Prior Attitudes Research Articles

The Impact of Comment Slant and Comment Tone on Digital Health Communication Among Polarized Publics: A Web-Based Survey Experiment.

Public attitudes toward health issues are becoming increasingly polarized, as seen in social media comments, which vary from supportive to oppositional and frequently include uncivil language. The combined effects of comment slant and comment tone on health behavior among a polarized public need further examination. This study aims to examine how social media users' prior attitudes toward mask wearing and their exposure to a mask-wearing-promoting post, synchronized with polarized and hostile discussions, affect their compliance with mask wearing. The study was a web-based survey experiment with participants recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk. A total of 522 participants provided consent and completed the study. Participants were assigned to read a fictitious mask-wearing-promoting social media post with either civil anti-mask-wearing comments (130/522, 24.9%), civil pro-mask-wearing comments (129/522, 24.7%), uncivil anti-mask-wearing comments (131/522, 25.1%), or uncivil pro-mask-wearing comments (132/522, 25.3%). Following this, the participants were asked to complete self-assessed questionnaires. The PROCESS macro in SPSS (model 12; IBM Corp) was used to test the 3-way interaction effects between comment slant, comment tone, and prior attitudes on participants' presumed influence from the post and their behavioral intention to comply with mask-wearing. Anti-mask-wearing comments led social media users to presume less influence about others' acceptance of masks (B=1.49; P<.001; 95% CI 0.98-2.00) and resulted in decreased mask-wearing intention (B=0.07; P=.03; 95% CI 0.01-0.13). Comment tone with incivility also reduced compliance with mask-wearing (B=-0.44; P=.02; 95% CI -0.81 to -0.07). Furthermore, polarized attitudes had a direct impact (B=0.86; P<.001; 95% CI 0.45-1.26) and also interacted with both the slant and tone of comments, influencing mask-wearing intention. Pro-mask-wearing comments enhanced presumed influence and compliance of mask-wearing, but incivility in the comments hindered this positive impact. Antimaskers showed increased compliance when they were unable to find civil support for their opinion in the social media environment. The findings suggest the need to correct and moderate uncivil language and misleading information in online comment sections while encouraging the posting of supportive and civil comments. In addition, information literacy programs are needed to prevent the public from being misled by polarized comments.

Should Global Brands Engage in Brand Activism?

Brand activism, taking a stance on current and divisive sociopolitical issues, has emerged as a novel means of expressing a brand's values and engaging with the firm's customer base. Yet, globally, companies lack conclusive guidance on the consequences of taking a stance. This research asks a novel question: Should global brands engage in activism? Using varying activism manipulations (e.g., statements and actions), five studies reveal consumer preference for activist global brands. More importantly, guided by schema change theory, the authors find that the positive brand activism effect is particularly strong for global brands associated with negative brand origin, irrespective of consumers’ prior attitude valence. However, brands with positive origin associations benefit from activism only when consumers’ prior attitude valence is in alignment. The authors also identify the mediating effects of self–brand connection, which has downstream consequences for behavioral intentions. Taken together, this work sheds new light on consumer perceptions of brand activism across cultures, elucidates why consumers prefer global brands that engage in activism, and offers actionable insights for global brand managers.

Do Heuristic Cues Affect Misinformation Sharing? Evidence From a Meta-Analysis

Information overload in online environments leads individuals to be more likely to rely on heuristic cues to make decisions about (mis)information sharing. Drawing on dual-process models of information processing, namely the heuristic–systematic model and the elaboration likelihood model, we conducted a meta-analysis of 31 individual studies to examine the combined effects of five major heuristic cues on misinformation sharing. The results revealed that the affective heuristic of anxiety exerted the strongest impact on misinformation sharing ( r = .343), followed by three cognitive heuristics: the self-confirmation heuristic ( r = .249), endorsement heuristic ( r = .125), and fact-checking heuristic ( r = -.115)—but not the authority heuristic. The endorsement misinformation receives, consistency between misinformation and individuals’ prior attitudes or beliefs, anxiety people feel, and absence of fact-checking labels all make people more likely to share misinformation. Moderation analyses also highlight the importance of considering contextual and cultural factors in future research.

