April 2006 - December 2008
Leibniz Association (WGL)
The dissertation project of Dipl. Psych. Jörn Töpper investigated (by means of field as well as laboratory research) how intensely visitors deal with exhibits on spares in museums after being exposed to short video-presented interviews with concerned people. According to theories of parasocial interaction (Hartmann, Schramm & Klimmt, 2004) and persuasion (ELM; Petty & Cacioppo, 1986) such personalized films boost the self-reference of viewers. This in turn increases the subjectively felt/indicated emotional content and accordingly the motivation to process factual information (Spies, 1994; Shah, Kwak, Schmierbach & Zubric, 2004). This refers to information that is directly conveyed by the person (shown in the interview) and to contents that are associated with the person during the exhibit visit (carry-over effect).
