The Agenda Setting Process and its Potential Attitudinal Effects

Gennadiy Chernov

doi:10.22158/csm.v4n4p1

Abstract

Agenda setting is a well-documented process in the media effects tradition. It has a strong impact on what issues are perceived as important by the audience. However, there are indications that agenda setting may have an indirect effect on the attitudes. The current study tested the Elaboration Likelihood Model (The ELM) as a possible mechanism of attitude change that may be present in the agenda setting process. The experimental results did not confirm the overall impact of the ELM on attitudes, but it demonstrated separate attitudinal effects of ability operationalized as knowledge. Further, it was also argued that the agenda setting process may have an indirect effect on attitudes through the peripheral route of the ELM.

Highlights

Agenda setting has been one of the dominant theories in media effects realm for over 50 years
Previous knowledge is an indicator of the level of ability to comprehend the message content as it was postulated in the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986), and it is operationalized according to the previous measures used in agenda-setting studies (Lee, 2005; Kiousis, 2004)
The study hypothesized that the ELM variables, media involvement, knowledge and elaboration, could have a significant effect on attitude favourability with which participants evaluated the issues after reading the stories about them

Summary

Introduction

Agenda setting has been one of the dominant theories in media effects realm for over 50 years. Individuals may not thoroughly elaborate the message if they are not sufficiently involved and/or do not have enough ability to evaluate the message’s main argument (the peripheral route of information processing). In the latter case, the individuals may pay more attention to the source of the message, their feelings when they attend to the message, and to secondary elements of the message. H3: The more a news article makes the reader think and reflect on an issue, the stronger attitudinal effects and higher the perceived importance of the issue To test this hypothesis, the subjects were divided into two groups (high vs low level of elaboration) using a median split based on corresponding measures derived from the answers on questionnaire items related to elaboration. Knowledge, had three levels: high, medium and low

Result

Findings

Discussion