Perceiving AI intervention does not compromise the persuasive effect of fact-checking

Efforts to scale up fact-checking through technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), are increasingly being suggested and tested. This study examines whether previously observed effects of reading fact-checks remain constant when readers are aware of AI’s involvement in the fact-checking process. We conducted three online experiments ( N = 3,978), exposing participants to fact-checks identified as either human-generated or AI-assisted, simulating cases where AI fully generates the fact-check or automatically retrieves human fact-checks. Our findings indicate that the persuasive effect of fact-checking, specifically in increasing truth discernment, persists even among participants without a positive prior attitude toward AI. Additionally, in some cases, awareness of AI’s role reduced perceived political bias in fact-checks among Republicans. Finally, neither AI-generated nor human fact-checks significantly affected participants’ feelings toward or their perceptions of the competence of the targeted politicians.

Cognitive support for political partisans' understanding of policy data.

Political partisanship might lead educated adults-even the highly numerate-to reason selectively about numbers that are relevant to and support their ideology ("motivated numeracy"). In this pre-registered study, we sought to examine the replicability of motivated numeracy, and investigate whether cognitive support (number lines) that improves the reasoning of children might also improve the reasoning of political partisans. To test this, we asked 1000 adults about their political ideology and asked them to interpret fictional data, in a table or number-line format, about ideology relevant (i.e., the effect of gun control on crime) or irrelevant (i.e., the effect of skin cream on rash) issues. We failed to replicate motivated numeracy when political identity was used but observed motivated numeracy when prior attitude was used. Moreover, data presented on number lines elicited 75 percent greater accuracy than data presented in tables, regardless of whether the information was ideology-relevant, or whether data supported, was neutral to, or contradicted participants' political outlooks. Findings imply that political partisans require cognitive support to be more objective about policy data.

Aversion against machines with complex mental abilities: The role of individual differences

Theory suggests that robots with human-like mental capabilities (i.e., high agency and experience) evoke stronger aversion than robots without these capabilities. Yet, while several studies support this prediction, there is also evidence that the mental prowess of robots could be evaluated positively, at least by some individuals. To help resolving this ambivalence, we focused on rather stable individual differences that may shape users’ responses to machines with different levels of (perceived) mental ability. Specifically, we explored four key variables as potential moderators: monotheistic religiosity, the tendency to anthropomorphize, prior attitudes towards robots, and the general affinity for complex technology. Two pre-registered online experiments (N1 = 391, N2 = 617) were conducted, using text vignettes to introduce participants to a robot with or without complex, human-like capabilities. Results showed that negative attitudes towards robots increased the relative aversion against machines with (vs. without) complex minds, whereas technology affinity weakened the difference between conditions. Results for monotheistic religiosity turned out mixed, while the tendency to anthropomorphize had no significant impact on the evoked aversion. Overall, we conclude that certain individual differences play an important role in perceptions of machines with complex minds and should be considered in future research.

Prior Attitude, Individualism and Perceived Scientists’ Expertise

Abstract: On Chinese social media, the stigmatization of homosexuals is tightly connected to the belief that they have a higher risk of contraction than others. However, scientists’ estimation of such risks is selectively framed on media outlets, and could cause confusion about and even polarization around the topic. In the theoretical framework of motivated reasoning, the current study showcases a cognition-intention link in the processing of scientific information regarding homosexuals’ high HIV/AIDS prevalence in China. An online survey experiment ( N = 695) using different emphasis frames of the findings from a scientific report shows that ad hoc identification with homosexuals’ rights, and individualism, strongly moderates the direct effect of exposure to different messages on intention of message forwarding, and also the indirect effect mediated by the perception of scientists’ expertise.

