Based on the theoretical framework of social representations, the possibility that exposure to sided news coverage of an organization and subsequent interpersonal communication might affect audiences directly as well as interact in their effects was experimentally assessed in this research. Also, following a social network analysis perspective, the extent to which social network characteristics, such as social network density and presence of strong ties, determine the degree of independent as well as interactive effects of media information and subsequent interpersonal communication on public relations outcomes was examined. / Sided media exposure significantly affected audiences' attitudes and behavioral intentions toward an organization covered in the media. Also, sided media exposure significantly accounted for intensity of subsequent interpersonal communication in a social network, as a two-sided media information flow with mixed evaluative cues led to more intense subsequent interpersonal communication than did a one-sided media information flow. Intensity of subsequent interpersonal communication, in turn, helped predict duration of audiences' attitudes toward as well as their future WOM intentions about the covered organization in the media. / Interpersonal communication after media exposure caused rather non-intuitive effects. When allowed to talk with others in a social network, audiences reported significantly less amount of knowledge, weaker personal issue stance, less durable attitudes/behavioral intentions, and less media influence. Such negative effects of interpersonal communication after media exposure, however, varied in its magnitude across different levels of social network density. In a disconnected social network, negative effects of subsequent interpersonal communication on attitudes and behavioral intentions disappeared, whereas effects of sided media exposure prevailed. In a connected social network, on the contrary, subsequent interpersonal communication exerted significantly negative influence on attitudes and behavioral intentions, while effects of sided media exposure were completely nullified. / Social network density also significantly accounted for intensity of interpersonal communication after media exposure; such interpersonal communication was more intense in a densely connected social network than in a loosely connected social network. Presence of strong ties in a social network, in addition, helped predict the degree of interpersonal influence that network members perceived in terms of determining their opinions about the covered issue and organization. / Despite some limitations, the findings of this research offered both public relations scholars and practitioners considerable implications in their future work. Demonstrating an occasion when media effects may not be pronounced as theoretically expected, because of different interpersonal influence on audiences across different interpersonal settings, this research calls for more scholarly as well as practical attention to the social interaction of media and interpersonal communication in understanding and evaluating public relation outcomes.

The purpose of this dissertation was to develop measures of narrative structure for written and video health communication messages with an eye toward developing more readily encoded and persuasive messages. Two rated measures of narrative structure, both of which are comprised of unique sub-scales, were developed for use in health communication messages across two pretests and two primary studies using experimental methodologies. One of the rated measures of narrative structure is for written text and one is for video. A series of reliability analyses were completed on these measures including exploratory factor analyses, Cronbach's alpha analyses and bootstrap analyses. Both of the primary studies used smoking cessation material and the sample was an adult population of smokers. A relatively reliable rated measure of narrative structure was developed for video and written texts. In both cases, some of the subscales of the rated measures of narrative structure are distinct from transportation, a measure of narrative engagement. Results suggest that higher levels of sequence and transportation are associated with increased encoding across media. However, sequence was little effect on persuasion outcomes and emotionality of messages has varying effects across recognition and persuasion outcomes.

Drawing direct comparisons between one's brand and its competitors is widely used in advertising. Previous research has shown positive effects of comparative advertising: consumers have an improved attitude toward the brand. However, comparisons can be risky, leading consumers to develop more source derogations, perceive the advertisement as more aggressive, and have increased negative emotions and attitude toward the ad. / A plausible question posed by a brand manager or advertiser would be: how can we maintain the positive effects of drawing a comparison, while mitigating the negative effects? Research into the effects of narrative transportation shows that subjects react very favorably toward advertisements that induce them to imagine themselves in the described product scenario. This thesis was designed to investigate how coupling narrative transportation with comparisons in an advertisement affects consumers' reactions, and if the use of transportation can calm the negative effects of a comparison. The results of this study suggest that a transportive comparative ad is as effective as a transportive noncomparative ad---when paired with transportation, a comparison's negative effects are assuaged.

Framing the Public Library| The Public Perception of the Public Library in the Media

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: B, page: 3814. Adviser: Arthur F. Kramer. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-100) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

<p> Suggestion is a part of communication that cannot be stripped from or be considered separate from verbal and nonverbal communication. It is through the need to view the communication processes from a complete understanding that this study investigated the possible influence that suggestion may have on an individual&rsquo;s perception of reality. The existing literature was reviewed with various results from different researchers, however, much of the literature supported previous research done by Spanos et al. (1984) and Bartels et al. (2006). Their research showed some indications that suggestion, and possibly priming may have an influence on an individual&rsquo;s perception. Using their research as a starting point this study developed a mixed-method approach in order to test some aspects of their research. Ten volunteers participated in a mixed-methods experiment. A Factorial Design of 2 x 2 enabled a testing of two treatments at the same time. The participants were tested for level of suggestibility using the Stanford Scale and were then divided into one of four groups. Groups consisted of high or low suggestible participants who were treated with a suggestion or priming words to determine their level of discomfort when their arm was placed in ice water. The results were measured on a scale from one to ten. </p><p> The ANOVA showed no statistical difference in the groups. However, the number of individuals who were unable to complete the testing was all in the high suggestibility group and it appeared that individuals in the priming group, both high and low suggestible, had the greatest reduction in discomfort relative to their baseline.</p>

