Attitude accessibility and message processing: The moderating role of message position

Past research suggests that pre-message attitude accessibility can influence the amount of processing of persuasives messages (with highly accessible attitudes eliciting higher levels of processing than attitudes lower in accessibility). The current research suggests that the previous conclusions ar...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of experimental social psychology Vol. 44; no. 2; pp. 354 - 361
Main Authors Clark, Jason K., Wegener, Duane T., Fabrigar, Leandre R.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published San Diego, CA Elsevier Inc 01.03.2008
Elsevier
Academic Press
Subjects
Attitude accessibility
Attitude confidence
Attitudes
Behavior. Attitude
Biological and medical sciences
Effects
Elaboration
Experimental psychology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Information processing
Message position
Message processing
Persuasion
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Social attribution, perception and cognition
Social behaviour
Social psychology
Threat
Attitude accessibility
Elaboration
Message processing
Message position
Attitude confidence
Threat
Human
Argumentation
Accessibility
Cognition
Persuasion
Social cognition
Attitude change
Confidence
Information processing
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Past research suggests that pre-message attitude accessibility can influence the amount of processing of persuasives messages (with highly accessible attitudes eliciting higher levels of processing than attitudes lower in accessibility). The current research suggests that the previous conclusions are only partly true—effects of accessibility on message processing are moderated by the extent to which the persuasive message is proattitudinal versus counterattitudinal. In two experiments, pre-message attitudes and attitude accessibility were measured (Study 1) or manipulated (Study 2) prior to receiving a strong or weak persuasive message. When messages were counterattitudinal, increased pre-message accessibility was associated with greater message processing (as in past research). However, when messages were proattitudinal, increased pre-message accessibility was associated with decreased message scrutiny. Potential underlying mechanisms and implications are discussed.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ISSN:0022-1031
1096-0465
DOI:10.1016/j.jesp.2006.12.001