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ACHMI Persuasive Website 1 Scott Bagwell, Grace Halbert, Jeff Hajek, Bree Bowen, and Jenna Murphy Auburn University
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ACHMI Persuasive Website 1
ACHMI Persuasive Website
Scott Bagwell, Grace Halbert, Jeff Hajek, Bree Bowen, and Jenna Murphy
Auburn University
ACHMI Persuasive Website 2
PERSUASIVE GOAL
Our purpose in creating this website was to convince Alabama teenagers to enroll
in the Relationship Smarts Plus program. Through careful research and application of
persuasive theory, we have prepared a website which will cater to the needs of the
Alabama Community Healthy Marriage Initiative while entertaining teenagers and
persuading them to enroll in the class.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The Alabama Community Healthy Marriage Initiative (ACHMI) is a program
designed to promote healthy relationships and marriage throughout Alabama. In the fall
of 2006, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Family Assistance
provided Auburn University and its partners a 5-year grant to expand the work of
ACHMI (Williams, 2009). ACHMI has brought together many groups to support its
cause, including the Human Development and Family Studies Department at Auburn
University, the Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention/The Children’s Trust
Fund, and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, as well as a network of public,
non-profit, and faith-based organizations (Williams, 2009).
ACHMI strives to increase public awareness of the importance of healthy
relationships and marriages for children, family and community well-being (Alabama
Marriage, 2009). Evidence shows that good relationships within families foster healthier,
happier children who tend to do better academically, have a positive sense of self, have
better social skills and be physically healthier. Adults also benefit from healthy
ACHMI Persuasive Website 3
relationships. They are more likely to contribute to their communities, are more nurturing
parents, and more reliable workers (Williams, 2009).
ACHMI has created curriculum for youth, non-married parents, pre-marital
couples, step-families, and married couples (Alabama Marriage, 2009). They are
continuously striving to increase access to these courses and other healthy relationship
resources for Alabama citizens. They offer five educational programs through their
community partners, including Basic Training for Couples: Black Marriage Education,
Mastering the Magic of Love, Relationship Smarts Plus, Smart Steps for Step-families,
and Together We Can: Caring for My Family (Alabama Marriage, 2009).
Relationship Smarts Plus (RS+) is a youth course consisting of 13 one-hour
lessons for teens in grades 7-12 (Alabama Marriage, 2009). RS+ uses group activities,
hands-on activities, and media to engage teens in the topics of love, dating, breaking up,
unhealthy relationships, sex, and communication skills. The course begins with lessons
of self-awareness and future orientation before moving into romantic relationships.
Although the course is pro-abstinence, RS+ aims to look beyond avoiding STDs and
pregnancy, and places more focus on the context of sexuality in relationships. They stress
to teens that sex should have meaning. The course focuses on reversing misinformation
about healthy relationships, while showing teens the economic, social, and personal
benefits of a healthy marriage (Pearson, 2007).
The curriculum is currently being taught through public school health classes and
various community organizations, and is showing positive results in participants.
Surveys of participants show an increase in knowledge about relationship concepts,
understanding relationship abuse, recognizing unhealthy communication patterns,
ACHMI Persuasive Website 4
employing healthy dating strategies, understanding love and intimacy and preparing for
the future (Evaluating a Relationship, 2008).
AUDIENCE ANAYSIS
RATIONALE
To further our research, we conducted an audience analysis of Alabama teenagers
on attitudes and behaviors associated with relationships, personal issues, events and
websites. The results of the survey helped us decide what needed to be on the website
and how to make information most effective. Prior to conducting the survey, we hoped
to find information consistent with similar national surveys and ACHMI research, but
that would give us a more local, in-depth point of view.
METHOD
SUBJECTS: We tested a group of Auburn High School students in tenth through
twelfth grades. We surveyed 39 students, 20 female and 19 male, between the ages of 15
and 18. Of the participants 24 were white, eight were black, five were Asian, one was
Egyptian, and one was Hispanic. Since this represents a wide variety of teens, it is
reasonable to assume the results would be consistent to a larger group of students the
same age. Unfortunately, the students surveyed were all from the Auburn area and a
slightly different age than our target audience of eighth through tenth graders, but we had
to use what was available to us and these results still provide us with extremely useful
information.
INSTRUMENT: The survey we produced contained 10 questions, including
open-ended, yes/no, multiple choice, and ranking questions. These questions were
ACHMI Persuasive Website 5
created from information we researched and from questions that we thought were
unanswered by the research we had.
