The Role of Involvement in Attention and Comprehension Processes

We present the results of a study designed to test several hypotheses concerning the effects of intrinsic and situational sources of personal relevance on felt involvement and on the amount of attention and comprehension effort, the focus of attention and comprehension processes, and the extent of cognitive elaboration during comprehension. Felt involvement is a motivational state that affects the extent and focus of consumers' attention and comprehension processes, and thus the specific meanings that are produced. The results of the study provide strong evidence that felt involvement plays a motivational role in consumers' attention and comprehension processes.