It's never too late to be financially literate: Evaluating a financial education intervention for adults in Italy

AbstractFinancial education represents a powerful tool for improving economic literacy of citizens. This paper presents results from an experiment providing a group of 136 workers in an Italian university (administrative staff) an online, synchronous course. Classes were organized in 5 sessions of 2h each and covered basic topics about personal finance. The effectiveness of the course is assessed through a rigorous randomized controlled trial (RCT). In addition to the analysis of improvements in financial knowledge, financial self‐efficacy and the role of prior attitudes and behaviors were explored. Participants obtained post‐test scores statistically higher than individuals in the control group, with an average effect size of 0.55 SD. The effect is particularly relevant for participants starting with low levels of financial knowledge. Moreover, two novel findings emerge: financial self‐efficacy increases (0.51 SD) after the course, and pre‐treatment individuals' financial attitudes and behaviors shed further light on the financial learning process.

The predictive power of prior attitudes: understanding employee workspace satisfaction in activity-based work environments

Purpose This study aims to examine if and how an activity-based work environment affects employee workspace satisfaction – an attitude linked to important employee outcomes. By comparing perceptions before and after implementation, the research draws attention to factors that may help explain the impact of an activity-based work environment. Specifically, prior attitudes toward activity-based work environments and gender are tested. Design/methodology/approach The present study uses a longitudinal design to explore how implementing an activity-based work environment impacts employees’ workspace satisfaction (e.g. privacy, air quality, lighting, temperature, etc.). A sample of 100 employees in a government organization implementing an activity-based working environment was investigated using a longitudinal design, with employees being surveyed thrice – once before and twice after implementation. Findings The results indicate that when workspace satisfaction is impacted by implementing an activity-based work environment, this effect seems primarily based on employees’ prior attitude toward such work environments. In addition, employee gender emerges as a potentially important factor in workspace satisfaction, though not exclusive to the activity-based work environment. Originality/value Using a longitudinal approach – which allows for observing potential changes over time – and robust statistical methods, this study supports the importance of employees’ initial attitude toward an activity-based work environment concerning workspace satisfaction. This finding has practical implications for organizations and advances the understanding of why an activity-based work environment may positively affect workspace satisfaction for some employees while negatively affecting others.

Harnessing Anger to Persuade: The Moderating Roles of Retributive Efficacy and Prior Attitudes

ABSTRACT Given unresolved questions about the conditions under which anger appeals persuade, this investigation examined whether an anger appeal is more persuasive if it includes efficacy content emphasizing retribution. It also examined whether effects hinge on initial attitudes toward the advocated issue – here, regulation of soda marketing to improve children’s health. Findings from this 3 (offense component: high, low, none) × 3 (efficacy component: retributive, non-retributive, none) between-subjects experiment (N=1,244) indicated a high offense component unintentionally generated anger toward the message source among counterattitudinal individuals but, intriguingly, also boosted their behavioral intentions. Exposure to any efficacy cues increased policy support. Although the offense and efficacy components did not interact, post hoc analyses revealed the expected pattern whereby message-intended anger more strongly predicted policy support at higher levels of retributive efficacy beliefs. These findings suggest promising new directions to revisit predictions made by extant theories of anger appeals.

The importance of employee attitude in activity-based work environments and the potential role of personality

In studies of activity-based work environments, employees’ prior attitude towards activity-based work environments has been identified as a potentially essential antecedent to how they perceive the new work environment. Using longitudinal data—collected once before and three times after moving to an activity-based office—we seek to reaffirm the moderating effect of this prior attitude on employee perceptions of privacy and psychological ownership in a sample from two smaller organisations (n = 38 combined). We also explore if employee attitude towards an activity-based work environment is related to personality dimensions. The findings support that prior employee attitude to an activity-based work environment moderates subsequent perceptions of privacy and psychological ownership. Only conscientiousness is significant when examining the association of personality and employee attitude towards an activity-based work environment. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed. Practitioner summary: Questions remain about activity-based work environments. The data shows employee perceptions of privacy and psychological ownership are lower after moving to an activity-based office, but only for employees with less favourable attitudes towards activity-based environments beforehand. Conscientiousness is positively associated with employees’ attitude towards activity-based environments before the move.

