The Credibility Of Shock Advocacy PETA Case Study
This study of the impact of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ (PETA) campaign against “corporate pig farming” analyzes the impact of the campaign on both the farming industry’s and PETA’s credibility, finding that the campaign was largely successful from PETA’s perspective.
This study examined the impact of a graphic animal rights campaign launched by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) against alleged abuses on a corporate farm. It considered the impact of the campaign upon the credibility of the target of the campaign as well as the producer of the campaign.
Results indicated that PETA’s attack message against abuses at corporate pig farms was effective in eroding the credibility of the corporate food-industry raising animals for consumption. At the same time, PETA’s credibility rose overall after participants viewed the PETA attack message.
[Abstract excerpted from website]

Citations:
Joseph Scudder, Carol Bishop Mills, Northern Illinois University, University of Alabama, 2008 United States (National)