PROCEDURE: The surveys were distributed during first and second period
physical education classes at Auburn High School on Friday, April 3, 2009. Participants
were asked to fill out the surveys completely and honestly.
RESULTS
When asked on a scale of one to ten how important building strong relationships
is, male respondents answered an average of 6.89, while females answered an average of
8.65. When asked if strong relationships in high school will help prepare them for life,
74 percent of males answered yes, while 26 percent answered no, and 95 percent of
females answered yes, while only 5 percent answered no. When asked how much parents
and teachers influence their behavior on a scale of one to five, males average response
was 3.1 and females average response was 3.6.
When asked who they felt most comfortable talking about personal issues with,
males answered friends (48 percent), family (29 percent), nobody (15 percent), and
girlfriend (8 percent). Females answered friends (62 percent), family (21 percent),
boyfriend (13 percent), and nobody (4 percent). When asked to rank the group that was
most important to them, males ranked mom and dad, friends, girlfriend, siblings then
teachers. Females ranked mom and dad, siblings, friends, boyfriend then teachers. When
asked to rank what events in high school are most important, males answered sporting
events, parties, dances and exams, while females answered sporting events, prom,
homecoming, graduation and lunch.
ACHMI Persuasive Website 6
When asked if they would attend a class that talked about building strong
relationships, 21 percent of males said yes, while 79 percent said no, and 35 percent of
females said yes, while 79 percent said no. When asked if they would attend if their
friends when with them, 89 percent of males said yes, and 11 percent said no, while 70
percent of females said yes, and 30 percent said no.
When asked what would attract them to a website about building strong
relationships, the most common responses were success stories from other teenagers,
ability to ask questions and get good answers, videos, graphics, tips, pictures, a good
design, real life stories and situations, and being able to interact with other people.
DISCUSSION
From these results we can gather that family and friends are the most important
and influential groups in a teenager’s life. The most important events in high school are
social events, and the people teenagers are most likely to go to with their personal issues
are their friends. Since peers are such an important part of a teenager’s life, we realized
that a large part of our website needed to focus on peer to peer relationships. It was
especially important for us to realize that teens are much more likely to attend the
Relationship Smarts class if they were with friends.
We also learned that the research we found on effective teen websites contained
many of the same tools that the participants said they would enjoy. From this
information, we know what would be most likely get teens to visit the site, and thus,
persuade the teens to sign up for the class.
PERSUASIVE STRATEGIES
CREDIBILITY
ACHMI Persuasive Website 7
We wanted visitors to the site to trust and believe our message, so we aimed to
prove ACHMI’s credibility. We included a link to view the course teachers with their
names and professional titles, which creates extrinsic credibility, because without ever
speaking, the teachers will be credible because of their degrees and perceived knowledge
on the subject. Also, we wanted to further the website’s intrinsic credibility by providing
a live chat option. The chat feature would be an instant messaging system in which teens
would be able to speak to experts on teen relationships, which would include adults and
graduate teaching assistants working with ACHMI, as well as members of the teen
advisory board. Since the teens will be able to ask questions on any information
presented on the site or ask further questions about RS+, the presentation of the message
is more credible because it is subject to the teens’ scrutiny.
GROUP DYNAMICS
In researching effective teen website tools, we found that most teens like
interactive elements, including polls, quizzes and message boards (Terdiman, 2008). We
took this information and developed a quiz section of the website which incorporated the
theory of group dynamics, particularly social comparison. Leon Festinger developed the
concept of social comparison to argue that “we tend to evaluate how good our own
accomplishments are by comparing ourselves to others” (as cited in Frymier & Nadler,
2007). We used a true/false quiz from the Relationship Smarts course content to help
teens determine if the course would be useful for them. The course uses the quiz to
dispel popular dating myths, but we used it to show teens that their knowledge of healthy
relationships may be lacking more than they thought. After completing the quiz, teens
are shown the correct answers to the questions, and told that teens who didn’t know the
ACHMI Persuasive Website 8
correct answer for the questions benefited from the RS+ classes, and once participants
completed the course, they were able to answer the questions correctly.
Sandy Williams, the State Public Awareness Coordinator for ACHMI, stressed
the importance of addressing peer to peer relationships, so we created a message board
where teens could communicate with others and initiate their own topics for social
comparison (2009). Teens could ask each other about their relationship experiences, and
see if their own are in line with other teens. Charles Jackson, the Public Relations
Coordinator for ACHMI, suggested that the site address the topics of upcoming prom and
graduation, which could be possible topics for the message board (2009).
