A new project, Measuring Impact of Messaging, seeks to evaluate how effectively certain messages resonate with target audiences, particularly within the irregular warfare issue domain - specifically operations in the information environment.
The project, led by Dr. Steve Sin, Associate Research Scientist and Director of the Unconventional & Asymmetric Threats (UAT) Division at START, aims to provide the Department of Defense (DoD) with a robust model and assessment tool to counter adversarial influence efforts more effectively. The proposed model will equip practitioners and policymakers with the tools to counter adversarial influence campaigns more effectively, providing the United States and its allies with a critical edge in dismantling adversarial narratives.
The project’s aim is to understand which factors are most critical for messages to achieve resonance with specific audiences. Or as Sin puts it, at its core the project seeks to understand “how much impact messaging has on a person.”
A literature review suggests that while key mechanisms like repetition, emotional appeals, and alignment with preexisting beliefs determine emotional resonance, the translation to actual behavioral responses is underexplored. This leaves a critical gap in understanding how messages transition from evoking emotional responses to instigating tangible actions.
Sin, in his project, will address these gaps through conducting surveys and developing a model and an accompanying assessment tool based on the survey’s results to measure the relative impact of specific influence messaging.
The Influence Messaging Impact Assessment Tool (IMIAT), Sin explains, will allow an analyst to plug in certain variables from a specific population and assess the relative resonance of different messages, enabling targeted evaluations and refinement of strategic communications strategies.
This project aims to advance both theoretical understanding and practical application of influence messaging, providing the United States and its allies with a critical advantage in countering adversarial influence campaigns. As Sin explains, one of the goals is to generate a report that will not only help the United States but also can be shared with alliance partners to show "why some messages resonate and why others don’t." By understanding these dynamics, we can better recognize and share with allies "how foreign influence actors will try to influence" them, strengthening our collective defense.