-the process of consciously attempting to change attitudes through the transmission of some message

-first, we must pay attention to the message

-second, we must comprehend/understand the message

-third, we must accept the message

-each stage is dependent on the preceding stage

-only accept if the new rewards or incentives for the new attitude outweigh those associated with the old attitude

1) source variables 2) message variables 3) medium or channel variables 4) target variables

-these explain how a person or group (the source) communicates a message through some medium or channel to change the attitudes of some target person or group

-basically, they studied who says WHAT, by WHAT MEANS, and to WHOM

-focuses on people being active participants in the persauasion process

-do this by systematically analyzing:

(1) what people attend to when they recieve a persuasive communication

(2) how their cognitive assessment of the appeal influences their current attitudes

-a theory that persuasive messages can cause attitude change in two ways, each differing in the amount of cognitive effort or elaboration it requires

-most influential theory developed from cognitive-response approach, which assumes people want to be correct in their attitudes

-according to this model, we either engage in high or low elaboration when attending to and processing persuasive messages

-negative moods signal that something is wrong in the environment and makes people wary

-positive moods do the opposite (things are okay, good)