Channel Variation and Attitude Change
Victor D. Wall, John A. Boyd · Journal of Communication · 1971
The purpose of this study was to determine if the channel of presentation for a given message made any differences in the amount of attitude change. Subjects were exposed to three different channels of presentation, a live, a written, and a video-taped message, and their attitudes measured. An analysis of variance was performed and it was determined that the written message produced more change than either the live or the videotaped version. The implications of the findings were two-fold. First, the differences found and attributed to channel variation indicate that generalizability of results from the written to the oral situation lacks empirical justification. Second, the use of video-tapes in place of live presentations was supported, suggesting that video-tapes offer the experimenter more precise control of oral presentation variables in experimental research. Implications for future research are discussed.