ABSTRACT
Information is the essence of the persuasion process. Receivers are exposed to a persuasive communication in the hope that they will be influenced by the information it contains. The effectiveness of the message depends in large measure on the nature of this information. It is therefore somewhat disconcerting to find that message content has rarely been the focus of much attention. Construction of an effective message has been left largely to the intuitive devices of the investigator, whereas most communication and persuasion research has been devoted to the discovery of factors that influence the effectiveness of the message as constructed. To be sure, order of presentation, type of appeal (e.g., high versus low fear appeal), and other global features of the message have not escaped scrutiny; but few attempts have been made to take account of the items of information actually contained in the message.
