Literature review based on McGuire Matrix

Persuasive Communication:
Individual Literature Review Assignment

Background and Aim
In this assignment you will become acquainted with conducting literature research in the field of persuasive communication. You will practice the detailed and critical reading as well asthe integration ofscientific articles based on your own research question.

The ultimate aim is:to be able to answer a research question of your own choice based on an integration of scientific literature.

In a previous course (Introduction to Communication Science) you learned to write a simple literature review. For the current course, you will further develop your skills by writing a more extensive literature review which will require you to also integrate the articles that are part of your review in an overall line of reasoning. Therefore, it is expected that you go beyond the type of literature review that you have completed before.This assignment trains higher cognitive,academic skills.

The skills practiced in this course makes theindividual literature review an excellent preparation for your bachelor graduation project. It will help you as well whenwriting other papers, yourMaster thesis, and is probably useful for your future career. When working for either corporations,governmental institutions, or NGO’s, the job of writing a short report on what is known about a certain problem is common practice for highly educated professionals. Because the skills required for such a task take some training to develop and because students are often known to struggle with acquiring these skills, one tutorial meeting per week (Thursday) is largely devoted to the training of these skills.

Instructions
A central framework that is selected in this course to practice the individual literature review is McGuire’s Communication-Persuasion Matrix. This is a model that visualizes the factors that are important for the effects of communication campaigns (see Figure 1, p. 2). Knowledge about these factorscan help in deciding upon the content and design of communication campaigns.The matrix consists of input factors that construct a campaign (source, message, recipient, and channel) visualized on top of the matrix,and of output factors that describe the campaign effects (from being exposed to a messageto permanent behaviour change),displayed on the left.

The literature review assignment requires students to investigate the effects of one input factor on at leastthree output factors and – if applicable – to describe under what conditions these effects arise. Students are required to use at least ten scientific, peer-reviewed articles on their topic. Of these ten articles, at least eight should describe original experimentalresearch so that they can be analysed in the results section of the paper and intergrated in the matrix.

Figure 1. McGuire’s Communication-Persuasion Matrix

Output Factors Input Factors
Source Content Recipient Channel
1. Exposure to message
2. Attention for message
3. Attitude towards ad
4. Interest in content
5. Understanding/ Comprehension
6. Generating own thoughts
7. Attitude towards message content
8. Storing attitude in memory
9. Retrieving attitude from memory
10. Behavioural intention
11. Behaviour
12. Evaluation of behaviour
13. Permanent behaviour change
Note. The McGuire matrix as displayed here can differ a bit depending on which source you read (e.g., the articles by Van Der Lee or McGuire). McGuire himself has published slightly different versions of the matrix over the years. The best way to deal with this, is to decide for yourself which version you think fits best with your research question and to use that matrix. Always briefly motivate your choice.

Input factors have to do with the elements that a persuasive message can consist of. One might say that they are the independent variables (e.g., the source is a celebrity or an expert, the content contains humour, classical music or fear; the recipients are children or senior citizens; the channel is online, print or a combination of both).

Output factors have to do with the persuasive effects that these input factors can have. One might say that they are the dependent variables (e.g., receiver’s attention, understanding, attitudetowards the ad or attitudetowards message content,or behaviour).

When preparing the materials of week 1, more information about the matrix is given; the manuscript by Van der Lee (1999) elaborates extensively on the matrixand the micro lecture of Week 1 (“Persuasive Communication: Introduction”) further demonstrates the matrix.For the Friday tutorial of week 1, you will read a manuscript by McGuire that also gives additional information.

The McGuire matrix helps in 1)choosing an appropriate topic and in 2) writing the results section of the literature review.

