ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on three theories: Expectancy States Theory (EST), Expectancy Violations Theory (EVT), and Language Expectancy Theory. It presents a brief explanation of EST, followed by an explanation as to why creators of mass media public service announcements must be aware of how perceptions of past campaigns will influence the effectiveness of current campaigns. EST addresses how individuals develop expectations concerning the potential of other group members to make quality contributions to the group. The paramount assumption of nonverbal expectancy violations theory is that communication participants develop expectancies about how others behave. The chapter introduces EVT, followed by an explanation as to how the framework of EVT can be utilized to increase the attention paid to PSAs by adolescents. Although the theory has a great deal to say about many aspects of group performance, the facets with the most potential applicability to responses to PSAs concern how expectations are formed and how those enable individuals to achieve influence.
