Vividness Can Undermine or Enhance Message Processing: The Moderating Role of Vividness Congruency

Previous research on the subject of vividness effects in persuasion has yielded conflicting outcomes that are difficult to interpret. The authors outline a theoretical position that anticipates conditions under which vivid message presentations can either enhance or inhibit message processing and persuasion. The key moderator is vividness congruency, which is defined as the extent to which the vivid elements of a message are congruent with the theme of the message itself. Two experiments were conducted that suggest that this previously unexamined variable is an important moderator of vividness effects. Experiment 1 demonstrated that vividness effects on message recall are contingent on the congruency between message content and vivid elements. Experiment 2 showed that message processing (indexed via an argument quality manipulation) can be reduced by adding vivid but incongruent images to a message, relative to pallid messages. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed.