Resistance to ethically suspicious parody video on YouTube: A test of inoculation theory

Having observed the proliferation of corporate stealth campaigns employing parody videos on YouTube, we attempted to examine the effectiveness of refutational preemption in providing viewers with ability to detect unduly manipulative intent and in conferring viewer resistance to the influence of the campaign. We also compared the relative efficacy of the inoculation pretreatment to post-hoc refutation. Results showed that subjects who received a preemptive inoculation message were better able to detect unduly manipulative intent in a parody video, were more resistant to altering their original attitudes toward the issue, and demonstrated less favorable attitudes toward the sponsor of the parody video than did their counterparts in the control group.