Limited Effects Theory of Mass Communication Source Baran

Limited Effects Theory of Mass Communication Source: Baran & Davis (2003). Mass communication theory. Belmont CA: Thomson. Chapter 6. : Longman. Severin & Tankard (1997). Mass communication theories. Chapter 9. NY

Preview of the lesson n n Introduction Paradigm shift in mass communication Theory The two step flow of information & influence Lazarsfeld Model Limited effects theory Attitude Change Theories Hovland Model Communication Research program Selective processes Hovland-Lazarsfeld Legacy

Introduction n Effects of World War II saw the rise of the other mass communication theories, in particular the effects on the mass communication. n The outcome of theories of propaganda gives rise to the other moderate view of the ‘power’ of mass media. n The media were no longer feared as instruments of political oppression and manipulation but instead view a force wich has potential social good.

The media’s power over the public was seen limited (defying the Magic Bullet Theory). So limited that no government regulations were deemed necessary to prevent media manipulation. The public was viewed as independent and intelligent & could resistant persuasion & extremist manipulation.

There was a belief that most people were influenced by other factors rather than by the media and that the role of opinion leaders were responsible for guiding and stabilizing politics. n It was also believe that a very small minority of people psychologically were vulnerable to direct manipulation be the media.

n Media were conceptualized (viewed) as relatively powerless in shaping public opinion as compare to other influences like ‘individuals’ or ‘group memberships’. n How and why did such radical transformation of thinking in media theory takes place in a very short period of time?

n This change of thinking apparently was the result of continuous research by Paul Lazarsfeld (Prinston University & later moved to Colombia University) who developed the use of sophisticated surveys to measure media influence on how people’s thought and act. n These surveys provided convincing evidence that media rarely are powerful and has direct influence on individuals.

n The effects were limited in scope. Media can only influence few people in their thoughts and actions which was referred to as limited effects perspective. n That is the idea that the media have limited effects on individuals

n Only a small minority of the people had psychological traits that made them vulnerable to direct manipulation by media. n In fact, media were thought relatively powerless in shaping public opinion. n How is that, such radical transformation of media theory takes place in a short period of time?

Paradigm Shift n There is a shift in paradigm (believing, thinking) and this led by Paul Lazarsfeld, Hovland & others, who did a lot of research on media influence & how people thought and acted. n The result shows that media rarely had any direct influence on individuals. The media lack the power to instantly convert an average people

n The effect s were limited, effecting few people or on trivial (less important) influence.

n These findings were was later referred to as the limited effects perspectives. n In times of war & national crisis we turn to media as a means of making sense of what is going on & trying to anticipate what might happen in the future.

n The more we depend on the media to do this, the more we effectively placed our faith in the media to guide us & the more likely the media will influence our lives. For this the Lasswell’s propaganda theory works. n In times the ‘power’ lies in ourselves in the way we choose to allow media to effect our lives. This is the essence of the limited effect perspectives. n

Paradigm Shift n n There is a paradigm shift from war times to peace time. i. e. There is a transformation of thinking from one perspectives to the other. During the war years, Lazarsfeld (Colombia U. ) & Hovland (Yale U. ) were drawn into media studies to understand the power of propaganda & the threat it posed. They hope that if the media is so powerful it might be controlled & use for the good.

n But they found out that the media were not as powerful as what was initially thought to be. Media influence over public opinion were less important than other factors such as social status & education. n During the 1950’s, new paradigm in communication began to take shape & remain strong in 1960’s & 1970’s. New methods of research were employed namely survey & interview (as part of the empirical evidence)

The Two-Step Flow of Information & Influence n Lazarsfeld believed that theories must be supported by empirical data i. e. he used inductive approach to theory construction, that is research should began with empirical observations & not based on speculations. n He did two major studies on election campaigns (1940) Erie, Ohio (known as Ohio study) & in (1943) in Decatur, Illinois.

