Communication Technology and Policy Division

Bring in the Outs: Toward Inclusivity in Democracy • Debashis “Deb” Akat • no abstract.

Visual Disabilities & Web Access • Julie Bellamy, Tina Ejtemai-Chapa, Aneta Genova, Bita Kianimanesh, Suria Santana, Ioana Suciu and Wendy Wirth, The American University • Until the late 1980s, computers were almost as easy for disabled people to use as for the nondisabled. The advent of the mouse made computer use more difficult for the blind because they could not see the icons necessary to operate point and click software. This paper examines the laws regulating Web accessibility for the visually-impaired, assesses the accessibility of eighteen federal agency Web sites, and evaluates several software programs designed to improve accessibility.

Breaking Up News•An Investment in the Future? Correlations among hypertext comfort, user satisfaction and perceived credibility • Stephanie Berger, University of Florida • no abstract

The Profiling of Cable Modem Broadband Subscribers: Characteristics, Perceptions, and Satisfaction Korean College Students’ Internet Use and Dependency • Sylvia Chan-Olmsted and Jack C.C. Li, University of Florida • no abstract

Investigating Korean College StudentsÕ Internet Use Patterns and Motivations, and Exploring Vulnerability of Internet Dependency • Yong Jun Choi, University of Southern Mississippi, Mary G. “Jorji” Jarzabrk, Louisiana State University-Shreveport, Jong-Gil Song, Korean Broadcasting Institute, and Do-Sam La, Seoul Development Institute • This in-depth study examines the patterns of and motivations for Internet use by Korean college students. The research focus is to determine tendencies toward and pattern indicators of Internet dependence. Data reveal that college students’ motivations for using the Internet may lead to dependence on this medium for social interaction. Students may be at risk for spending too much time ‘logging on” to the web. Excessive use is cited as a precursor to Internet addiction.

CYBERNEWSERS, DESERTERS AND INCLUDERS: An Analysis of Internet News Users and the Effect on Traditional News Media Use • Mike Conway, University of Texas-Austin • no abstract

PREDICTING ONLINE SHOPPING BEHAVIOR • Michael G. Elasmar, Kumiko Aoki and Kathryn Bennett, Boston University • This article explores the demographic, attitudinal, and behavioral factors that affect an Internet user’s decision to make an online purchase. Years of Internet experience, influence of friends on shopping behavior, comfort with the security of online transactions, the perception that online shopping is less expensive than traditional shopping, and the perception that shopping online would be enjoyable positively affected their intention to shop online in the future.

The Pros and Cons of Using a Media Web Site to Publish Subpoenaed Information • Anthony Fargo, University of Rhode Island • no abstract

Enhanced Television Viewing with Digital Video Recorders (DVRs): Audience Satisfaction in an Asynchronous Television Environment • Douglas Ferguson, College of Charleston and Elizabeth M. Perse, University of Delaware • This paper explores how early adopters of DVRs are using them as functional. replacements for VCRs and as tools for enhanced viewing of live television. A national sample of 121 users completed an online survey that measured TV uses and gratifications, viewing satisfaction, and attitudes toward DVR functions. DVR owners reported watching television, live and recorded, with more enjoyment and greater control. All but one of the DVR functions was linked to a measure of viewing satisfaction.

Improving Student Writing Using A Web-Based Targeted Approach to Grammar System (TAGS) • Bruce Henderson, University of Colorado-Boulder • A Targeted Approach to Grammar System (TAGS) that highlights only the 20 most common grammar problems may be more effective than bulky, integrated word processor grammar checkers for improving student writing. The author creates initial pieces of such a Web-based computer program and compares student newspaper writing with and without the use of the program. Using TAGS, errors for the targeted grammar problems declined instantly and, in two full editions of the student newspaper, were eliminated.

Power of Perception: The Effect of Course Evaluations Perceptions on Traditional and Non-Traditional Student’s Performance in a Distance Education Course • Traci Irani, Christi Scherler, Michael Harrington, and Ricky Telg • University of Florida • Distance education has made great strides toward enfranchising non-traditional learners These non-traditional students are innately different, in terms of experiences, background and life circumstances, than traditional-aged students, yet many distance classes increasingly include both on- and off-campus students. Few studies have looked at how these differences affect course perceptions and performance. Results of a study of a videoconferencing course indicated that student perceptions of the level of social interaction, as well as of the instructional techniques used, differed between on- and off-campus students, and that these perceptions significantly affected their performance.

