Reviving the Sleeper Effect

<p>The present study was conducted to delve into the cognitive dynamics of the sleeper effect. The study investigated the role of persuasive message repetition (once, twice), the position of a discounting cue, which challenged the stated position of a communication, the cue’s credibility (high/low) and the timing of the cue (presented before or after the persuasive communication) on the outcome of a sleeper effect experiment. Analytically, the study was conceptualized as a 2 (Cue Credibility: high/low) x 2 (Cue presentation: before/after the persuasive message), (Elaboration: Communication was read once or twice) x 3 Test (pretest, posttest 1, posttest 2) design. It was hypothesized that participants presented with the discounting cue after a persuasive message, receiving the persuasive message twice, and from a low credibility source, would be more likely to demonstrate an increase in positivity of attitudes in posttest (i.e., a sleeper effect), consistent with the thrust of the persuasion message after a delay of one week (an attenuation of the communication effect from posttest 1 to posttest 2) compared to other study conditions, thus demonstrating a sleeper effect. To clarify this effect, a theory-relevant variable (i.e., vested interest) was entered as a moderator. For this purpose, a sample of 200 Mturk participants was assembled A mixed factorial between-within groups ANOVA was used to analyze the data. Results suggested no within-group time effects, owing to the standardization of the attitude measure. Only message repetition yielded a significant main between-effect, such that participants who received the persuasive message once demonstrated a more pronounced attitude change in favor of the persuasive message across all time points, as compared to participants who received the persuasive message twice. The discussion section critically examines the underlying reasons for the discrepancy between hypothesized outcomes and yielded results.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Psychology, MA

Level thesis:degree_level

Open Access Master's Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

School of Social Science, Politics, and Evaluation

Year dc:date.available

2024

Author dc:creator

• Riffat, Tehreem

Contributors dc:contributor

• Eusebio Alvaro

• Attitude Change
• Attitudes
• Persuasion
• Psychology
• Sleeper Effect
• Social Psychology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/864

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarship.claremont.edu:cgu_etd-1883