Compliance-Gaining Message-Selection: What Is Our Dependent Variable?

Compliance-gaining message-selection researchers have generally adopted one of three approaches to the analysis of their data. The technique approach treats individual items as dependent variables. Analyses done with the strategy approach reduce those items to groups, usually through factor analysis, and then consider the groups as dependent variables. A third approach combines all of the selection items into a single scale on the assumption that the sum is indicative of a single, underlying factor. Which of these approaches is the most meaningful? Two studies are reported which examine the external validity of each analytic approach. The findings indicate that only one shows a correspondence with actual compliance-gaining message behavior.