Ad 1.Choosing an appropriate topic
Suitable topics can be chosen by selecting a variable that fits one input factor of the matrix and studying the effect on at leastthree output factors. For example, for the input factor “Content”, you would like to know more about the effects of humour. In this case, you might formulate the research question “What are the effects of humorous advertising messages (compared to neutral informative advertising messages)?”, the accompanying sub-questions could be: “What is the effect of humour on attitude towards the ad?”, “What is the effect of humour on attitude towards the brand?”, and “What is the effect of humour on purchase intention?”.As you can see, all these sub-questions relate to output factors of the matrix.

Note that the experimental studies that you select might use different terminology for the variables mentioned in the McGuire Matrix. For example, “evaluation” instead of “attitude”, or “brand attitude” as a specification of “attitude towardsmessage content”. It is also feasible that a variable is examined that is not clearly included in this matrix, for example “brand recall”. In this case, you can a) add it as a relevant additional variable to the matrix or b) argue why you think brand recall is an operationalization of the output factor “retrieving attitude from memory”, for instance.

It is important to only include output factors in your literature analysis that are tested by at least two studies, so that you can integrate information. Also, include at least three output factors in your analysis.

One of the most important things to pay attention to when studying the effects of an input factor, is to be aware of the comparison that you make and is made in the literature. For example, it matters whether humorous advertising is compared with neutral informative advertising or fear advertising. In your selection of eight empirical studies, make sure that more or less similar comparisons are made (or two variationsat most!), otherwise the results of the eight studies are incomparable. Always mention the comparison condition when describing your results and conclusions.

Also, do not specify any other input factors besides the main input factor of your choice because they will limit you too much in the search for literature. So when you want to study the effect of sexual versus non-sexual ads (=the input factorcontent) do not include in your research question if these effects differ for online versus print ads (= the input factor channel). If your review on sexual ads demonstrates the channel matters for the effects that are found, that is a great finding to elaborate on in the results and conclusion/discussion section, but do not include it in your Research Question beforehand because it will limit the available literature too much. More information on choosing the appropriate topic can be found in the document “Constructing your own Research Question”.

Ad 2.Writing the results section of the literature review
The McGuire matrix will be used to order the results from the literature review of theeight articles. How this should be done exactly,will be discussed and practised during the course.For now, it is important to understand how your topic relates to the matrix itself. Here, an illustration for the humour example: As mentioned above, humour is a contentelement and can be considered as an input factor. Every research article that you find on the effects of humourinvestigates effects on certain output factors. Each article contributes a bit to answering your research question. In one articleattitude towards the brand andbuying intention may be studied, in another attitude towards the ad and buying intention and so on.

When writing up a literature review study, it is tempting to summarize all eight papers one-by-one. However, this does not allow you to rise above the literature and to generate new insights. So, all articles should bebroken up into small bits of information that canbe ordered per output factor, that is per sub-research question. You integrate all findings per output factor, which enables you to answer all the sub-research questions and, as such, answer your central research question.

Note that the effects of an input factor can depend on another variable (a so-called moderator variable). For instance, it might be that the effect of humour on attitude towards the brand is stronger for low involved consumers than high involved consumers. If such moderation effects are found, they are a highly relevant result of your review! Occasionally, also mediator effects are reported. For example, the effect of humour on behavioural intention is entirely mediated(=explained) via attitude towards the ad. Such results can also be reported.

Instructions continue on the next page->>>> 
Product
You will write a literature review consisting of the following sections:
Entry
Requirements: not adhering to these means your work will be graded with a “0”  Handed in before the deadline
 Uses at least ten scientific research papers of which at least eight are used for the results section (incl. the matrix) of the review.
 Contains all required sections including an Appendix with for all eight references used in the matrix a readable screenshot of the original papers’ abstract.
 3500 words max. (with no violations of the 10% rule)
1. Introduction:  Catchy first sentence(s) that is (are) relevant to the topic.
 Short, clear theoretical basis
 Proper introduction of most important input and output variables
 Clear and convincing description of scientific importance (=motivation for review)
 Clear and convincing description of societal importance (=motivation for review)
 Clear and correct description of research question (possibly with sub-research questions)

