Cognitive Mediation of Positive Affect in Persuasion

Abstract

This study explored the impact of positive mood on the cognitive processes mediating attitude change in response to a persuasive communication. Subjects in either a good mood or a neutral mood were exposed to either a proattitudinal or a counterattitudinal message comprised of either strong or weak arguments. Subjects were also provided with a persuasion cue that could be used to judge the validity of the message without processing message content. As expected, subjects in a positive mood exhibited both attitude change and cognitive responses that were indicative of reduced systematic processing. Relative to subjects in a neutral mood, subjects in a good mood showed attitude change that was significantly less influenced by manipulations of message quality, and tended to be more influenced by the presence or absence of the persuasion cue. Subjects experiencing a positive mood recalled less of the message, and their cognitive responses differentiated less between strong and weak arguments and more between the presence and absence of the persuasion cue.