Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

5-1992

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Communication

Major Professor

Michael W. Singletary

Committee Members

M. Mark Miller, Tudy W. Banta, John W. Lounsbury

Abstract

The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) provides a framework for understanding central and peripheral routes to attitude change. The ELM postulates that motivation and ability determine how individuals process persuasive communication.

This study applied the ELM by examining a behavioral outcome in a natural setting. Subjects were students who were about to take the Senior Assessment in General Education (SAGE) exam. Motivation and ability to process the persuasive message and their relationship to argument quality and source expertise were examined. Issue involvement, need for cognition (NFC) and prior knowledge were measured by subjects' scores on a self-report instrument. Argument quality and source expertise were manipulated.

Subjects were randomly assigned to conditions of a 2 (argument quality; strong or weak) by 2 (source credibility: high or low) design. Two versions of a persuasive message including either strong or weak arguments were developed and presented in a pre-exam letter from either a high or low credible source. It was hypothesized that as motivation (issue involvement or NFC) or ability (prior knowledge) increased, there would be a greater discrimination between argument quality and source credibility. In addition, three-way interactions involving motivation and ability were hypothesized.

The covariates, cumulative grade point average, gender and race, were introduced into the overall regression model. Results indicated that when issue involvement was used as a motivation factor in ELM, significant findings were not produced. However, NFC as a motivation factor in ELM did produce significant findings. A significant interaction between NFC and argument quality (p < .05) was found as predicted by the ELM. Those in the high NFC group receiving strong arguments had significantly higher scores on the SAGE exam than those receiving weak messages. In addition, prior knowledge as an ability factor produced findings in the opposite hypothesized direction as predicted by the ELM. Prior Knowledge may have biased elaboration, because the attitude toward the SAGE was not positive. Subjects' prior knowledge may have enabled counterarguing of what was perceived as an incongruent message.

Previous research examining behavior has been limited to investigation of behavioral intent. Even though it was not hypothesized, this study revealed the possibility that motivation, when examining a behavioral outcome, may be situation specific. In addition, findings from this research indicate that prior knowledge with an attitude object is directional. Subjects could have negative as well as positive attitudes, which could affect the outcome. Lastly, this study revealed that when dealing with an issue that is highly involved, message development should be scrutinized with respect to attitudinal direction.

Download
Files over 3MB may be slow to open. For best results, right-click and select "save as..."

Share

COinS