The Effect of Positive and Negative Prior Information on Motion Picture Appreciation

Summary In order to test the hypothesis that individuals viewing a motion picture would be affected in their appreciation of the same by being exposed to either positive, negative, or no prior information, a field study was conducted in a public theatre. Ss (N = 60) were drawn from the population of adult afternoon theatre patrons in an urban environment. Ss were exposed to either highly positive, highly negative, or no comments from Cs posing as legitimate theatre patrons via overheard inter-C conversations. Ss rated the motion picture subsequent to the experimental procedure using a paper and pencil questionnaire. Employing a one-way analysis of variance (p < .01) and Tukey's H.S.D. test, a significant difference (p < .01) was found between the positive and negative prior information groups. Data indicated that audience appreciation of motion pictures is alterable by prior information cues.