TY - JOUR
T1 - The effects of message valence and listener arousal on attention, memory, and facial muscular responses to radio advertisements
AU - Bolls, Paul D.
AU - Lang, Annie
AU - Potter, Robert F.
PY - 2001/10
Y1 - 2001/10
N2 - This study tested the validity of using facial electromyography (EMG) as a physiological measure of the valence of radio listeners' emotional responses to advertisements and explored the effects of message valence and listener arousal on attention and memory. A within-subjects experiment was conducted in which participants listened to ten 60-second radio advertisements that had been coded in a pretest as having either a positive or negative emotional tone. Facial EMG, heart rate, and skin conductance data were collected during exposure to the advertisements. Following exposure, participants completed free recall and recognition memory tests. Results demonstrated the validity of using facial EMG to assess the valence of emotional response to media messages. Heart rate data suggest that negative messages receive more attention than positive ones. Furthermore, how arousing a message is appears to be a better predictor of memory than message valence.
AB - This study tested the validity of using facial electromyography (EMG) as a physiological measure of the valence of radio listeners' emotional responses to advertisements and explored the effects of message valence and listener arousal on attention and memory. A within-subjects experiment was conducted in which participants listened to ten 60-second radio advertisements that had been coded in a pretest as having either a positive or negative emotional tone. Facial EMG, heart rate, and skin conductance data were collected during exposure to the advertisements. Following exposure, participants completed free recall and recognition memory tests. Results demonstrated the validity of using facial EMG to assess the valence of emotional response to media messages. Heart rate data suggest that negative messages receive more attention than positive ones. Furthermore, how arousing a message is appears to be a better predictor of memory than message valence.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0035599909&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/009365001028005003
DO - 10.1177/009365001028005003
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0035599909
SN - 0093-6502
VL - 28
SP - 627
EP - 651
JO - Communication Research
JF - Communication Research
IS - 5
ER -