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In advertising and public communications, the law of primacy in persuasion as postulated by Frederick Hansen Lund in 1925 holds that the side of an issue presented first will have greater effectiveness than the side presented subsequently.[1] Lund gave college students document in support of one side of a controversial issue and then presented a second taking the opposite position. He found the document read first had greater influence, regardless of which position it expressed.[2] This empirical evidence was generally accepted until 1950, when Cromwell published findings of a recency effect in persuasive arguments that were considered statistically reliable.[3]

See also[]

Serial position effect

References[]

  1. Stone, Vernon A. (1969). "A Primacy Effect in Decision-Making by Jurors", Journal of Communication 19 (3), 239–247. DOI:10.1111/j.1460-2466.1969.tb00846.x
  2. Primacy-Recency. ADV 382J: Fall 2001, "Theories of Persuasive Communication & Consumer Decision Making". Center for Interactive Advertising, The University of Texas at Austin. URL accessed on 2007-11-04.
  3. Kohler, Christine. Order Effects Theory : Primacy versus Recency. Center for Interactive Advertising, The University of Texas at Austin. URL accessed on 2007-11-04.

Further reading[]

  • Lund, Frederick Hansen. "The Psychology of Belief IV: The Law of Primacy in Persuasion," Journal of Abnormal Social Psychology 20 (1925): 183-91.
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