2. Theoretical Framework:
 Brief, relevant,and correct explanation of McGuire’s communication persuasion matrix
 Clear and correct discussion of all the concepts in the research question and their relations
 Clear and correct discussion of topic-relevant theories/ phenomena/ models

3. Method:  Clear and replicable description of which specific search terms are entered into which specific database(s).
 Concise, convincing, and replicablejustification of the selection of articles

4. Results:  Usesthe results of 8 empirical, peer-reviewed, experimental academic research articles that together study how 1 input factor affects 3 output factors.Together they can answer the RQ properly
 Differences and similarities between the results of the different articles are identified and discussed convincingly making use of the “Shortcomings” column in the matrix
 Relevant moderators/mediators are correctly and completely explained
 Articles are discussed in an integrative way and include an overall conclusion per output factor

5. Conclusion and Discussion:  Conclusions for each output factor is correct, follows logically from results, is paraphrased to the point, and answers (all sub) RQ(s)
 Critical, convincing reflection of one’s review and results, may make use of but goes beyond the “Shortcomings” column in the matrix
 A critical, convincing discussion of results using relevant theories from the TF. Goes beyond a discussion per output factor
 Detailed and topic specific proposals are made for future research that follow from the results. It is explicitlyand convincingly stated what such research would contribute to future scientific knowledge
 Clear, convincing discussion of practical implications and/or recommendations for the field that follow from the results

Matrix:

 The McGuire matrix gives an overview of 8 suitable articles that together discuss 3 output factors and 1 input so the RQ can be answered properly
 Relevant moderators/mediators are clearly and correctly explained
 Includes a “Shortcomings” column in which at least one profound, correct, critical reflection point per empirical study is given
 Includes a “Total effect” column correctly summarizing the resultscorrectly
 Findings described in the matrix are in line with the rest of the paper

Other
Requirements  APA is adhered to in in-text references and the reference list.
 12 fontsize, 1.5 spacing, spelling, lay-out, punctuation, scientific style, consistent terminology, suitable title

Practical Requirements
o Length requirements: 3,500 words maximum (excluding McGuire matrix, Abstracts,and reference list). Note, that we tolerate being over the word limit by 10%. Going over the 10% will make your work not adhere to the entry requirements.
o Uses ten scientific research papers of which at least eightemployexperimental research and are analysedby you using the McGuire matrix.
o The paper describes the effect of one input factor on at least three output factors.
o Submit as Word document on Canvasat the relevant assignment upload locationbefore the deadline.
o Employ 1.5-line spacing and 12pt Times New Roman font. Do not adjust the default margins (i.e., 1 inch = 2.54 cm). Include page numbers.
o Include a separate title page with: a title and, if desirable, subtitle; the name of the course; the workgroup number & name of your lecturer; your full name; student number; submission date; and the word count.
o The paper is well written, in academic prose, either in English or Dutch depending on the bachelor track that you are in. Write your own story, do not rely on quotes or translations from English to Dutch, but connect relevant informationusing your own words (and support your claims/ideas with references where possible).
o Formatted according to the rules of the latest APA-guidelines (use APA 6th ed. for referencing). All in-text-references should be mentioned in the reference list, and the other way around.
o Incorrect use of language, bad spelling, or sloppy referencing will negatively affect your grade and can even lead to you failing the assignment, regardless of content. Plagiarism and/or fraud will always be reported to the Examinations Board and can have severe consequences. Also, self-plagiarism is not allowed.
o For resit students who have taken the module Persuasive Communication before, you will need to select a new topic for this assignment, one that you have not written about before.

OnCanvas, you can find a few example papers from previous years to get an idea of the assignment. Mind that even though these papers obtained good grades, they are notperfect (and assignment guidelines have changed slightly over the years). So, carefully follow all instructions and feedback as provided in the tutorial meetings and on Canvas.

The final grading form will also be made available on Canvas. Make sure to study that as well when writing your review.