n The Ohio study he used 3000/43, 000 residents with 600 follow up interviewed. n In, Illinois he used 700 interviewed. n Observations were done within 6 months period. n His observations, that voters were divided into three categories as follows:

n Early deciders, Waverers, Converts & Crystallizes. n 1. Early Deciders i. e those who choose the candidate in May & never change during the entire campaign.

n 2. The Waverers – i. e. choose one candidate & later were undecided or switch to another. n 3. The Converts i. e. choose one candidate but then voted the opponent. n 4. The Crystallizes i. e. those who had not choose a candidate in May but made a choice in November.

n He used a long detailed questionnaires on mass media content (candidate speeches) n His argument is that if propaganda is so powerful as mass society theory predicted this research should allowed him to pinpoint media influence. If the mass society theory was valid, he should have found that most voters either Converts or Waverers.

n n n The results: What he found was that: 55 % Early deciders. Choose one candidate in May & never change. 28 % Crystallizes –made a predictable choice & stay with it. 15% Waverers –choose one candidate & later switch 8% Converts –choose one but later vote the opponent.

n He found little evidence that media played an important role in influencing the crystallizes & the weavers or the converts. n Instead the voters are more likely to say they are more likely influence from other people than media. Often the decision was that they decide to vote following the people closest to them. Not because of media contents.

n The influence of mass media was only to reinforce a vote choice they had already made. n Media gives people more reasons for choosing a candidate of their choice. n For crystallizes media helped party loyalties. n Very little evidence to suggest media convert voters. The converts were in fact those people with divided loyalties.

n They had group ties that pulled them to the opposite direction. n Lazarsfeld found out that the early deciders were the same people whose advice were being sought after by other voters.

n The early deciders were sophisticated who held well-developed political views & use the media wisely & critically. They are capable of listening & evaluating opposition speeches. They gained information that help them advice others so that others would be more resistant to political campaign. n They are the gate-keepers. Screening information & passing on items that would help others share their views.

n These people were known as opinion leaders and those who follow their advise were opinion followers.

Lazarsfeld & Katz (1955) based on their experienced research conceptualized that how people use the media to develop the of n Two-step flow theory n

n In this theory opinion leaders existed at all level of society and that the flow of their influence tended to be horizontal rather than vertical. n Opinion leaders influenced people like themselves rather than those above or below them in the social order.

n Opinion leaders differ from followers n term of personal attributes, use the media more, were socially active & share social status.

Limitations of Lazarsfeld’s Model n 1. Survey cannot measure how people actually use media on a day-to-day basis. E. g. the more educated the person is the lesser they are influence by the media. But the lesser the educated person is, the more the stronger the linked to various media.

n 2. Surveys are expansive to study people’s use of the media content. n 3. Lazarsfeld procedures and methodologies are conservative in assessing media’s power. It only measuring voting decisions.

n 4. Other research on Two-step flow produced contradictory findings depending on (a) types of information being transmitted and (b) social conditions exist at that particular time. These patterns are constantly changing.

. n 5. Survey can be useful for studying changes over time but are considered crude techniques. i. e. Lazarsfeld interview people once a month – problem of recalling. n 6. Survey’s omit many other variables which could further insights,

n 7. The period is only true for the time allocated. Result would definitely differ if measurement taken at different timing.

The Main points of Limited Effects Theory n 1. Media rarely directly influence individuals. Most people are sheltered from direct propaganda manipulation. People did not believe everything what they hear or see in the media. They turn to others (family, friends, coworkers & social groups) for advice & interpretations.

n 2. There is a two-step flow of media influence. Media will be only be influential if the opinion leaders who guide others are influenced first. Because opinion leaders are sophisticated , critical, & not easily manipulated by media content.

n 3. By the time most people becomes adults, they have developed strong held group commitments such as political party, religious affiliations that individual media messages are powerless to overcome.

These commitments cause people to reject certain messages. E. g. Voters of certain parties will only subscribe to the party magazines etc.

n 4. When media effects do occur, it will be small and isolated. Small pocket will be influenced.

