ABSTRACT
Throughout most of the twentieth century, study of the mass media has focused on the consequences of the media for various aspects of people's lives (Rogers, 1994; Schramm, 1997). Early research attempted to ascertain whether the media had an influence and, if so, the extent of that influence. In the last 25 years, however, the focus has shifted toward the development of theories that specify the mechanisms by which the media exert whatever influence they have on people. One such theoretical perspective, first used in the early 1980s to explain media effects, involves the potential for the media to prime people's thoughts, beliefs, judgments, and behaviors (Berkowitz, 1984; Iyengar, Peters & Kinder, 1982; RoskosEwoldsen, Roskos-Ewoldsen, & Carpentier, 2002).
