Effects of involvement on persuasion: A meta-analysis.
Defines involvement as a motivational state induced by an association between an activated attitude and the self-concept. Integration ofthe available research su~ests hat he effects of involvement on attitude change depended on the aspect of message recipients ' elf-concept that was activated to create involvement: (a) their enduring values (value-relevant i volvement), (b) their ability to attain desirable outcomes (outcome-relevant involvement), or (e) the impression they make on others (im-pression-relevant i volvement). Findings howed that (a) with value-relevant i volvement, high-in-volvement subjects were less persuaded than low-involvement subjects; (b) with outcome-relevant involvement, high-involvement subjects were more persuaded than low-involvement subjects by strong arguments and (somewhat inconsistently) less persuaded by weak arguments; and (c) with impression-relevant involvement, high-involvement subjects were slightly less persuaded than low-involvement subjects. To understand the conditions under which people are per-suaded by others, researchers have often invoked the concept of involvement. Although this construct was popular prior to M. Sherifand Cantril's (1947) work (see A. G. Greenwald's, 1982,