Beyond the “digital divide”: Internet Connectedness and Inequality • Joo-Young Jung, Jack Linchuan Qiu and Yong-Chan Kim • University of Southern California • This manuscript presents the Internet Connectedness Index (ICI), a measure for monitoring long4erm inequalities in the quality of Internet connections among users, especially in terms of whether Internet connections will enhance the chances of people’s upward mobility. This index is preferable to more established digital divide measures (e.g., gadgetry ownership or time online) for research on how the Internet is being incorporated into a world of structural inequalities. The ICI utilizes conventional time, history, and context measures, but goes beyond them to capture the scope and centrality of Internet incorporation into the everyday lives of diverse social groups. The validity and robustness of ICI vis-a-vis conventional ownership and time online measures are demonstrated in this manuscript. In. addition, we discuss theoretical, methodological and policy implications based on our results. The analytical data are drawn from the Communication Technology and Community Program’s “Metamorphosis” Project, an inquiry into the communication infrastructures of seven ethnically-marked residential areas in Los Angeles.

Technology or Tradition: Exploring Relative Persuasive Appeals of Animation, Endorser Credibility, and Argument Strength in Web Advertising • Sriram Kalyanaraman and Mary Beth Oliver, Penn State University • Recent developments indicate that with the novelty effect of the Web wearing off, user-interfaces need to incorporate traditional message elements along with technological variables. This paper explores the relative persuasive appeals of animation, endorser credibility, and argument strength in online advertisements by employing a completely balanced, mixed-design experiment. Findings suggest that technological elements must be presented in conjunction with more traditional variables. The results are discussed within the framework of the Heuristic Systematic Model.

A White World of the Information Economy: A Content Analysis of Dot.com Magazine Advertising • Tomoko Kanayama, Ohio University • This study examines the representation of people in dot-com magazine advertising A content analysis of 671 dot-corn advertisements shows that minorities are considerably underrepresented in the dot-corn advertisements. The study found that the digital divide is far larger in dot-corn advertisements than in the actual U.S. economy. The results of the study imply that the marketing strategy of dot-coms is reinforcing a popular view of who is an information economy user, worker; and customer.

Applications of the Theory of Planned Behavior • Jae-Won Kang, University of Florida • no abstract

The Factors and Barriers of Global Internet Diffusion • Hocheon Kwon, State University of New York-Buffalo • no abstract

Communication in Virtual Community • Jae-Shin Lee, Cornell University • Although research has been conducted on the characteristics of virtual communities, empirical studies examining actual building process of virtual communities are rare. This paper examines theoretical requirements of virtual communities and applies them to an existing online service. Social network analysis was conducted using messages posted to electronic bulletin boards. This paper concludes that a small topic-based CMC group in a BBS service could be classified as a virtual community.

Internet Use and Political Efficacy • Kwan Min Lee, Stanford University • This study examines the relationship between three types of Internet use (information, entertainment, and interactive contacts) and two types of political efficacy (external and internal) among college students. Information related Internet use and interactive contacts with public sector agencies predict college students’ internal political efficacy. An unexpected finding was that visiting public agency sites negatively influenced college students’ external political efficacy. This implies that the quality of current public sites (e.g., government sites) is below the expectation of college students and that respondents who visited those sites might develop political cynicism or perceive government non-responsiveness to their needs. Finally, this study reveals that online news sites are the primary news source for college students.

