Thomas Roessing

The effects of verbal and nonverbal elements in persuasive communication: Findings from two multi-method experiments

Abstract This article addresses the relationship between content, voice, and body language in persuasive communication and the contribution of these three elements of persuasive performances to its overall persuasiveness. Findings are presented from two separate laboratory experiments. In the first experiment three versions of a video displaying a speech were shown to three different groups of participants: (1) without vocal emphasis and without gestures of the speaker, (2) with vocal emphasis but without gestures, (3) with vocal emphasis and gestures. Audio tracks of the first two experimental conditions were later used in the second experiment to analyze the effects of vocal emphasis when no visual cues are present. Measurement included a questionnaire as well as Real Time Response-measurement (RTR). It was found that content dominates the effect of the speech; emphasis and gestures, however, improved the perception of some features of the speech, such as liveliness and power. Audio-only versions yielded similar results but were rated more favorably in general.

Wahlkampf und Wirklichkeit — Veränderungen der gesellschaftlichen Realität als Herausforderung für die empirische Wahlforschung

Jeder Wahlkampf ist einzigartig. Wahlkampagnen sind stets eingebettet in ein ganz eigenes, sich immerfort wandelndes gesellschaftliches und politisches Klima. Unerwartete Ereignisse oder Veranderungen stellen die Wahlforschung regelmasig vor neue Herausforderungen. Die kausalen Verflechtungen von Gesellschaft, Politik, Kandidaten, Medien, Wahlern und Wahlausgang zu erforschen, erfordert deshalb besondere Ansatze und Methoden, wenn die Befunde uber die Beschreibung und Erklarung von Einzelfallen hinausgehen sollen. Der vorliegende Beitrag diskutiert zunachst einige grundlegende erkenntnistheoretische Probleme der empirischen Sozialwissenschaft, insbesondere das Problem der veranderlichen sozialen Realitat, die sich unter den Handen der Forscher wandelt. Im Anschluss daran wird der Einfluss spezifischer und veranderlicher Randbedingungen auf Wahlen an einigen Beispielen diskutiert. Am Ende des Beitrags stehen Anregungen fur empirische Sozialwissenschaft, insbesondere die Wahlforschung.

The interplay between media-for-monitoring and media-for-searching: How news media trigger searches and edits in Wikipedia

This study investigates how traditional news media and Internet services have become entangled in recipients’ habits of gathering information on current topics. Push media enable citizens to scan the issue environment while pull media enable them to seek out in-depth information if information needs have been elicited. Furthermore, content quality in many pull media may increase when more users generate content, removing flaws and adding information. We expected that TV and newspaper coverage of an issue will lead to increases in (a) searches for and (b) user edits in related articles in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. Our findings reliably support the hypotheses, but the extent to which the count of page views increases is highly dependent on the topic at hand and how the search keyword relates to the issue. This matches the predictions of information-seeking theories and the dynamic transactional model of media effects.

Der Einfluss der Nutzung sozialer Netzwerke auf die Wahrnehmung des Meinungsklimas

Die in diesem Beitrag vorgestellte Untersuchung widmet sich einer Frage, die zurzeit in den Kommunikationswissenschaften intensiv diskutiert wird, uber die aber bisher nur wenige gesicherte Erkenntnisse existieren.

Experiments on Mass Communication

Das Buch Experiments on Mass Communication von Carl I. Hovland, Arthur A. Lumsdale und Fred D. Sheffield stellt eine Reihe von Studien vor, die die Wirkung von Propaganda auf amerikanische Soldaten im zweiten Weltkrieg erforschen sollten. Die Autoren untersuchen beispielsweise, zumeist mit der Methode des sozialwissenschaftlichen Experiments, ob Propagandafilme den Informationsstand und die Motivation der Soldaten verbessern, ob Wirkungen der Filme verzogert einsetzen (Sleeper-Effekt) und ob eine einseitige Argumentation besser wirkt als die Vorwegnahme von Gegenargumenten (zweiseitige Argumentation). Der Forschungsansatz und die zum Teil innovative Methodik (z. B. die Nutzung von Real-Time-Response-Messungen), haben vielfaltige Nachfolgestudien angeregt und sind bis heute eine der Grundlagen der Medienwirkungsforschung.

Product placement and the credibility of television journalism. An RTR-supported experiment on the relationship between product placement, expert statements, and viewer perceptions in consumer-advice programs

Abstract Embedding a product or a brand into journalistic content may have a negative impact on how the content’s credibility is perceived by recipients. However, research has not been able to convincingly prove that product placement has an effect on how recipients perceive and evaluate media content. This particularly applies to context effects, such as the effect that the number of visible products or brands has on the perceived credibility of the journalistic content the placement is embedded in. This study addresses two questions: whether the use of visible products or brands embedded in journalistic content influences the credibility that recipients attribute to such content, and how the tenor of the content, positive or negative, interacts with the placed products. Based on experimental findings and real-time response measurements, we conclude that the number of visible products does not significantly affect the credibility attributed to journalistic content and that judgments about credibility are influenced by the interaction between the number of products placed and the tenor of the content.