EFFECTIVENESS OF MESSAGE PRESENTATION FORMAT ON CONSUMER OPINIONS, ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORAL INTENTIONS TOWARD THE DOMESTIC TEXTILE AND APPAREL INDUSTRY

Scope of Study. The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of two types of message presentation formats (video and print) aimed at providing information to the public regarding imported and domestic textile and apparel products. Opinions, attitudes and behavioral intentions of participants were measured prior to exposure and after exposure to each message presentation format. The multigroup pretest-posttest control group design was used for the study with college students enrolled in three home economics classes. The classes were randomly assigned as experimental group I, experimental group II and control group. Each group completed the pretest, and three weeks later the experimental groups were shown either video or printed information. Immediately after the experimental treatment, the groups completed the posttest. The difference between the pretest and posttest mean scores was used to determine if a significant difference existed among the experimental groups and the control group. One-way analysis of variance and the Duncan multiple-range test were used in the analysis. The t test for correlated samples was used to determine the amount of increase for the groups. The experimental groups also evaluated the video or printed information.; Findings and Conclusions. The group means on the attitude scale for the pretest and posttest indicated that all of the groups held a generally favorable attitude toward domestic apparel. Significant differences were found between group mean gain scores on opinions about the impact of imports on the domestic textile and apparel industry after exposure to the experimental treatments, but no significant differences were found between group mean gain scores on attitudes regarding domestic apparel. No significant differences were found between group mean gain scores on behavioral intentions regarding the intent to purchase domestic apparel after exposure to the experimental treatment; therefore, it can not be concluded that either format would sufficiently move the consumer toward the purchase stage. An evaluation of the message presentation formats (video and print) revealed that the participants perceived the video presentation as somewhat easier to remember and to understand than the printed presentation.