Attitude formation in consensus bilding process for infrastructure development: the integration of fair bond theory and attitude change models

Abstract

This study analyzed people's attitude formation towards infrastructure development from the viewpoint of self-relevance and information release. The model structure is based on the Heuristic Systematic Model and Elaboration Likelihood Model. We conducted a scenario experiment on an Internet web site. Results revealed that social validity of the project and peripheral information, such as trust, were important factors for the formation of attitudes in the inadequate information condition. In addition, our findings suggested that the role of procedural fairness differs by degree of self-relevance, although the model structure appeared to be the same in the two self-relevance conditions. On the other hand, social validity of a project and procedural fairness were significant factors for attitude formation under the adequate information condition. Furthermore, people formed their attitude without peripheral information under the low self-relevance condition, if adequate information was released. These findings suggest that the role of procedural fairness and the formation of attitudes differ depending on the degree of self-relevance.View full abstract