limited by the dominance of social media. Nevertheless, because there is still insufficient evidence for the limited role of involvement in the social media context, we propose the following research question: RQ1: What effect does involvement have on the appeal types of posts in online youth sport communities?
The Moderating Impact of Involvement on the Attitude–Intention Relationship Attitudes are among the most significant predictors of behavioral intentions in psychology. According to the theory of planned behavior (TPB), intention functions as an antecedent of behavior and is attributable to individual attitudes, together with subjective norms and perceived behavioral control (Ajzen, 1991). Although a number of studies have provided strong evidence for the relationship between intentions and the three causal variables of the TPB, a meta-analytic study by Cooke and Sheeran (2004) also noted that less than 42% of the variance in intentions can be explained by those variables.
Consequently, there have been numerous attempts to increase the predictive power of the TPB by exploring moderators of the relationship between intention and the TPB variables, such as attitudinal ambivalence (Armitage & Conner, 2000) and certainty (Bassili, 1996). In addition to these moderating variables, Petty et al. (1983) has offered theoretical and empirical evidence that the attitude–intention relationship is more consistent under high involvement conditions, because attitudes established by highly involved people are more stable than those of lowly involved people. Verplanken (1989) also examined whether involvement can explain additional variance in the attitude–intention relationship, although that study was in the context of nuclear energy.
Therefore, the current study will examine the moderating role of involvement in the attitude–intention relationship in the sport communication context. H3: High involvement will be associated with greater attitude–intention consistency than low involvement.
METHOD Subjects and Procedure 192 participants who had parenting experiences (male = 64%) from the United States between the ages of 20 and 55 completed the study through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk). For participants’ ethnicity, the most common ethnicity was Caucasian (53.6%), followed by Asian (33.9%), African American (5.2%), Hispanic (3.6%), and other racial backgrounds (3.6%). To participate in the study, subjects were requested to provide electronic consent. And subjects were debriefed and compensated upon completion of the study.
Experimental Treatment Conditions To investigate the effects of visual prominence (high vs. low prominence) and message appeals (emotional vs. informative message) on online youth sport program postings, four versions of online postings were created as stimuli, and the subjects were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions: low prominence and emotional (n = 49), high prominence and emotional (n = 49), low prominence and informative (n = 49), and high prominence and informative (n = 45).
The postings contained an online community member-created message about a local youth soccer program. The community member-created posting consisted of either factual information about the soccer program (informative appeal) (i.e., up to 12 kids in one session with two coaches, all are CPR first aid and AED certified, and having an indoor field) or user experiences (emotional appeal) (i.e., it was such an amazing experience and my son loves his current coach). A youth soccer program was selected as the topic for this study because of popularity of the sport among young parents. The manipulation of visual prominence was carried out by differentiating graphic elements between high prominence and low prominence conditions. Since parent community members on social media platforms can emphasize their posting with subtle graphical alterations, the high prominence version was designed to help the study participants notice the key messages by capitalizing key words, using a bulleted list and line-breaks in order to increase readability, and using a text art. The low prominence version lacks those design features.
Dependent Measures Attitude toward the online posting The attitude toward the online youth program posting was measured using three semantically differential items (i.e., good/bad, favorable/unfavorable, negative/positive) emerged from the literature on the scale (Lee & Hong, 2016). The scale was internally consistent (Cronbach’s = .91, M = 4.70, SD = 1.81).
Behavioral Intentions Subjects were also asked to answer their intentions to 1) recommend the youth soccer program on the posting you just read and 2) register for the soccer program in the future on 7-point Likert-type scales ranging from 1 (not at all) 7 (extremely). The items were averaged to create a behavioral intention scale (Cronbach’s = .83, M = 4.33, SD = 1.73).
Independent Measure Involvement Involvement in sports activities may influence the attitudinal formation and behavioral intentions. Thus, this study measured personal involvement with sports activities by using three 7-point (1 = strongly disagree, 7 strongly agree) Likert-type scales, the participants reported on how much they agreed with the following three statements: “I enjoy playing sport,” “Sport plays a central role in my life,” and “Sport says a lot about who I am.” The three items were averaged to measure involvement (Cronbach’s = .86, M = 5.38, SD = 1.35). This study used a median split to categorize high-involvement (N = 86) and low-involvement conditions (N = 83).
