Rage bait, a comparison in perceived persuasiveness of Misandry and Misogyny on TikTok

In this study, the perceived persuasiveness of online gender-based hate speech on TikTok is investigated for people aged 18 or older. The study identified two forms of gender-based hate speech: misandry and misogyny. Although misogyny has been more widely known and has been included in previous studies on hate speech, misandry remains understudied. This research aims to fill this gap by including misandry and misogyny and their perceived persuasiveness using the Elaboration Likelihood Model in quantitative analyses. Prior research has shown that content can be divided into high narrative or low narrative content, which is reported to persuade the viewer in different ways. The research is a mixed method of quantitative and qualitative studies. The quantitative study includes the Elaboration Likelihood Model, Misogyny, and Misandry in quantitative analyses. The data gathered in this research has been collected using a survey. The qualitative aspect of this study builds on the notion of Attention as a mediator for the Elaboration Likelihood Model by asking the participants what catches their attention in the content shown. The answers are included in a Thematic Content Analysis based on the Constructivist Grounded theory. The qualitative findings aim to provide potentially useful insights in addition to quantitative research. The quantitative findings show individuals aged 18 or older perceive online gender-based hate messages as persuasive to a certain degree, this is influenced by the person’s gender, the narrative type of the video, and the attention-capturing elements of the content shown. Female participants in particular have reported to perceive High Narrative content as more persuasive. The female participants on average reported to agree with the idea that videos that showed gender-based hate speech can be viewed as persuasive content (Misogynist and Misandrist). Both men and women reported to be engaged with low narrative content, but the perceived persuasiveness of low narrative videos was not found to be of significance. The qualitative results show that humor, sensitivity and controversy, visual and audio elements, and representation and identification are reported to catch the viewers attention. Moreover, misandrist videos are reported as provocative and empowering, while misogynistic videos are described as unpleasant yet hilarious. This research acknowledges several limitations which could be improved for further research. The limited quantity of the data collected, the inclusion of limited video examples in the survey, the international characteristics of the sample, and the fact that this research did not include unconscious aspects of persuasion can affect the validity and reliability of the results. For further research, researchers can examine the subconscious processing of videos online, include more participants, specify the nationality, and include more video examples in the survey.