Modeling the Effects of Processing Effort and Ability in Response to Persuasive Message Arguments

This study proposed a path model of the effects of message comprehensibility on attitude change with the measured cognitive mediators suggested by dual-process models of persuasion. An experiment was conducted using a 2 (strong arguments vs. weak arguments) × 2 (easy vs. difficult to understand arguments) fully crossed independent-groups design with 120 participants. The data were consistent with the traditional impact of message comprehensibility on difficulty of processing the message such that the effect of argument strength was diminished when the arguments were difficult, rather than easy, to understand. The path models were not consistent with the data, and the model was revised to produce adequate fit.