RESULTS Manipulation Checks The visual prominence manipulations were examined. Using two seven-point sematic differential items, the participants were asked to rate the extent to which they thought the format of the online posting they just read were “attractive/not attractive” and “likable/not likable” (Cronbach’s = .83, M = 4.81, SD = 1.75). A t test between the two prominence conditions (low vs. high prominence) showed subjects felt that the youth sport program posting was more visually prominent when it included noticeable graphic elements (M = 5.60, SD = 1.23) than when it lacked the elements (M = 4.05, SD = 1.84), t (190) = 6.82, p < .001.
This study measured the degree of informativeness of online postings (emotional versus informative) by asking participants to rate the extent to which they though the posting they just read was “emotional” and “warmhearted” (Cronbach’s = .80 M = 4.39, SD = 1.61). A t test between two message appeal conditions showed that the emotional appeal group (M = 4.94, SD = 1.27) perceived the posting to be significantly more emotional than the informative appeal group (M = 3.82, SD = 1.73), t (190) = 5.11, p < .001. H1 and H2: Visual Prominence Main Effects
Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to determine the significant impacts of visual prominence, message appeal, and involvement on attitudes and behavioral intentions. H1 and H2 suggest that participants reading visually prominent postings would form stronger attitudes and behavioral intentions than did participants reading less prominent postings. Follow-up analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests were also performed the examine the effect of visual prominence for each of the dependent variables. Findings revealed that the effect of visual prominence was pronounced in relation to being able to determine consumers’ attitudes (M_High Prominence = 5.30, SD = 2.02 vs. M_Low Prominence = 4.14, SD = 1.38; F (1, 169) = 20.90, p < .001, partial η2 = .12) and behavioral intentions (M_High Prominence = 4.69, SD = 1.64 vs. M_Low Prominence = 4.01, SD = 1.73; F (1, 169) = 7.24, p < .01, partial η2 = .04). Thus, H1 and H2 were supported.
RQ1 and RQ2: Influence of Involvement on Visual Prominence and Message Appeals The impact of consumers’ involvement on visual prominence and messages appeals were examined by 2 (visual prominence) X 2 (involvement) ANOVAs and 2 (message appeal) X 2 (involvement) ANOVAs with attitudes toward the online posting and behavioral intentions as dependent variables. The ANOVA results showed that that there were not significant interaction effects of the involvement-appeal relation and the involvement-visual prominence relation. The p values of the aforementioned relations were greater than .37. However, the impacts of visual prominence and message appeals were greater under both involvement conditions (see Figure 1 and 2).
H3: Moderating effect of involvement on the attitude-intention relation This study anticipated that the attitude toward the online posting would form a stronger impact on the formation of behavioral intentions for high involvement conditions. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to examine whether involvement modifies the magnitude of the attitude-intention relation. Then, each correlation coefficient values for the high- and low-involvement conditions was converted into z scores by using Fisher’s r to z transformation. In order to compare the z scores for the two conditions, the following formula was implemented to determine the observed z score: Zobserved = (Z1−Z2) ∕ (square root of [1∕N1−3] + (1∕N2−3))
For the high involvement condition (n = 83), the correlation coefficient for the attitude-intention relation was .49 (p < .001). For the low involvement condition (n = 84), the correlation was .25 (p < .05). The test statistics, z = 1.78, p < .001 (one-tailed test), indicate that the correlation in the high involvement condition is significantly higher than it is in the low involvement condition. Therefore, Hypothesis 3 is supported.
DISCUSSION Our findings suggest a lack of association between involvement and the effects of heuristics. The moderating role of involvement has been well established since the introduction of Petty et al.’s (1983) ELM and Chaiken’s (1987) heuristic-systematic model. According to those theories, involvement is a significant determinant in the selection of an information processing route (peripheral versus central). It is also commonly acknowledged in the sport communication field that individuals generally use a systematic mode (i.e., evaluating completeness/accuracy) when processing online sport information under high-involvement conditions in order to avoid the serious consequences of incomplete or inaccurate information (e.g., monetary loss, negative impacts on child development). However, our study found that the non-systematic mode is often activated for both high-involvement and low-involvement participants, and this finding thus contributes to the literature on individuals’ approaches to online information processing.
