Convergence of Agenda Setting and Attitude Change Approaches

Agenda setting shows that people perceive as
important those issues, which are covered by the
media more frequently. Recently, agenda-setting
scholars started to explore the link between
agenda-setting and attitude change. This study tests
whether experience with issues and specificity of
messages lead to both agenda-setting and attitudinal
effects. This study tested whether the Elaboration
Likelihood Model (the ELM) complements priming in
bringing about agenda-setting and attitudinal
effects. Findings indicate that reading the stories
leads to the heightened issue importance for the
issues with which individuals do not have direct
experience. Attitude favorability towards issues
increases if individuals do not have direct personal
experience with it, and if a story about it contained
general attributes.For the ELM variables, lower level
of knowledge about issues lead to higher issue
perceived importance. Knowledge and elaboration
affect the overall attitude favorability. This study
develops an explanatory mechanism why agenda setting
takes place. The analysis should be useful for
scholars and professionals interested in agenda
setting theory.