Motivated reasoning about climate change and the influence of Numeracy, Need for Cognition, and the Dark Factor of Personality

Human information processing is not always rational but influenced by prior attitudes, a phenomenon commonly known as motivated reasoning. We conducted two studies (N1 = 556, N2 = 1198; UK samples) investigating motivated reasoning in the context of climate change with a focus on individual differences as potential moderating factors. While previous research investigated motivated reasoning regarding the debate whether climate change is anthropogenic, we focused on current discourses about the effectiveness of different countermeasures. To this end, participants evaluated fictitious scientific data on the effectiveness of regulations to reduce CO2 emissions. In both studies, participants exhibited motivated reasoning as indicated by the observation that prior attitudes about CO2 reduction policies predicted evaluation of the scientific data. The degree of motivated reasoning was not related to individual difference variables, namely the ability to understand and reason with numbers (Numeracy), the willingness to show this ability (Need for Cognition), and the tendency to maximize one’s individual utility (Dark Factor of Personality). However, numeracy was associated with a less biased interpretation of the presented information. Our research demonstrates that motivated reasoning is a general phenomenon, and points to numerical training as one way to improve reasoning.

Validating the Relative Importance of Technology Diffusion Barriers– Exploring Modular Construction Design-Build Practices in the UK

ABSTRACT This research investigates the low use of modular construction despite its recognized cost, time, quality, safety, and sustainability advantages. Using technology diffusion theory, this study seeks to identify and rank the characteristics that impede modular building adoption, such as relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability. A survey of industry professionals in the United Kingdom was undertaken, and the results, validated by a one-sample t-test, showed that attitudes toward modular building, rather than technical difficulties, are the key impediments to broad adoption. The degree to which modular construction resonates with prospective adopters’ current values, past experiences, and requirements determines its acceptance. Traditional mind-sets, the presence of traditional constructs, resistance to change, prior attitudes, bid prices, hesitation, and skepticism are all associated with non-adoption. Professional positions serve as a bridge between adopters and non-adapters. The research also emphasizes the importance of design-build project delivery systems and early supplier chain participation in accelerating the mainstream adoption of modular construction.

Pro-Environmental Nationalism is Still Nationalism: How Political Identity and Prior Attitudes Affect Nationalist Framing Effects on Support for Climate Action

ABSTRACT Based on research on framing effects and biased cognition, this paper investigated the limitations of framing pro-environmental messages in nationalist terms that emphasize the importance of upholding national pride, security, and leadership in global climate mitigation – a growing tendency among pro-environmental governments. Evidence from two survey experiments in the United States (N = 1075 and N = 205, respectively) supported the hypothesis that political identities and prior attitudes drove the effects of pro-environmental nationalist frame exposure on climate attitudes by influencing which considerations remained salient in people’s minds following exposure. Study 1 showed that Republicans (versus Democrats) and nationalist participants assigned more salience to nationalist considerations following exposure, resulting in higher ethnoculturalism and, subsequently, lower climate mitigation support and higher climate scepticism. Study 2 largely replicated these results. Thus, this paper highlighted the limitations of framing pro-environmental information in nationalist terms to increase support for climate action.

Public controversy and citizens' attitude formation about animal research: A case for scholarship and recommendations on conflicts at the science-society interface.

Activist groups attack animal research and put scientists and their institutions under pressure, whereas scientists often remain silent. We report an interdisciplinary research project driven by a communication science perspective on how citizens respond to news reports about animal research (3 experiments, overall N = 765) and a German science-initiated information platform ("Tierversuche verstehen"; controlled user study, N = 100). Findings demonstrate that a critical journalist perspective within neutral, two-sided news reports (e.g., skeptical expert statements or images of suffering animals) does not affect citizen opinion strongly. Information media provided by scientific institutions seem to be welcomed even by citizens who hold critical prior attitudes. From these results, we develop a set of recommendations for future public communication of animal research that builds on best practices in organizational and crisis communication. These suggestions are intended to empower animal researchers to actively participate in public debate to support citizens' informed attitude formation.

The Impact of Elicitation and Contrasting Narratives on Engagement, Recall and Attitude Change With News Articles Containing Data Visualization.