According to evidence-accumulation models (2), individuals reach a conclusion once there is enough evidence to support a particular case, but they can also alter the amount of evidence needed for coming to that decision. Although individuals generally want to make accurate decisions, Internet users often compromise the accuracy of their decisions by reducing the amount of evidence required to validate the information they are investigating. This tendency is attributable to online information overload, in which individuals experience difficulties in understanding the nature of a particular topic (Robin & Holmes, 2008). The tendency suggests a new general pattern of the speed–accuracy trade-off (SAT) in social media environments. In line with the SAT, there are two driving forces in the decision-making process (4); one emphasizes faster (or more efficient) decisions, while the other emphasizes higher accuracy. Although there are trade-offs between speed and accuracy, the two can be pursued independently, but they produce a wide spectrum of outcomes, from slower but more accurate decisions to quicker but less accurate decisions. In social media environments, individuals are motivated to engage in less-effortful information processing and are more likely to trade accuracy for speed in the decision-making process.
The current study also found another reason for further examining the role of involvement in social media environments. It has been assumed that persuasion is less likely to occur through emotional messages when an individual is highly involved in an issue because people tend to scrutinize issue-relevant information. However, our findings suggest that emotional messages can be more persuasive than informational messages regardless of the level of involvement, especially in the online youth sport community context, and these findings can be explained by the types of information individuals seek in online communities. Objective information about a youth program (e.g., fees, coaches’ experience, facilities) can be easily found through sources such as the youth program’s website, but people also tend to seek others’ prior experiences and emotionally supportive messages when joining online communities. It is important to stress that the attitude–intention relationship varies with involvement levels. Our study shows that the attitudes of high-involvement participants are more predictive of the intention to perform a specific act (e.g., signing up a youth sport program) than the attitudes of low-involvement participants. Our findings regarding the attitude–intention relationship suggest that the moderating effect of involvement on that relationship is applicable to not only traditional media environments (e.g., Krosnick, 1988; Verplanken, 1989), but also to social media environments.
In addition to the theoretical implications of this study, understanding parents’ information processing in assessing youth sport program is an integral part of the sport communication landscape. With the growing importance of (local) parenting community groups on social media and the impact of user generated message, this study will help youth sport service providers understand the effective way of crafting online information. This study will shed lights on communication strategies for youth sport providers when they try to utilize a form of testimonial in introducing their services to the market. This study will also lead how social influencer marketing would be employed in delivering and disseminating the promotional messages to the consumers.
This study has some limitations. All its subjects were recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Although MTurk respondents tend to be more diverse than student samples in terms of demographic, psychographic, and geographic characteristics, some reliability issues (e.g., the work ethic of MTurk respondents) are unavoidable (3). Another limitation is that this study was conducted with samples of people who had parenting experiences because the study used a youth soccer program to develop the experimental stimuli, and the context of parenting might amplify reactions to emotional messages. We therefore recommend that future studies be conducted with more diverse samples and more popular sports topics (e.g., local sports events) in order to exclude the specific study topic and characteristics of the sample as potentially confounding factors.
REFERENCES
Braunstein-Minkove, J. R., & Metz, J. L. (2019). Sport MOMsumers: A Modern Reexamination of the Role That Mothers Play in their Families’ Professional Sport Consumption. Journal of Applied Sport Management, 11(3), 7.
Brown, S. D., & Heathcote, A. J. (2008). The simplest complete model of choice reaction time: Linear ballistic accumulation. Cognitive Psychology, 57, 153-178.
Buhrmester, M. Kwang, T., & Gosling, S. (2011). Amazon’s mechanical turk: A new source of inexpensive, yet high-quality, data? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6, 3-5.
Donkin, C. Little, D. & Houpt, J. (2014). Assessing the speed-accuracy trade-off effect on the capacity of information processing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 40(3), 1183.
Facebook. (2020, June 16) Introducing a New Group Type for Parenting. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/community/whats-new/new-parenting-group-type/
Fernbach, P. M., Rogers, T., Fox, C. R., & Sloman, S. A. (2013). Political extremism is supported by an illusion of understanding. Psychological Science, 24, 939-946.
Fisher, M., Goddu, M. K., & Keil, F. C. (2015). Searching for explanation: How the Internet inflates estimates of internal knowledge, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 144 (3), 52-66.
Fisher, M. & Keil, F. C. (2014). The illusion of argument justification. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 143, 425-433.
Fiske, S. T. (1980). Attention and weight in person perception: The impact of negative and extreme behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38, 889-906.
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WASHINGTON — With the 2024 election looming, the first since the mass popularization of generative artificial intelligence, experts feared the worst: social media flooded with AI-generated deepfakes that were so realistic, baffled voters wouldn’t know what to believe.
