A Comparative Literature Study on the Persuasive Impact of Animation, Live-Action Film and Static Image in Healthcare Science Communication

In the digital age, animation is increasingly being used in healthcare science communication to present scenes which is difficult to shoot by camera and to visualize movements. However, the correlation between animation’s attributes and its effectiveness is unclear, and related studies have often investigated the functions of multimedia without distinguishing between animation and other media. This leads designers and healthcare information providers to have an ambiguous understanding of the function of animation and to be unable to make the appropriate utilization of it. A continuation of my earlier research on animation as a persuasive tool in healthcare communication, this paper reviews the healthcare science communication literature and compares the functions of animation, live-action film, and static image within the framework of rhetorical appeal: Logos, Ethos, and Pathos. Through comparison and analysis, it is found that besides the functions and creative methods common to visual media, animation also has a unique time-reality communication function, as well as broad and flexible temporal and spatial rhetorical dimensions. It prompts the creators of medical animation to explore its potential fully.