Influence of Short Film Narrative Elements on Communication Effect of WHO Film Festival-A Case Study of Peking University Students

Abstract

With the diversification of health communication formats in the digital media environment, short films have become an important vehicle for public health advocacy. Taking the World Health Organization’s Health for All Film Festival as a case, this study examines how different narrative elements influence the communication effectiveness of health-related short films. Based on the cognition–affect–behavior (CAB) model, an experimental design was employed using 18 shortlisted films from the 2023 festival. Seventy-two Peking University students participated in pre-test and post-test surveys measuring changes in cognition, emotion, attitude, and behavior. The study comparatively analyzes six narrative elements: live-action versus animation, first-person versus third-person narration, and data-driven versus non-data-driven storytelling, across three health themes (psychological, sexual, and environmental health). The results indicate that live-action narratives primarily enhance cognitive outcomes, while animated storytelling more effectively promotes emotional and behavioral change. Both first-person and third-person narration exert positive effects across all four dimensions, and both data-driven and non-data-driven narratives contribute to cognitive and behavioral improvement. Overall, narrative elements significantly shape health communication outcomes, providing empirical evidence for optimizing the design of health communication short films.