So far, that hasn’t happened. Instead, what voters are seeing is far more absurd: A video of former President Donald Trump riding a cat while wielding an assault rifle. A mustachioed Vice President Kamala Harris dressed in communist attire. Trump and Harris sharing a passionate embrace.
AI is playing a major role in the presidential campaign, even if the greatest fears about how it could threaten the U.S. presidential election haven’t materialized yet. Fake AI-generated images regularly ricochet around the web, but many of them are so cartoonish and absurd that even the most naïve viewer couldn’t take them seriously.
Still, even these memes can be problematic. Eye-catching AI-generated photos and videos, some striving to be funny, have become useful tools for spreading false, sometimes racist messages with a clear political bent — and candidates and their supporters are among those sharing them on social media.
For example, Trump and many of his allies not only repeatedly promoted the unfounded conspiracy theory that Haitian migrants are stealing and eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio, they also spread related AI-generated memes. One shared by Trump’s Truth Social account showed him on a luxury jet, surrounded by cats and white ducks. Another showed a group of kittens holding a sign that read, “DON’T LET THEM EAT US, Vote for Trump!”
Francesca Tripodi, an expert in online propaganda, said such AI-made images are new, viral vehicles to carry age-old anti-immigration narratives.
“The memes that are amplifying this claim are anything but humorous. When you have elected officials who are utilizing this imagery as a way of perpetuating racism and xenophobia, that’s a huge problem,” said Tripodi, a sociologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Republicans defend the images as lighthearted jokes — and byproducts of Trump’s personality.
“There is a culture of personality surrounding Donald Trump that encourages that sort of over-the-top communication style that turns things into comical memes,” said Caleb Smith, a Republican strategist. “The intent is to entertain, not to deceive. That is what it should be.”
Trump and his supporters aren’t the only ones creating AI memes, but they appear to be using AI image generators more than their Democratic counterparts. Some left-leaning users have posted AI images making fun of billionaire Elon Musk, the owner of X and an outspoken supporter of Trump’s campaign. Democrats also posted AI-generated images of Trump in handcuffs and being chased by police when he was in court in Manhattan last year.
But Kamala Harris’ campaign has not leaned into amplifying AI-generated content, sticking instead to TikTok trends and other memes that don’t require AI models to create.
“Currently, the only authorized campaign use of generative AI is for productivity tools, such as data analysis and industry-standard coding assistance,” said Harris campaign spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung did not respond to specific questions from The Associated Press but said its strategy had not changed since May, when he provided an emailed statement saying the campaign did not “engage or utilize” tools supplied by any AI company.
Using fake, entertaining, often preposterous images to score political points is hardly new. But unlike cobbled-together Photoshop images or political cartoons, AI-generated images pack a stronger punch with their hyperrealism and can draw new attention to a political message.
While some of the images related to pets in Springfield were cartoonish and silly, many felt they perpetuated a damaging conspiracy theory about a community that has since received bomb threats prompting evacuations of schools and government buildings.
“Memes that are obviously parody are one thing. It’s another where it’s obviously intended to deceive,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat and vocal Trump critic. “And we already see the Trump campaign really blurring the line.”
The speed and accessibility of generative AI tools make it easy to create outlandish political content that can drive clicks and likes. With AI image generators accessible to anyone with an internet connection, they are a cheap and convenient way for campaigns to respond to online trends and hammer home a message.
“Campaigns have had to deal with disinformation and misinformation for a very long time. … It’s not a new problem. But obviously what AI allows is for this stuff to do done more rapidly, perhaps more convincingly, and in a more targeted environment,” said Teddy Goff, the digital director of Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign.
Paul Ingrassia, a New York-based political commentator and lawyer, said he spun up a viral image of Trump emerging from a lion’s den in seconds by prompting Grok, then dropped it into his newsletter and sent it to Trump campaign staffers. Trump’s Truth Social account posted Ingrassia’s newsletter, including the image, that day.
“I got a message from my point of contact with the president and they said: ‘The president loved the image, how did you make it? Who created it?’ And I said: ‘Oh, I did. I made that for the article,’” Ingrassia said. “And he said, ‘Keep up the great work, he loves it.’”
More sinister deepfakes also have sought to influence races around the world. In Slovakia last year, AI audio clips impersonated the liberal party chief talking about rigging the vote days before parliamentary elections. In New Hampshire’s primary in January, audio deepfakes of President Joe Biden were sent in robocalls to Democratic voters, urging them not to vote. The incident was quickly publicized and resulted in criminal charges.
