Information processing of audiences exposed to public service advertising messages for Special Olympics: A cognitive response approach

The purpose of this paper is to explore the cognitive processes that the study subjects experienced when exposed to different types of public service advertisements about Special Olympics.

A total of 529 cognitive responses from 141 college students were analyzed using the content analysis method.

The results of the frequency count of cognitive responses indicated that low-empathy (LE) subjects engaged in extensive cognitive efforts to process the information as much as high-empathy (HE) subjects. Additionally, the content analysis of the qualitative data showed that the two most frequently cited categories of positive thoughts for HE subjects were good cause/importance of Special Olympics and positive feeling related to volunteering for Special Olympics. For LE subjects, the most frequently identified category in positive thoughts was altruist/moral responsibility, followed by volunteer intention and positive feeling related to volunteering for Special Olympics.

The paper provides valuable information on cognitive responses to public service advertising messages.