The persuasive effects of frame-building strategies in textual communications: An experimental investigation using an environmental social movement issue

Framing, in a generic sense, describes an intended portrayal of reality—presenting what is “real” about something via certain means while avoiding other means. Communication and social movement scholars have suggested that there are four functions of framing in relation to an issue: defining a problem, attributing blame for the problem, suggesting solutions or remedies, and invoking a moral appeal that something should be done about the problem. Although these functions are assumed to exist, little research has investigated their persuasive effectiveness as they are presented in textual messages.; To address this shortcoming, the author executed an experiment in which eight different treatment groups received differing versions of a textual message from a fictitious social movement organization (SMO) about a low-involvement, environmental issue (logging of a forest). Holding the first framing function—problem definition—constant, versions of the message were manipulated via the inclusion versus exclusion of the other three functions within the message, thereby creating a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design. The hypothesized relationship was that the inclusion of all framing functions would result in greater subject agreement on six dependent variables: agreement with the SMO on the specific environmental issue, agreement with general environmental frames, stated intention to reject the proposed logging in a hypothetical election, stated intention to maximize recycling behavior, opinion of the SMO itself, and opinion of the textual message.; A three-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) did not reveal any significant second-order interaction effects of the functions. However, although statistical significance was not achieved, group means were in the hypothesized direction on the first four dependent variables. Also, significant first-order interaction effects between two of the functions were demonstrated on three dependent variables—general agreement with environmental frames, stated intention to reject the proposed logging in a hypothetical election, and stated intention to maximize future paper recycling.; The author concluded that, although the four framing functions exist, certain functions are more persuasive in differing situations, depending on the purpose of the textual message. Additionally, on certain dependent measures, the inclusion of particular framing functions damaged, rather than aided, the SMO's cause.