Healthy Skepticism Library item: 20238

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Leippe, MR, Elkin RA
When Motives Clash: Issue Involvement and Response Involvement as Determinants of Persuasion
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1987 Feb; 52:(2):269-278
http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=1987-15552-001

Abstract:

College students heard a strong or weak message after learning whether the message issue would have relevance to their personal lives outside the laboratory (high or low issue involvement) and whether they would later discuss the message issue (high or low response involvement). Judging from subjects’ recall of message information, either high issue involvement or high response involvement was sufficient to instigate high levels of attention to the message. Issue-involved-only subjects, however, were most strongly influenced by message quality. They agreed more with and had more favorable thoughts about strong relative to weak messages, and they were most likely to engage in attitude-consistent behavior. Response-involved-only subjects were not affected by message quality, either on public attitude and thought measures or on a private behavioral measure. Response-and-issue-involved subjects were in between these extremes. Message quality had modest effects on their thoughts and attitudes, but not on their behavior. These results suggest that issue involvement encourages systematic processing that is sensitive to how well message arguments concur with personal standards. In contrast, response involvement encourages expression of attitudes that satisfy self-presentational needs. This expression may be mediated by message processing that is either biased toward moderation or nonintegrative, or by outward impression management, or both.