This study compared positive and negative appeals. In addition, a second issue in the research concerned the placement of messages. Campaign planners also realize that well-constructed messages, both happy ones and sad ones, could have a diminishing impact if they are placed in an inappropriate context. A goal of the study was to translate practical questions into theoretical ones. This involved examination of the literature on active versus reactive ideas about television viewing, especially the literature on the relationship between emotion and cognition. The experiment investigated the influence of emotion - both as a compelling feature of information and as a psychological state determined by information - on attention to and memory for televised public service announcements (PSAs) about health. Two questions were examined: Are attention and memory better for negative or positive messages ? Does congruency between the emotional context and the emotional tone of a message affect the level of attention and memory for target messages ? The primary goal of this study was to compare the effects of positive and negative emotions on attention and memory.
Abstract