Philippine E-Journals

Changing Attitudes through Print Advertisements: The Moderating Role of Issue Involvement

Maria Rowena Villarama

Discipline: Psychology

 

Abstract:

Two experiments were done to study the factors affecting the processing of print advertisements and their effects on attitude change. In Experiment 1, using a highly involving topic (Responsible Sexual Behavior), Students from U.P. Diliman were either actively or passively exposed to one of three advertisements using an informative, humor, and fear-arousing appeal respectively. Participants then completed an attitude scale where they rated how much they agree or disagree with the message located in the advertisement they saw. Then they listed all their thoughts they had while viewing the advertisement. In Experiment 2, the degree of involvement was varied by using a moderately involving topic (TB Prevention). The two experiments showed that the processing of a persuasive message and the resulting attitude change differ under different involvement conditions. Together, the two experiments also indicated that variables can influence processing and attitudes by different processes under different involvement conditions.