Jeremy Walden, Relationship Smarts teacher, suggested that we employ the use of
participant testimony and statistics on course enrollment as a mode of social proof
(2009). When teens see how others have benefited, or how many other teens have
completed the course, they will be more likely to think they need or would benefit from
the class, and thus sign up.
ELABORATION LIKELIHOOD MODEL
We employed the Elaboration Likelihood Model in several ways throughout the
site, hoping to get visitors to the website to be drawn in by peripheral cues and then
motivate them receive our message for central processing. From the suggestion of
Jackson, we included several video and sound clips on our site (2009). Jackson provided
videos and public service announcements created by the Teen Advisory Board, which we
included on the site, along with information produced by the Teen Advisory Board to
explain who they are. It was also used to show teenagers that their peers are also working
on this project, which would draw them in because of source likability (ACHMI Teens,
ACHMI Persuasive Website 9
2008). We use repetition of contact information and the pros of attending a RS+ course
to help the chances of comprehension. Also, we hope that because relationships are
important to most teens, they will realize they will be accountable for information on
relationships, and the RS+ class would be a good place to learn about them.
YALE APPROACH
We used the Yale Approach’s four components of persuasion, attention,
comprehension, acceptance, and retention, to encourage teens to enroll in the course. To
get the visitors of the website to focus on the information, we grabbed their attention with
videos, sound clips and information pertinent to teenagers’ relationships. To help with
comprehension, we encourage participation in quizzes and message boards, and stating
the positive effects of the class on its participants. Acceptance of our message would
translate into teens signing up for the class. To help facilitate acceptance, we repeated
their need for the class and participant approval, and made it easy to sign up for a class on
the website. The combination of attention grabbing elements and useful information will
help the website’s visitors retain how important the Relationship Smarts class would be
to them.
SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
In the social learning theory, we employ vicarious reinforcement and instructions,
rules or communication. The testimonies from participants serve as vicarious
reinforcement because visitors to the site will see that the knowledge gained from the
class was a positive reward of attending the class, and believe that if they sign up for a
class they will also get this positive reward. Since we cannot directly reinforce or
extinguish the act of going to the class, we communicate throughout the site that
ACHMI Persuasive Website 10
relationships are important and by attending the Relationship Smarts classes, they will be
able to more effectively understand and work in relationships.
SOCIAL JUDGMENT THEORY
Since teenagers see relationships as important, we constructed the website to
reinforce and further that idea. According to the social judgment theory, since we
attempt to appeal to positions inside the latitude of acceptance, we are likely to persuade
the teens to sign up for the course. If teens assimilate our message and sign up for the
course, that means that they accept our message that Relationship Smarts can help them
obtain useful relationship skills.
ACHMI Persuasive Website 11
REFERENCES
ACHMI Teens. (2008). Retrieved April 5, 2009 from
http://www.realteenrelationships.com/
Alabama Community Healthy Marriage Initiative. (2009). Retrieved April 5, 2009 from
http://www.alabamamarriage.org/
Divorce Facts. (2003, January). Retrieved April 5, 2009 from
http://www.alicebaland.com/ABLSCResources/REMADivorceFacts.htm
Evaluating a Relationship Education Program for Youth: The Healthy Couples,
Healthy Children: Targeting Youth Project. (2008). Retrieved April 5, 2009
from http://www.alabamamarriage.org/documents/HCHC-
TargetingYouth2008ResultsBriefFINAL.pdf
French, R. (Fall 2008). Web Layout [Lecture]. In Public Relations Communications
4020: Style and Design for Public Relations Messages.
Frymier, A. B. & Nadler, M. K. (2007). Persuasion. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt.
Jackson, C. (personal communication, March 31, 2009).
Kirkland, C. (personal communication, March 24, 2009).
Pearson, M. L. (2007). Love U2: Relationship Smarts PLUS. Berkeley, CA: The Dibble
Institute.
Teen Advisory Board. (personal communication, April 6, 2009).
Terdiman, D. (2008, February 5). What Websites Do to Turn On Teens. Wired. Retrieved
April 5, 2009 from http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2005/02/66514
Walden, J. (personal communication, March 30, 2009).
Williams, S. (personal communication, March 31, 2009).
ACHMI Persuasive Website 12
Williams, S. (2009, March 3). Who is ACHMI? [handout]. In Communication 3110:
Persuasive Discourse.