News articles containing data visualizations play an important role in informing the public on issues ranging from public health to politics. Recent research on the persuasive appeal of data visualizations suggests that prior attitudes can be notoriously difficult to change. Inspired by an NYT article, we designed two experiments to evaluate the impact of elicitation and contrasting narratives on attitude change, recall, and engagement. We hypothesized that eliciting prior beliefs leads to more elaborative thinking that ultimately results in higher attitude change, better recall, and engagement. Our findings revealed that visual elicitation leads to higher engagement in terms of feelings of surprise. While there is an overall attitude change across all experiment conditions, we did not observe a significant effect of belief elicitation on attitude change. With regard to recall error, while participants in the draw trend elicitation exhibited significantly lower recall error than participants in the categorize trend condition, we found no significant difference in recall error when comparing elicitation conditions to no elicitation. In a follow-up study, we added contrasting narratives with the purpose of making the main visualization (communicating data on the focal issue) appear strikingly different. Compared to the results of Study 1, we found that contrasting narratives improved engagement in terms of surprise and interest but interestingly resulted in higher recall error and no significant change in attitude. We discuss the effects of elicitation and contrasting narratives in the context of topic involvement and the strengths of temporal trends encoded in the data visualization.

How social are self-effects? The impact of feedback on the internalization of expressed opinions in online communication

Online communication channels provide rich opportunities for public opinion expression, and the act of posting may lead to an internalization of the expressed views. This research investigated whether such self-effects are affected by feedback comments and whether this influence is stronger in social network sites than in anonymous online forums. In an experiment manipulating valence of feedback and the media context, 161 participants were asked to express their opinion on a current topic. Results showed limited effects of feedback: Negative comments tended to reduce internalization among participants with non-extreme prior attitudes, but this was independent from the media context.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Marketing of Education

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many schools to partially or totally switch to remote communication methods for delivering education in the years 2020-2021. It is believed that forced compliance with unfamiliar and even unpreferred modes of behavior can have a profound and lasting impact on people’s attitudes and opinions toward the behavior itself because of first-hand exposure and experience. It is, therefore, possible that this experience with remote teaching and learning could have materially changed both instructors’ as well as students’ attitudes toward remote delivery of education. Such changed attitudes may predict their future choices and behavior. This paper will present the important facets of education delivery systems identified, and the survey instrument developed to explore three areas: instructors’ and students’ prior attitudes and behaviors toward alternative education delivery modes, their experiences during the pandemic, and the effect of the experience on their attitudes. The paper will also present the results of a pilot study conducted using a sample of student respondents.

Marketing Communication Analysis of the Consumer Decision Making Process

Consumers often purchase new products associated with preferred brand names. Their favorable attitude toward a brand name is often the result of repeated satisfaction with other products produced by the same company. Sometimes attitudes follow the purchase and consumption of a product. For example, consumers may purchase a branded product without having any prior attitude towards it because it is the only product of its kind available. There are many aspects to consumer behavior. The experience of using products and services, as well as the sense of pleasure derived from owning, collecting, or consuming goods and experiences contribute to consumer satisfaction and overall quality of life. These consumption outcomes or experiences, in turn, influence the consumer's future decision-making process. The importance of ownership and experience, a broader consumer behavior perspective may view consumer choice as the beginning of the consumption process, not just the end of the consumer's decision-making efforts.

Engaging with misinformation and misinformation corrective messages on social media: Examining the role of source cues, social endorsement cues, and prior attitudes

ABSTRACTThis study seeks to understand how individuals engage with misinformation and corrective messages about genetically modified (GM) food safety on social media. Based on a 2 (expert source vs. social peer source) x 2 (high social endorsements vs. low social endorsements) between-subject experiment (N = 264), this study examined the role of source cues, social endorsement cues, and prior attitudes in influencing individuals’ social media engagements. Results found that individuals selectively engaged with misinformation and corrective messages based on their prior attitudes. Individuals with more negative prior attitudes toward GM foods were more likely to share, click ‘likes,’ add a positive comment, and were less likely to add a negative comment to the misinformation message that doubts GM food safety. Conversely, individuals with more positive prior attitudes toward GM foods were more likely to share, click ‘likes,’ and were less likely to add a negative comment to the corrective message that supports GM food safety. Individuals were more likely to endorse a corrective message when it was attributed to an expert (vs. social peer) source. However, social media endorsements had no significant impact on individuals’ social media engagement with the corrective message.