Interpersonal Communication and the Agenda-Setting Process

Abstract

Interpersonal communication can enhance agenda-setting effects for issues that receive extensive media coverage but may also interfere with agenda-setting effects by providing salience cues that conflict with media messages for little-publicized issues. The intensity of interpersonal discussions and the respondents' level of participation appear to have less influence on salience but regression analyses show that frequency of discussions is the strongest predictor of issue salience.