Cognitive Responses to Persuasion as Mediators of Opinion Change

Summary Past research on the relationship between recall of message content and the effectiveness of a persuasive communication has produced contradictory findings. The present study utilized Greenwald's “cognitive response analysis” of persuasion in an attempt to clarify this relationship. Eighty male and female undergraduates were exposed to persuasive communications and then tested for their retention of message content and cognitive response content. Opinion change, both immediately and after a one-week delay, was significantly correlated with recall of cognitive responses. There was no significant correlation between recall of message content and attitude change. These results were seen as supporting Greenwald's modified learning approach to persuasion.