Thesis About Persuasion

Cam Nguyen

METHOD

Participants

Participants were _______ (number) undergraduates at the Ohio State University recruited from different courses. _________ were females and ________ were males. The participants were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions: sexualized image and cognitive load (n =___), sexualized image and no cognitive load (n = ____), non-sexualized image and cognitive load (n = ___), and non-sexualized image and no cognitive load (n = _____).

Design

The experiment employed a 2x2 posttest factorial design. The two independent variables were sexualization and cognitive load. The dependent variables were persuasion, ad’s ability to gain attention and increase interest in the product, ad’s emotional impact,

and metacognition. Model attractiveness and attention were also measured to rule out a possible third variable of attractiveness and to exclude data from participants who were not paying attention.

Experimental manipulations

Sexualization. Two sets of sexualized and non-sexualized images from advertisements were found online for this study. Sexualized images were those with a model in a revealing outfit or posing in a way that is sexually suggestive on an advertisement trying to sell a product. Non-sexualized images were also those from advertisements with a model who were not wearing a revealing outfit or posing in a sexually suggestive way. Each set of images (sexualized-nonsexualized) were of the same model selling the same product. This is to control for possible third variables such as attraction. Additionally, gender effects of the presenter were also controlled for by having both female and male models in the images.

Cognitive Load. Cognitive load is the total amount of mental activity demanding on the working memory at a specific time. To manipulate cognitive load, a procedure that has been widely used in the literature was adopted. Two set of random seven digits numbers were generated and given to the participants in the conditions with cognitive load to memorize (Shiv & Fedorikhin 1999). The participants in the condition with no cognitive load did not receive any instructions to memorize the numbers.

Measures

Persuasion.

Persuasion is a shift in beliefs and attitudes that is positive in response to a persuasive message. Adapted from from Till and Bustler (2000) and Praxmarer (2001), persuasion is measured by asking the participants to express their agreement on a seven point scale (strongly disagree-strongly agree) to statements such as “I find the product persuasive.” There were four statements total for this measure.

Ad’s ability to gain attention. This is the ability of the ad to draw attention from the viewer. Participants express their responses on a seven point scale (not at all to very much) to the question, “Do you think this ad was attention getting?” (Reichert, Heckler & Jackson 2001).

Ad’s ability to increase interest in the product. This is the ad’s ability to make the viewers more interested in the product. Participants express their responses on a seven point scale (decreased considerably to increased considerably) to the question, “How was your interest level in the product affected?” (Reichert, Heckler & Jackson 2001).

Ad’s emotional impact. This is the ability of the ad to have an emotional impact on the viewer. Participants express their responses on a seven point scale (not at all to very powerful) to the question, “How powerful do you think the ad was?” (Reichert, Heckler & Jackson

2001).

Metacognitive Measures. This is a measurement of what the participants think about their own thoughts. The participants express their responses on a seven point scale (not at all confident to very confident) to the question, “How confident do you feel that you answered all of these questions to the best of your ability?”
Model Attractiveness. This is the participant’s own ideals of attractiveness. They express their responses on a seven point scale (from not at all to very attractive) to the question, “How attractive do you think the model was in the previous image?”(Rennels & Langlois 2014)
Attention Check. To check for whether the participants were paying attention and reading the instructions, they were asked to select “2” on a seven point scale (not at all to very helpful) to the question, “How helpful was this study?”

Procedure

From a link, the participants filled out an online survey in which they were randomly assigned to one these four conditions: 1) sexualized image and cognitive load, 2) sexualized image and no cognitive load, 3) non-sexualized image and cognitive load, and 4) non-sexualized image and no cognitive load. The participants in all conditions were given an informed consent and asked to provide their gender at the beginning of the survey.

In the first condition, the participants were asked to keep a set of seven digits number in their head as they view the first sexualized image. The instruction told them to view the images “as they would normally view an ad in a magazine”. Afterward, they were requested to recite the numbers and answer a series of questions to measure the dependent variables mentioned above. Then, they were given a new set of numbers to memorize as they view the second sexualized image. Again, the participants were asked to recite them after viewing the image and answer the same series of questions about the second image as they did with first image.

In the second condition, the participants went through the same procedures as the first condition. However, they were given no instructions about memorizing or reciting numbers. In the third condition, the procedures were the same as the first condition except that they view non-sexualized images instead of sexualized images. In the last condition, they also viewed non-sexualized images but were given no instructions to memorize or recite numbers.

At the end, participants in all conditions were debriefed and thanked for their participation.