Immediate and Delayed Effects of Message Sidedness

While advertisers usually aim at throwing a positive light on their products, persuasion literature suggests that presenting some drawbacks in a two-sided message can increase persuasion. A two-sided message provides not only positive information, but also some negative information, while in a one-sided message, only positive information is given. However, the effects of two-sided messages are ambiguous (e.g., Anderson and Golden,1984; Crowley and Hoyer,1994; Eisend,2006). While the source of a two-sided message is perceived as more credible than the source of a one-sided message, attitudes towards two-sided messages tend to be less favorable. Inasmuch as positive credibility effects of message sidedness have been explained by attribution processes (e.g., Eisend, 2007; Gotlieb and Sarel, 1991; Kamins and Marks,1987), an explanation for the negative effect of sidedness on message attitudes has still not been addressed in the literature.