Additional materials or issues associated with the message issue will be distributed or discussed in class if they become available.

In this free program, the IRS uses volunteers to provide tax preparation assistance to taxpayers who have low income, are elderly, have limited English proficiency, or have a disability.  If possible (what we call high involvement, high knowledge conditions), our client would like to change beliefs and to maximize the amount of information that is gained by the message recipient.  We know, of course, that such conditions aren't always present with this target audience or with any target audience, and so our client would like to at least persuade eligible people to use this service under conditions of low involvement and/or low knowledge.

Some Specifics

1. The assignment requires preparation of two PRINT advertising messages; do not submit video/audio tapes, etc.  Each message will be accompanied by one or two page explanation.

2. The message will be in the form of a printed advertisement which can include non-text illustrations as part of the message if appropriate.  Illustrations may be simple hand-drawn mock-ups to suggest work that could be outsourced to an artist.  You are not required to use graphic illustrations, however (i.e., your proposed message could be entirely text).

3. One message is to be most effective under high involvement (and/or high knowledge) conditions and the other is to be most effective under low involvement (and/or low knowledge) conditions.  Note that these must be broad and general conditions that maximize the use of the advertising posters; proposing a poster that is only useful for taxpayers with limited English skills, for example, does not maximize the use of the poster across a broad range of situations.  This is a very specific assignment: merely submitting two messages will receive a failing grade if theory and guidelines associated with recipient involvement and attitude change are not followed.

4. Each message is to be contained on a single, separate 8-1/2 x 11-inch page (who sheets of typing paper taped together).  Clearly mark which message is for high and which message is for low involvement conditions.  (Don't expect me to guess if you want a passing grade.)

5. Additionally, each message is to be accompanied by a one or two page discussion.  This discussion must:
   1. explain the sorts of situations in which the recipient would be expected to be under higher or lower levels of involvement when exposed to the message,

   2. explain why each message is expected to be more persuasive under one condition of involvement than the other, and

   3. explain why each message is expected to result in a more stable and enduring attitude change under one condition than the other.

   Note that you might be using cues in the message itself to invoke higher or lower levels of recipient involvement: if so, explain what you did to manipulate these differing levels.  Your discussion must be based on concepts and theories that we have discussed with respect to motivation, involvement, attention, and attitude change.  ("Shooting from the hip" will receive a failing grade.)

6. You will work in teams of one or two.  The team is of your own choosing.  Note, however, that both members of a team will receive the same score.

7. Neatness is considered a minimal requirement in your grade.  Neatness is defined here to include grammar, spelling, typos, correct use of paragraphs, and such.  Problems with these would not be acceptable in "real" promotional copy and are therefore not acceptable in this assignment.  (I.e., shoddy, unprofessional work will receive a failing grade).  Note that neatness as defined here does not require that you have access to any special sort of equipment or software applications; you are merely creating a mock-up.

8. Please do not use any kind of report folders.  Just use plain white paper with a single staple in the top left corner.

9. You are encouraged to visit the professor outside of class to discuss your ideas.