Cognitive style differences and their impact on responses to message sources

Abstract

Kirton’s adaption‐innovation inventory has been used to examine the significance of cognitive styles (personality traits) as mediating variables between message sources and their likely impacts on attitude change processes. The framework created as a result of this, incorporated adaptive and innovative stylistic differences in responding to messages delivered by negative and positive sources. A quota sample of 120 respondents has highlighted a number of key issues which are of both conceptual and practical significance. On a conceptual level the knowledge of adaptors being more source oriented extends the existing theoretical framework to include variations in the attitude change processes and on a practical level this aids the advertiser to consider different messages and delivery modes. Also important, although statistically insignificant, is the finding that innovators have a propensity to be influenced by a negative rather than a positive source.