ABSTRACT
The importance of processing message content was first emphasised by Hovland and his colleagues at Yale University in their message-learning approach. This approach does not represent a unitary theory; rather, it can be understood as an eclectic set of working assumptions, influenced by learning theory and other contemporary theoretical perspectives. Their research focused on various elements of the persuasion setting that would affect message learning. Message-learning approach: Conceptual framework for studying persuasion, focusing on source, message, channel and recipient as elements of the persuasion process and on the learning of message content as the primary mediator of attitude change. Cognitive response approach: Theoretical orientation in persuasion research that conceives of attitude change as mediated by an individual's evaluative thoughts about a message or issue. The Yale researcher's focus on message processing as a key to understanding persuasion, are combined in the cognitive response approach to persuasion.
