Online digital storytelling video on promoting men’s intentions to seek counselling for depression: The role of empathy

Background: Applying the narrative transportation theory, we sought to test the role of a male-sensitive digital storytelling video as a source to persuade men to develop greater intentions to seek counselling based on their empathic reactions to the storyteller. Methods: Using a post-test only design, a total of 247 diverse adult men ( M = 35.86, SD = 12.75) were randomly assigned to either the brochure or video condition and subsequently reported on their state empathy, perceived persuasiveness, and intentions to seek counselling. Controlling for previous counselling experience, a three-way interaction analysis was conducted to assess the significance of the relationship between persuasiveness and intentions to seek counselling across the two conditions, and whether empathy moderated this association in each condition. Results: For men who viewed the brochure, greater persuasiveness was linked to lower intentions to seek counselling at all levels of empathy; although, at high empathy, the relationship was not significant. A similar trend was observed for men who viewed the video at low and mean empathy levels. However, for men who reported high empathy after viewing the video, greater persuasiveness was significantly linked to greater intentions to seek counselling. Conclusion: Empathy may play a viable role in promoting intentions to seek counselling among men who view persuasive digital storytelling content on depression. However, more research needs to be conducted on the conditions that make it favourable for men to have empathic reactions to the contents. Implications for research and the potential for intervention are discussed.