Meta‐analysis comparing the persuasiveness of one‐sided and two‐sided messages

A meta‐analysis comparing the persuasiveness of one‐sided and two‐sided messages was conducted. Based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model it was hypothesized that audience favorability would moderate the effectiveness of the messages. However, the Discounting Hypothesis predicted increased persuasiveness for the two‐sided message. The analysis indicated the existence of two types of operationalizations for two‐sided messages (refutational and nonrefutational). The results demonstrate that a two‐sided message with refutation is more persuasive than a one‐sided message while a one‐sided message is more persuasive than a two‐sided message without refutation. The findings are inconsistent with the ELM but consistent with the Discounting Hypothesis.