Premium
Down the Garden Path: The Role of Conditional Inference Processes in Self‐Persuasion
Author(s) -
Kardes Frank R.,
Cronley Maria L.,
Pontes Manuel C.,
Houghton David C.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of consumer psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.433
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1532-7663
pISSN - 1057-7408
DOI - 10.1207/s15327663jcp1103_02
Subject(s) - persuasion , argument (complex analysis) , psychology , inference , product (mathematics) , cognitive psychology , attitude change , social psychology , path (computing) , cognition , computer science , artificial intelligence , mathematics , biochemistry , chemistry , geometry , neuroscience , programming language
Three experiments investigated the effects of conditional inference processes on belief system structure and persuasion. Experiment 1 applied functional measurement procedures to show that Wyer's (1974) subjective probability model of cognitive organization generalizes to belief systems using realistic product stimuli. Experiment 2 demonstrated that belief systems about products become more internally consistent when beliefs within these systems are reported repeatedly (the Socratic effect), especially when brand familiarity is low. Experiment 3 investigated the effects of horizontal versus vertical argument structures in advertising on persuasion. The results show that a persuasion‐induced change in 1 belief can alter other related but unmentioned beliefs, and that resistance to persuasion is greater for horizontal than for vertical argument structures. Theoretical and applied implications of these results are discussed.