Problem-solution Structures in Persuasive Texts: Effects on Attention, Comprehension, and Yielding

This study addresses the question of how problem-solution structures influence the processing of persuasive texts. In Experiment 7, 48 students read ads containing problem, solution, and company information on a computer. The position of the company information was varied: It came either before the problem and solution, between these two parts, or after them. Ads starting with problem information received more attention than ads starting with company information. The company information received less attention only when it came last. In Experiment 2, 216 students read one ad. They recognized the company information better when it was positioned first. Furthermore, they were less persuaded when the ad contained problem-solution information compared to an ad containing only company information. The problem-solution structure can capture the readers' attention for uninteresting information but at the cost of reducing its recognition and persuasiveness. Much effort is devoted to studying the question of which text characteristics make readers yield to a text's claims. That readers have to pay attention to the text first, is usually taken for granted. However, as the number of persuasive texts heavily outnumbers the number of texts being read, the question of why some texts succeed in capturing the readers' attention whereas others fail to do so, is an important one. Still, little is known about what makes people read a text (cf. Chaiken & Stangor, 1987:597-598; Eagly & Chaiken, 1993:278-280). In this article, two experiments are presented. The first experiment is devoted to the question of whether a popular text structure, the problem-solution structure, is capable of capturing the readers' attention. Attention is, however, no guarantee for persuasion. According to McGuire's (1972) information-processing paradigm, the attention process has to be followed by comprehension and yielding processes. Comprehension and yielding can both be influenced by the problem-solution structure as well. Whether it does, was studied in the second experiment. Communications 23 (1998) 1 61 Brought to you by | Radboud University Nijmegen (Radboud University Nijmegen) Authenticated | 172.16.1.226 Download Date | 3/19/12 4:49 PM