Date of Award
Spring 5-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Health and Strategic Communication
First Advisor
Dr. Sara LaBelle
Second Advisor
Dr. Keith Weber
Third Advisor
Dr. Mark Hopson
Fourth Advisor
Dr. Keith Fulthorp
Abstract
A two-part, mixed methods study explored the impacts of motivational messages on a parents’ intention for their family to attend a hypothetical community Snow Day event hosted by the local County parks and recreation division. Grounded in self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000), message frame theory (Rothman & Salovey, 1997), community attachment theory (Kasarda & Janowitz, 1974), and organizational credibility the study examined these factors and their impacts on behavioral intention. In Study One, two focus groups assessed parents’ perceptions of credibility of a local government agency hosting the event, as well as perceptions of the flyer advertising the event. Findings revealed that perceptions of organizational credibility for a local government agency are similar to a private company, social norms played a crucial role in decision making, and the organizations’ reputation was relied upon for determining if further research is necessary.
Study Two Part One was a pilot test of the messages to ensure that the six message conditions were received by participants (autonomy-gain, competence-gain, relatedness-gain, autonomy-loss, competence-loss, relatedness-loss). Study Two Part Two was a between-subjects experiment where participants saw one of the six message conditions along with the flyer motivating them to attend the event. The results indicated that participants were unable to recognize message conditions, and the results of the hypotheses were unsupported. However, findings show that past behavior, trust in local government, and community attachment all significantly predict a parents’ intention to attend the event. The study’s limitations and future directions are discussed.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Batson-Bright, A. I. (2025). Motivating community attendance: The role of self-determination theory and message framing, with moderating effects of organizational credibility and community attachment [Doctoral dissertation, Chapman University]. Chapman University Digital Commons. https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000638