To Be Heard, Speaking Softly: Building Resistance to Attitude Change
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Abstract
Although there are several attitude resistance techniques, attitude inoculation most effectively serves the purpose of withstanding attacks from conflicting arguments.[1] Inoculation treatment methods are comparable to that of medical vaccination, where a patient is exposed to a small, weakened dose of a pathogen. In this case, the pathogen is simply a counter-argument offered against an advertisement claim aimed at attitude change.[2] These techniques are typically tested within a political domain, rarely in a commercial context. In this research the effects of inoculation treatments are investigated. We find that strong counter-arguments initially have a strong impact on an existing attitude, but their effect quickly dissipates. However, weaker counter-arguments, although initially not as effective as strong, are shown to be more influential over a longer period of time. Attention is also given to potential moderators of this main effect.