The Persuasive Effects of Reading Others' Comments on a News Article

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of reading Internet news articles with comments and the effects of repeated arguments reflected in those comments on a reader's perception on issues. To test whether a reader's perception differs by argument types and levels of comment repetition, argument types (strong vs. weak) and repetition levels (none, low, medium, high) were manipulated. Variables for the analysis were agreements, attitude, and cognitive response to the issue in the news article. Statistical analysis of the mean differences between argument types revealed that reading the comments significantly affected a reader's cognitive response. Also statistical analysis of mean differences of repetition levels revealed that exposure to repeated arguments in comments yielded conditional effects on cognitive response.