Trump’s embrace of AI-generated images counters some of his past commentary. In an interview on Fox Business this year, Trump called artificial intelligence “very dangerous” and “so scary” because “there’s no real solution” to the issues created by the advancing technology.
And some Republicans have fretted about how Trump and the GOP are using AI to create political memes.
“I don’t engage in memes. I never have. I never will,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican in a competitive district outside Philadelphia. “I just don’t believe in it.”
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Swenson reported from New York.
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This story is part of an Associated Press series, “The AI Campaign,” exploring the influence of artificial intelligence in the 2024 election cycle.
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The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
The Associated Press receives financial assistance from the Omidyar Network to support coverage of artificial intelligence and its impact on society. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Three studies led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers have encouraging implications for patients with breast cancer.
Two studies focus on breastfeeding after breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. The studies found it was safe and feasible for young patients carrying specific genetic variations to breastfeed without raising their risk of a cancer recurrence or a cancer in the other breast, and that it was safe and feasible to breastfeed for patients with hormone receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancer who conceived after a temporary interruption of endocrine therapy. The third study shows that a telephone-based coaching program can significantly increase physical activity in overweight patients, potentially improving their outcomes. The studies were presented at theEuropean Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2024in Barcelona, Spain.
Breastfeeding after breast cancer safe and feasible in survivors of breast cancer
The first study was a collaboration among investigators at 78 hospitals and cancer treatment centers worldwide. It involved 474 patients with inherited mutations in the cancer-susceptibility genesBRCA1orBRCA2who became pregnant after being diagnosed with Stage I-III invasive breast cancer at age 40 or younger.
Researchers divided the patients into two groups – those who breastfed after delivering a child and those who did not – and tracked their health over time. At a median of seven years after delivery, there was no difference between the two groups in the incidence of cancer in the region of the original tumor or in the opposite breast. Disease-free survival – how long patients live free of cancer – and overall survival were also the same for the two groups.
The second study provides breastfeeding outcomes from thePOSITIVE trialwhich demonstrated early safety of the temporary interruption of endocrine therapy to attempt pregnancy. A key secondary endpoint was breastfeeding outcomes. The study involved 518 patients at age 42 or younger with HR+, Stage I-III breast cancer. Of these patients, 317 went on to have a live birth and 196 chose to breastfeed. Breast conserving surgery was a key factor favoring breastfeeding.
Prior researchled by Dana-Farber has demonstrated that young breast cancer survivors who have breast conserving therapy and then go on to breastfeed can have challenges nursing from the treated breast and need to rely on the opposite unaffected breast to feed the baby.
“These studies provide the first evidence on the safety of breastfeeding after breast cancer in both young patients carryingBRCAvariations that predispose to breast cancer, as well as patients who conceived after pausing endocrine therapy,” says Ann Partridge, MD, MPH, the founder and director of the Program for Young Adults with Breast Cancer at Dana-Farber, and a senior investigator on the study. “Our findings emphasize the possibility of supporting maternal and infant needs without compromising maternal safety.”
Proffered paper session: Supportive and palliative care
Breastfeeding in women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer who conceived after temporary interruption of endocrine therapy: Results from the POSITIVE trial (1814O)
Ann Partridge, MD, MPH, Dana-Farber, co-senior investigator
Proffered paper session: Supportive and palliative care
Breastfeeding after breast cancer in young BRCA carriers: results from an international cohort study (1815O)
Ann Partridge, MD, MPH, Dana-Farber, co-senior investigator
A coaching program for increased exercise
The third study draws on data from the Breast Cancer Weight Loss (BWEL) trial, which is exploring whether participating in a weight loss program after a breast cancer diagnosis can reduce the risk of cancer recurrence in women with a body mass index (BMI) in the overweight or obese range. The BWEL trial randomized 3,180 women with breast cancer to a group that received a telephone-based coaching program focused on reducing calories and increasing exercise combined with health education materials versus health education materials alone.
The study’s primary goal is to determine whether the weight loss program reduces the risk of cancer recurrence and secondary aims focus on evaluating whether the weight loss program helps breast cancer survivors to exercise more and eat a healthier diet.
The study, presented at ESMO, looks at changes in exercise in 541 BWEL study participants who took part in a substudy that evaluated their exercise patterns over time. Half of the patients took part in the weight loss program and the education program, and the other half received educational materials only.
