Abstract
This study is one of the first that examined the effectiveness of using Augmented Reality (AR) technology as a component of fear appeal messages in the context of skin cancer and investigated how different points of view affect AR's persuasive outcomes. This project contains two-parts: the first study further developed the measurement of perceived interactivity and groundbreakingly incorporated perceived augmentation as a factor and established and validated the Perceived Interactivity with Augmentation scale (PIA). The second study examined the effect of AR by including three conditions: the first-person point of view (POV), the third-person point of view, and control with 424 participants who were randomly assigned to interact with one of the three web-based applications. Key findings from self-reported and subjective behavioral data highlight the promising future of incorporating AR application in health interventions, especially with the inclusion of fear appeal elements. Specifically, both the first and the third person perspectives were effective in generating positive attitudes and behavioral intentions in preventing skin cancer. The first-person perspective elicited higher fear, perceived severity, perceived self-efficacy, and perceived response efficacy than the traditional text-based fear appeal message. This project provides empirical guidance for both theoretical and practical implementation which are essential to establishing this line of research as well as offers a theoretical and practical basis for the use of AR technologies in health communication.