Persuasion as a function of the receiver's prior success or failure as a message source

Abstract

This study investigated whether an individual's communication experience with a proposal affects his response to a counter attitudinal speech on the proposal. Subjects were induced to believe that they either succeeded or failed in an earlier attempt to persuade others to oppose a proposal. Then, they received a counterattitudinal speech on the proposal. As hypothesized, subjects who believed that they succeeded at the prior persuasion attempt were influenced least by the speech while subjects who failed were persuaded most. Subjects who received no feedback on success or failure were persuaded less than subjects who failed.