At the time of enrolling in the trial, patients in both groups did very little exercise—a median of zero minutes per week in the health education group and 10 minutes per week in the weight loss group. By six months after enrollment, women receiving the weight loss program increased their weekly exercise by a median 40 minutes and the women in the education group did not increase their exercise at all. Additionally, women taking part in the weight loss program were more likely to exercise at least 150 minutes per week—a level of exercise linked to many health benefits–and less likely to report no exercise at all, as compared to women in the education alone group.
Across all the patients in the study, those who engaged in at least 150 minutes of moderate or vigorous physical activity per week had greater weight loss than those who did not.
“Our results show that a telephone-based weight-loss intervention can motivate this group of patients to be more physically active,” says the study’s first author,Jennifer Ligibel, MD, the Director of the Leonard P. Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies and Healthy Living at Dana-Farber. “We’ll continue to follow these patients to determine whether changes in exercise influence cancer outcomes.”
Mini oral session: Supportive and palliative care
Effect of a weight loss intervention (WLI) on exercise behaviors in women with breast cancer: Results from the Breast Cancer Weight Loss (BWEL) Trial (1817MO)
Jennifer Ligibel, MD, Dana-Farber, presenting author
This news release was published by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute on September 15, 2024.
We eat all kinds of healthy food to keep our digestive system smooth and happy, thinking that a well-balanced diet would do the trick for maintaining a healthy body. However, did you know that digestion is not just about eating light and healthy, but about how well your body processes and absorbs nutrients? A good digestive and gut system is important for overall wellness, which impacts everything, from our energy levels to our immune system. Now, if you eat healthy all the time and still experience digestive issues, chances are you have a poor gut system. However, is there a way to determine healthy digestion? The answer lies in our body itself. It gives out signs that could indicate the status of our digestive system. Are you wondering what those signs are? If yes, then you have landed on the right page! Here are 5 expert-suggested signs that indicate that you have a happy and healthy digestive system.
Also Read: Have Digestion Issues? 5 Summer Beverages To Keep Digestive Issues At Bay
Here Are 5 Signs To Know If Your Digestive System Is Healthy Or Not:
Ayurvedic doctor Varalakshmi Yanamandra (@drvaraayurveda) shared a video on her Instagram pointing out 5 signs that indicate that you have good digestion.
1. Clean Burp
A clean, odourless burp after having a meal is an indicator of good digestion. As per the expert, a burp is known as “clean” if it doesn’t have any sour, bitter, or foul tastes, which means that the stomach acids are well balanced. When the digestive system is functioning properly, the food is broken down properly, preventing acid reflux and gas formation. However, if your burp is sour or bitter, it could mean you have poor digestion, which could lead to bloating and other digestive discomforts.
2. Enthusiasm
Do you feel enthusiastic about life? Every morning, when you wake up, do you look forward to the day? Then this could mean that you have good digestion. The expert states that when your body is properly nourished, it is filled with energy which means you will have a positive outlook about life. But, if your body is not nourished properly, it could lead to poor digestion caused by the storage of toxins inside which causes fatigue and lack of motivation.
3. Clear Urges
If you get clear and regular urges to poop and urinate, then this could be a sign of a healthy digestive system. Proper elimination of waste and toxins from our bodies is necessary to have a happy gut. As per the expert, when your digestive system is functioning adequately, it processes and digests food more efficiently without any discomfort. However, if you regularly experience constipation, it could mean that your system is sluggish and there is a waste build-up in your body.
4. Feeling Lighter
Feeling light and energized after a meal rather than heavy is another sign of good digestion. When the digestive system is functioning well, it digests food more efficiently and breaks down food quickly. According to the expert, if you feel sluggish after eating a meal, it means there are “AMA” or toxins built up in your body.
5. Good Appetite And Thirst
The expert states that having a healthy appetite and thirst is a clear indication that your digestive system is in good condition. A strong appetite shows that your digestive fire, or “Agni” is balanced and ready to break down food in your gut. In the same way, if you get adequately thirsty at regular intervals, then this shows proper hydration and a well-functioning metabolism. However, if you don’t get a desire to eat regularly, or get thirsty enough, then this could mean that your digestive system is sluggish.
Watch the full video below:
Also Read: 11 Best Probiotic Foods To Eat For Gut Health
If you feel like your digestive system is sluggish, follow these 5 tips to improve it.
Report: Identifying Early Predictors of Cognitive Impairment and Dementia in a Large Nationally Representative U.S. Sample. Image Credit: Orawan Pattarawimonchai / Shutterstock
