mmm COGNITIVE DISSONANCE AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATIONS* | Public Opinion Quarterly | Oxford Academic

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATIONS* | Public Opinion Quarterly | Oxford Academic: One who tries to change public opinion may wish to know whether the advocacy of a policy slightly different or one greatly different from the existing views of the public will produce the maximum change. Professor Whittaker's research tends to show that maximum change usually comes, not when the discrepancy is greatest or smallest between policy advocated and public opinion, but at some intermediate point, dependent upon the position of the audience.