The effect of persuasive communication strategies on rural resident attitudes toward ecosystem management

Abstract

This study examined ways of generating favorable public attitudes toward ecosystem management (EM). Five hundred rural residents of the Chattooga River Basin (CRB) participated in a telephone survey. A recent Forest Service message on EM was compared with four messages developed using the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) and a control (no message) group in their ability to produce favorable attitudes toward EM. The four ELM messages were generated using combinations of high versus low personal relevance and strong versus weak argument strength. The interaction of argument strength and personal relevance along with prior knowledge of EM was also explored. Results show that (1) generally, CRB residents have very low knowledge of EM and (2) the most favorable attitudes were associated with messages containing strong arguments. Evidence of a three‐way interaction (personal relevance by knowledge by argument strength) was found. Explanations for the three‐way interaction as well as theoretical and applied implications of the study findings are discussed.