| Abstract: | Audience feedback has been demonstrated to result in intra-audience effects in addition to having effects on message sources. This experiment was designed to demonstrate intra-audience effects in a naturalistic field setting. Sixty male and female undergraduates were required as part of a bogus class assignment to go to a bar on one of two nights and “observe communication behaviors in the field.” A group of about 30 confederates attended both nights, one night giving positive responses to the band and the other night giving negative responses. Subjects filled out a questionnaire in their classes on the day following participation. Results supported predictions that observable audience responses would affect subjects' evaluations of the band and the length of time spent at the bar. |
