Firearm Safety: Identifying Cultural Messages for Firearm Suicide Prevention

This study investigates whether the use of gun owners’ cultural values in messages of means safety interventions (MSI) enhances attitude change toward safe storage for suicide prevention. Due to a critical need for effective communication, the researcher compared four separate interventions to identify acceptable messages and attitude change in relation to MSI. Participants were assessed using a mixed-subjects design where participants were randomly administered one of four interventions. Using the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), participants were administered either a central or peripheral route of persuasion via an audio recording. The interventions were a central, a peripheral, a culturally sensitive-central, or a culturally sensitive-peripheral message and were intended to observe differential impacts between and within groups. In an effort to determine the persistence of attitude change, a follow-up survey was administered one week after the initial assessment. The data suggests that all messages were effective in changing short-term attitudes regarding safe storage. Thus, because there were no meaningful differences in attitude change between groups, none of the hypotheses were supported. The study’s findings and areas for future research and advertisement are discussed.<p></p>