The Effects of Heckling and Media of Presentation on the Impact of a Persuasive Communication

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Abstract
Distraction has been suggested as a mechanism which will facilitate attitude change. Heckling is a standard procedure used by members of society to distract from the content of a speech. The current study presented a persuasive message to six groups of students. Three of these groups received the message straight, while the other three groups received the message with heckling. A second variable, the medium of presentation, was utilized so that one group in each of the two presentation procedures received either a live presentation, a video presentation, or an audio presentation. The results indicate that the message was effective in changing attitudes. However, when the speech was heckled, the message elicited no attitude change. Further, the audio presentation was more effective than both the video and the live presentation. The results were interpreted in terms of distraction theory and media effects.

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