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Affect and persuasion: The influence of pleasantness and arousal on attitude formation and message elaboration
Author(s) -
Mano Haim
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
psychology and marketing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.035
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1520-6793
pISSN - 0742-6046
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1520-6793(199707)14:4<315::aid-mar2>3.0.co;2-c
Subject(s) - persuasion , psychology , elaboration , affect (linguistics) , arousal , social psychology , elaboration likelihood model , attitude change , developmental psychology , communication , humanities , philosophy
In contrast to past research that viewed affect as unidimensional,this study examines the effects of affect'stwo primary dimensions, pleasantness and arousal, on ad‐based persuasionoutcomes (attitude favorability) and processes (degree of elaboration,thought positivity). After assessing their naturally‐occurring levelsof pleasantness and arousal, subjects were exposed to a persuasivecommunication and assigned to an involvement (low/high) by messagestrength (low/high) design. GLM analyses revealed that higher pleasantnessaccentuated the typical involvement X message interaction on attitudefavorability, and that higher involvement enhanced message elaborationonly when accompanied by higher pleasantness. Path analyses furthersuggested that (1) higher pleasantness enhanced message elaborationunder higher involvement but decreased it under lower involvement,(2) under higher involvement, both pleasantness and arousal positivelyimpacted thought positivity, and, (3) higher arousal decreased messageelaboration only for the weaker message. The importance and implicationsof a broader than unidimensional view of affect in persuasion are discussed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.