What would be the Strength and weakness of the Two. Step Flow Theory n n Strength: 1. Focus on the environment in which effect can and can’t occur. n 2. Stress importance of opinion leaders in formation of public opinion. n 3. This theory is based on ‘inductive’ rather than deductive reasoning.

n 4. Effectively challenges the simplistic notions of direct effects.

Weaknesses: n 1. It is limited to its time (time frame) n 2. Report only the voting behavior. n 3. Downplay reinforcement as an important media effect. n 4. Uses survey method. n 5. Later research demonstrate a multi flow effects. n

Part II

Two-Step Flow Theory n n n SUMMARY (recapture) TWO-STEP FLOW THEORY The idea that messages pass from the media through (inter-mediaries) such as opinion leaders to opinion followers. GATE-KEEPERS In two-step flow, people who screen media messages & pass on those messages that help others share their views.

n OPINION LEADERS In two-step flow, those who pass on information to opinion followers. n OPINION FOLLOWERS In two-step flow, those who receive information from opinion leaders.

n MIDLE-RANGE THEORY A theory composed of empirical generalizations based on empirical fact. n INDUCTIVE An approach to theory composed of empirical generalizations based on empirical facts.

Limitations in the Lazarsfeld’s Model n 1. Survey cannot measure how people use media on day-to day basis. e. g. more educated people tend to underestimate media influence on their decisions whereas less educated people might overestimate it. n 2. Surveys are very expansive way to study specific media contents.

n 3. The research design & data analysis procedures Lazarsfeld’s developed are very conservative. n 4. Further research on two-step flow has produced highly contradictory findings. These flow has been found to differ greatly according to the type of information being transmitted & the social conditions that exist.

n 5. Surveys can be useful for studying changes over time, but are relatively crude techniques. n 6. Surveys omit many other potentially important variables.

n INDIRECT EFFECTS THEORY When media seemed to have an effect, that effect is filtered through other parts of the society e. g. through friends or other social groups. The following are the most important findings on limited effect research between 1945 -1960:

n 1. The media rarely directly influence They turn to others (family, friends, coworkers, social groups etc) for advice & interpretations. n 2. There is two-step flow of media influence. Media will only be influential if he opinion leaders who guide others are influence first.

n 3. By the time most people become adults , they have developed strong held values & media are powerless to overcome. n When media effects do occur they will be small and isolated.

Part III

Attitude Change Theory n n Initiated in the 20 th Century. Second World War provided the ‘laboratory’ development of the attitude change theory. US went to war and needed to be able to mount an effective counter offensive against the Nazi. The war provided important motivation for researchers interested in attitude change research.

Attitude Change Theory n It was a simple convenience , were the military saw soldiers in training, physiologists saw subjects available.

The Work of Hovland n He was to undertake experimental evaluations of the effectiveness of various military programs. n Testing on the military propaganda film ‘Why we fight’ and to measure its effectiveness (indoctrination goals) using the experimental design method. n The researcher hope that as the result of viewing the films there might find shifts in peoples’ attitudes.

n Hovland’s found that although the movies were successful in increasing knowledge, they are not as effective in influencing attitudes & motivations. n Film produced little change & that what change did occur was influence by people’s individual differences. This contradict with mass society theory.

n The second finding was that as an outcome of theory they were able to direct the trends of future attitude change theory. i. e. while films were good in parting factual information but certainly not effective in changing attitudes. n Thus using control experimental groups is good method in changing people’s attitudes.

n In particular the nature and the organizational of the appeal. n They also found out that the more highly people value their membership in a group, the more closely their attitudes will conform to choose the group.

n They also found out that individual’s status (personality factors) has very little to do to be persuaded. E. g. more intelligent people are more likely to be persuaded if the message they receive is based on solid and logical arguments.

n The reasons that why mass media is rarely direct because it is always mediated By: (a) Individual differences (b) Group membership or relationships. The two factors serve as effective barriers to media influence.

