What are the ways audiences use the mass media, and what are the gratifications they receive from that usage? What functions do soap operas provide for the audience? Theories and research dealing with these questions are presented in the first chapter of the text.

The second chapter concerns how knowledge of news is diffused throughout society, followed by how adoption of new innovations is spread. Research on the Knowledge Gap, as well as the diffusion of public opinion and the Spiral of Silence, is presented.

The final two chapters concern Cultivation Theory and how fear is...

Useful to both professional persuaders and students of media effects, this book presents theories and empirical research on methods of social influence, including advertising, agenda-setting, propaganda, public relations, and public communication campaigns. The reader first learns how source credibility affects persuasion and the theories that account for persuasion effects, followed by research on the third-person effect – the belief that others are affected by persuasion attempts, but not ourselves. A chapter on the effects of advertising follows, including effects on children, and...