The Interactive Effects of Message Appeal and Individual Differences on Information Processing and Persuasion: ABSTRACT

Individuals differing in the extent to which they enjoy thinking (Cacioppo & Petty, 1982) were exposed either to factual or to evaluative messages pertaining to a fictitious automobile. The results show that message appeal moderates the relationship between need for cognition and judgments about the message, whereas beliefs about the product attributes mediate the relationship between message judgments and product evaluations. Theoretical and practical implications of the moderator-mediator distinction are discussed.