SPCH 3710 Chapter 11 Summary I. Mass media and voting behavior A. Columbia Bureau of Applied Social Research--Lazarsfeld, Berelson, and Gaudet (1948): interviewed 4 groups of registered voters at monthly intervals B. Lazarsfeld and Menzel (1963) -- 1940 Eric County study "this study went to great lengths to determine how the mass media brought about such changes" (pg. 96) C. Katz (1957) --"Personal contacts appear to have been both more frequent and more effective than the mass media in influencing voting decision" (pg. 63) 1. messages from media first reach opinion leaders, then passed to followers; this process is named the two-step flow of communication 2. voters who decide late in the campaign or changed their minds during the campaign were more likely than others to cite personal influence as having figured in their decisions 3. opinion leaders were found at every social level and were presumed to be very much like the people they influenced 4. opinion leaders were found to be more exposed to the mass media than people who were not designated opinion leaders D. Decatur, IL study--studied details involved in the leader/ follower (adviser/advisee relationship) and examined chains of influence longer than a dyad II. The Role of Community in Decision Making--diffusion of ideas A. Diffusion 1. definition-"widening communication of a new idea, over time through the social structure of a community" (Katz, 1957) 2. eg., the study on the influence of doctors in choosing new drugs B. Findings about Opinion Leadership-conclusions made after the 1940 voting study 1. "personal influence was both more frequent and more effective than any of the mass media" (eg., the doctors most integrated into the medical community were most influential) 2. "interpersonal influence in primary groups is effective in maintaining a high degree of homogeneity of opinions and actions within a group" (eg., doctors tend to prescribe the same drug as their colleagues) 3. "different media play different roles" (eg., one media may inform people while another may legitimize a certain idea or action) C. Factors that Separate Leaders from Followers 1. personification of values-possessing qualities that others wish to emulate 2. competence-possessing knowledge in the area of leadership sought 3. strategic social location-possessing significant contacts within the group in which leadership is sought and outside of the group for added insight D. The Interpersonal Environment 1. DeFleur and Larsen (1958)-strong link between mass communication process and "social networks of family, work, play, school, and community" 2. Katz and Lazarsfeld (1955)-"The whole moral...is that knowledge of an individual's interpersonal environment is basic to an understanding of his exposure and reactions to the mass media." III. Criticisms of the Two-Step flow -- does not explain enough A. Westley (1971) -- cited several studies that supported the belief that major news stories are spread directly by the mass media more than by personal sources B. "opinion sharing rather than opinion giving" C. Lin (1971) -- "the definition of the opinion leader versus non-opinion leader dichotomy is also unclear and the problem is further confounded by varying operationalizing methods" D. empirical definitions of mass media vary E. Rogers and Shoemaker (1971) -- opinion leaders can be either active or passive whereas the two step flow model implies a dichotomy between active information-seeking opinion leaders and a mass audience of passive individuals who then rely on the opinion leaders for guidance F. the original model is limited to two steps, whereas the process may involve more or even fewer G. it is implied that opinion leaders rely on mass media channels only H. Rogers and Shoemaker (1971) -- early knowers of information more often rely on media sources and late knowers more on interpersonal sources I. mass media serve primarily to inform whereas interpersonal channels are more important at persuading IV. Diffusion of Innovations--the multistep flow model A. Diffusion research - the study of the social process of how innovations (new ideas, practices, objects) become known and are spread throughout a social system 1. Everett Rogers (1983) -- author of Diffusion of Innovations; he defined innovations as "an idea, practice, or object that is perceived as a new individual or another unit of adoption" 2. Ryan and Gross (1943) -- diffusion of hybrid seed corn among Iowa farmers. This study concluded the four main elements of diffusion: (1) an innovation, (2) communicated through certain channels, (3) over time, and (4) among the members of a social system. 3. Rogers later categorizes the characteristics of innovation that affect their rate of adoption: a. Relative advantage - the degree which an innovation is seen as better than ideas that it replaces b. Compatibility - the degree that an innovation is seen as being consistent with already existing values, experiences, and the needs of the people adopting it c. Complexity - the degree that an innovation is seen as difficult to understand or to put into practice d. Trialability - the degree to which an innovation is experimented with e. Observability - the degree that the results of an innovation are visible to the other people B. The Innovation Decision Process-- mental process of decision-makers 1. The 5 stages a. Knowledge - exposure to an innovation and some understanding of how it works b. Persuasion - forming an attitude about an innovation c. Decision - things done to result in the choice to adopt or not to adopt the innovation d. Implementation - putting the innovation to work e. Confirmation - the reinforcement of the decision to use the innovation or the reversal of the decision to use it 2. Rogers' five adapter categories for rate of adoption of innovations a. Innovators - persons eager to try or use new ideas b. Early adopters - persons who are respectable and are revered within the social system, often seen as leaders c. Early majority - persons who interact with peers often but are not often leaders d. Late majority - skeptical persons, adopt innovations because of necessity or peer pressure e. Laggards - traditionalists, near isolates, often use past as reference point 3. Rogers' consequences of innovation decision a. Desirable versus undesirable consequences: depends on effects of the innovation in the social system, either functional or dysfunctional b. Direct versus indirect consequences: does it affect the social system or individual immediately or is it a second-order result of the direct consequences of the innovation c. Anticipated versus unanticipated consequences: whether or not the changes are seen as intended by the members of the social system or not 4. Channels within the process of diffusion of innovations. Channels are either interpersonal or mass media in nature or will originate from localite (channels within the system) or cosmopolite (channels outside of the system) sources, according to Rogers. Mass media and cosmopolite channels are important at the knowledge stage. Interpersonal and localite channels are more important for earlier adopters than for late adopters E. Change agents - a professional person who tries to influence the adoption decision, especially important in advertising and PR. (They usually play roles at the evaluation and trial stages). 1. Rogers and Shoemaker (1971) -- combination of channels is most effective way of reaching people 2. Lerbinger, (1972)--"When a gatekeeper is a commercial change agent, his integrity is questioned by the people he wishes to change" and to be successful, the interests of the public must appear to come first V. Diffusion of news--research studies A. Allport and Postman (1947) -- The Psychology of Rumor demonstrated processes that distort information as it is passed along the population B. Richard J Hill and Charles M Bonjean (1964) and Bradley S Greenberg (1964)-- studied how news of Kennedy's assassination reached the people of Dallas. C. Melvin L DeFleur (1988) -- summarized 4 decades of research about the flow of news from the media sources through a population/ community. DeFleur's generalizations: a. changing technologies have changed the way people get their information; TV, than radio, newspapers, but word of mouth is still important b. most people get news directly from a medium, not other people; the two-step flow model doesnŐt describe this pattern c. news events with a higher value (deep concern to a large population) will travel faster and further no matter what the first source is