INVOLVEMENT AND PERSUASION - EVIDENCE FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF INVOLVEMENT

According to Johnson and Eagly (1989), outcome-relevant involvement (ORI) occurs when an attitude is activated that is concerned with important outcomes, whereas value-relevant involvement (VRI) occurs when an attitude is activated that is concerned with important values. To test this distinction between ORI and VRI, the present experiment manipulated the extent that subjects experienced VRI instead of ORI with respect to the implementation of comprehensive exams at their university. Next, subjects read either weak or strong arguments in favour of the implementation of comprehensive exams. In addition, subjects were placed in either a low involvement or high involvement condition by telling them either that the exams may be implemented at their university next year (high involvement) or that the exams may be implemented in five years (low involvement). Subjects then indicated their attitude toward the comprehensive exams. When analyses were limited to those subjects who should be most affected by the manipulations, namely those who considered outcomes or values to be important (88% of the sample), the three-way interaction between type of involvement, level of involvement, and argument strength was significant. This interaction supported the importance of distinguishing between ORI and VRI.