This investigation presents a model to explain and test the influence of power and communication in close relationships. Rollins and Bahr's (1976) theory of power in marital relationships, referred to here as dyadic power theory, was expanded to include communication behavior. The theory, which emphasizes the dyadic nature of power, draws upon social exchange theory, the chilling effect, sex roles, and normative resource theory. It is proposed that perceptions of legitimate authority to make decisions and access to a variety of resources should increase individuals' perceptions of their own power compared to their partner. Perceptions of power, in turn, should increase the likelihood of using dominant communication behavior in an attempt to control the interaction. Greater control attempts should lead greater influence over decisions. It is also predicted that perceptions of power and control will increase relational satisfaction for the partner having power. The prepositional framework of dyadic power theory is explicated and several hypotheses based on the theory are given. Ninety-seven couples (58 married, 39 cohabiting) participated in a study of power in relationships. Couples completed surveys on perceptions of their authority, resources and power compared to their partner. The couples then completed a problem-solving task together while being videotaped. The videotapes were coded for a variety of verbal and nonverbal control attempts including dysfluencies, interruptions, frequency of adaptor and illustrator gestures, vocal characteristics, and dominance. The model tested in this investigation was largely supported. Individuals' perceptions of authority and resources were predictors of perceived relative power, and perceptions of power led to more dominant communication behavior during discussions with their partner. This dominant behavior led to control over the outcome of their interaction. Relational satisfaction was not influenced by the amount of power or control enjoyed by the participants. Men reported having more psychological, physical and economic resources while women reported greater authority over the household and children. Masculine individuals reported feeling more powerful and contributed more to the outcome of the discussions with their partners than feminine individuals overall. The influence of personality traits and suggestions for future revisions of dyadic power theory are discussed.

Notwithstanding its significance as a communicative apparatus for social interaction, the general mechanism of politeness has been less clear partly because a wide variety of realization patterns of politeness strategies exist across cultures and languages. Researchers who are sensitive to the cultural and linguistic diversities of communication styles have claimed that politeness varies in its conceptualization and practices across cultures and languages, whereas linguists in pragmatics have assumed that politeness is a part of a universally rational communication system that operates in the same way for any language user. This study attempts to investigate the universal mechanism of politeness presumably built into any language system. At the same time, potential cross-cultural differences in values assigned to politeness are explored to determine what interferes with people's universal competence in perceiving politeness. In comparing native and nonnative speakers of English, people's judgments of politeness and other notions closely related to politeness were assessed for several speech act types in English. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

This dissertation examines the history of conversation in eighteenth-century England by looking at normative sites of discourse, beginning with the comedies of the Restoration stage, moving on to the coffeehouses, the polite drawing rooms, and ending with an examination of the Bluestocking circle. Of particular interest is the role of women as conversation moves along a trajectory from the eloquence of the Renaissance period to a more rational style associated with the emerging middle class, to the polite conversation that allowed women a place in discourse. Early in the period, women were expected to remain silent--and thus chaste--when in company, but as the century progressed and it became clear that women's public roles were expanding, the mode of public discourse shifted, from eloquence to politeness. At the same time, the normative sites of discourse shifted as well, from the coffeehouse, in which the man aware of his civic duty engaged in rational debates on subjects of public import, to the more private drawing rooms, sites presided over by women and made polite by their presence. The conversation, as well, became less concerned with public issues such as politics and literary criticism and more taken up with the display of good manners.

Within contemporary views of attitude formation and change, two sources of influence are assumed to be available to the decision-maker when faced with making a behavioral decision. The first source represents information about consequences of engaging in the behavior and it is based on an individual's attitude. The second is based on normative information about the opinions held by others. Both attitudinal and normative influence can contribute to decision-outcomes, but there is little known about what factors impact the relative contribution of one over the other. In addition to individual level perceptions of a behavior, the context in which a decision is made also influences how individuals make behavioral decisions. The Structural Theory of Social Influence (SSI) proposes that network position, one of many contextual properties, explains how individuals weigh information from both attitudinal and normative sources (Friedkin, 1998). A multilevel test of this explanation is presented. Micro-level variables were based on individual level perceptions of attitude and subjective norm. A decision context was measured by social network analysis to create the macro-level variable of network position. This study focused on a decision context that was constructed of faculty and their behavioral intentions regarding a set of teaching behaviors. The results from a cross-level test (between the macro- and micro-level variables) suggest that network position does not explain variation attitudinal influence. These results are discussed in terms of the SSI and in how they inform diffusion processes. It is proposed that a theory of the balance between attitudinal and normative influence should include individual, behavioral, as well as structural level predictors of interpersonal influence.