Persuasion research influencing media n In persuasion and attitude change theory two factors are important: n 1. Reorganization of the individual differences. (psychological make up) (De. Fleur 1970). n 2. Social categories That is the broad assumptions that urban societies are collectively and whose behavior can be aggregated (or more or less uniform).

n People with similar backgrounds (age, gender, income level, religious affiliations etc) will have similar patterns of media exposure and similar reactions to that exposure. n This generalizations derived partly from Lazarfeld’s work.

Selective Processes n The change theory was adopted by influential scholars like Lazarfeld, to Klaper to De Fleur and was later developed into the idea of cognitive consistency.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory n COGNITIVE CONSISTENCY The idea that people consciously and unconsciously work to preserve their existing views and avoiding messages that challenged them. Leon Festinger took up this idea and developed in his theory of Cognitive Dissonance.

n COGNITIVE DISSONANCE The idea that information that is inconsistent with a person’s already held attitude created psychological discomfort or dissonance. People generally work to keep their knowledge of themselves and their knowledge of the world somewhat consistence.

n If for some reasons a person knows several things that are not psychologically consistent with another, he will, in variety of ways, try to make them more consistence. n This process is known as selective process.

n SELECTIVE PROCESS Exposure (attention), retention, and perception, physiological process design to reduce dissonance. This defense mechanisms that we use to protect ourselves (our egos) from information that would threaten us.

n Klapper (1960) wrote by and large people tend to expose themselves to those mass communications that are in accord with their existing attitudes and interest. Consciously or unconsciously they avoid communications of the opposite. In the event that they are exposed to unsympathetic materials, they often seem not to perceive it, OR interpret to fit their existing views OR to forget about it.

Persuasion influenced on the study of media. Attitude Change Researchers identify three forms of Selectivity: n 1. Selective Exposure n 2. Selective Retention n 3. Selective Perception n

Selective exposure n People tendency to expose themselves to messages that are consistent with their preexisting attitudes and belief. n E. g. In Lazarsfeld’s study of the voters, 2/3 of the voters managed to see and hear more of their own side’s propaganda than the opposite’s.

Selective Retention n People end to remember best and longest those messages that are meaningful to them.

Selective Perception n People will alter the meaning the messages so they become consistent wit preexisting attitudes and beliefs. n It is a mental or psychological image of the message so that the meaning is in line the person’s belief and attitudes.

n E. g. Allport & Poseman (1945) study of the rumors proved this point (the fight between a white & black American. Originally the knife was in the hand of the white man, and because of rumors spreads, it quickly changes to the black man). n 60 yrs. had passed by can the same scenario happened in 2005? What do you think?

Applications of Attitude Change Theory n n STRENGTHS: 1. It pays a deep attention to the process in which messages can & can’t have effects. n 2. Provides insight into influence of individual differences & group affiliation in shaping media influence. n 3. Attention to selective processes helps clarify how individuals processes information

n n WEAKNESSES: 1. Manipulation of the variables (e. g. messages) overestimate the power and underestimate the media’s influence. n 2. Focuses only on effects of media messages n 3. Uses attitude change as only measure of effects ignoring other subtle forms of media’s influence.

Limitations of Persuasion Research n 1. The experiments conducted in laboratory the results cannot be generalized –because the time conducted too short. n 2. Experiments suited only to measure immediate effects of specific media content on small homogeneous groups of people. n 3. Limitation of standardized instruments (statistics).

n 4. Experiments are crude techniques for examining the influence of media over time. n 5. Limitation of experimentation design

At the end of this lesson you should have acquired the following concepts: n 1. Attitude Change Theory n 2. Festinger’s Cognitive Dissonance. n 3. Selective processes – Selective Exposure, Selective Retention & Selective Perception. n 4. Strength & weaknesses of the Attitude Change Theory.

n 5. Limitations of the Persuasion Research (experiments)