Can Police Track Your Wireless Calls? Call Location Information and Privacy Law • Laurie Thomas Lee, University of Nebraska-Lincoln • By October 1, 2001, cellular service providers in the U.S. must begin providing location-based information that can pinpoint the location of a wireless phone making a 911 emergency call. Call location information will certainly prove invaluable to law enforcement, not only in assisting citizens calling 911, but also in tracking drug dealers and locating stolen vehicles and escaped felons. But just as Americans have come to enjoy the freedom of movement associated with cell phones, they may find their own phones have effectively become ankle bracelets. While location tracking capabilities offer considerable public safety protections, the information available also presents greater opportunities for unsupervised government monitoring and misuse. As law enforcement agencies take advantage of this efficient investigative opportunity, Americans will realize less personal privacy, tilting the delicate constitutional balance between liberty and law enforcement. To what extent is call location privacy protected? Is there a constitutional right to location privacy? Do existing statutory laws limit government access and protect callers from unrestrained law enforcement monitoring? This paper discusses the technology associated with call location information and the FCC’s e91 1 requirements for location disclosures. It then examines the state of the existing law by first exploring call location privacy rights under the U.S. Constitution. Existing statutory law is then scrutinized for its applicability to call location privacy interests and the extent to which law enforcement may monitor and seize location call data. Finally, legislative solutions are offered, clarifying and bolstering call location privacy rights.

Interactive Cable Television Services and their Adopters: Examining the Factors Influencing the Adoption of Interactive Cable Television Services in Taiwan • Shu-Chu Sarrina Li, National Chiao Tung University • The main purpose of the study was to examine the factors that influence the adoption of interactive cable television services in Taiwan. The literature review identified five factors, innovation attributes, technology ownership, innovativeness, demographic composition, and mass media use, as having significant effects on the adoption of interactive cable television services. A telephone survey with 1012 valid interviews was used to collect data for this study. Data analysis shows that age, relative advantages, technology ownership, and newspaper reading were significantly related with the adoption of interactive cable television services. More detailed findings were discussed in the paper.

CONVERGENCE: ITS MEANING AND IMPLICATIONS FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS REGULATION • Sanghyun Moon, Ohio State University,• The popular view of convergence that underscores its technological elements and subsequent market adjustment tends to decontextualize convergence as a political, economic, and social phenomenon. Moreover, this view tends implicitly to serve the interests of the powerful groups by suggesting a particular course of technological, market, and policy development. This paper argues that convergence needs to be understood in a broader context wherein various political, economic, social, and technological factors overdetermine a course of policy development at a particular time.

Old Radio/New Radio: Convergence and Missed Opportunities: In the Wake of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 • Randy Nichols and Alan G. Stavitsky, University of Oregon • Shifts in regulatory policy brought by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 have drastically altered the U.S radio industry. This paper examines structural changes in the industry in the wake of the 1996 act, as well as the industry’s adoption • and failure to adopt, in many cases •new digital technologies Prospects for audio streaming over the Internet and satellite broadcasting direct to home or car are considered.

INVESTIGATING DIALOGIC COMMUNICATION: A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF TOP CHINESE CORPORATE WEB PAGES • Shu Peng, University of Louisiana-Lafayette • no abstract

Untangling the Ties that Bind: Non-Recursive Models of Internet Use and Engagement in Public Life • Dhavan Shah, Michael Schmierbach, Joshua Hawkins, Rodolfo Espino, Janet Donovan, and Soo-Wan Chung, University of Wisconsin-Madison • There has been more speculation than research on the implications of Internet use for social interaction and civic engagement. Although some have extended arguments about television to suggest that Internet use may erode involvement in social civic life, a growing body of literature indicates that informational uses of the Internet, the most common Internet behaviors (Nie & Erbring, 2000), may actually foster social and civic participation. To examine this possibility, we test a series of non-recursive models using the 1999 Life Style Study, a national survey of nearly 3400 respondents conducted by DDB-Chicago. We use this data to examine the effect of frequency of Internet use (i.e., hours per day) on three sets of social behaviors: informal social interaction, attendance at public events, and participation in civic volunteerism (i.e., annual frequency). Specifically, two stage least square regressions were performed to simultaneously test the reciprocal relationship between Internet-use and public engagement variables. Using these approach, we are able to ascertain the strength and direction of the ties between Internet use and social interaction absent the biases endemic to extant research on this topic. Results indicate that frequency of Internet use has a positive relationship with both public attendance and civic volunteerism.

Role of Teacher Attitudes and Perceptions Toward Computers in the Implementation of an Educational Innovation in Trinidad and Tobago • Prahalad Sooknanan, University of New York-Potsdam, Srinivas R. Melkote and Ewart C. Skinner, Bowling Green State University • Communication technologies have been lauded for their development potentials. New communication technologies, such as computers, are particularly beneficial to several development initiatives including education. In an attempt to ascertain the feasibility of successfully implementing computers in the classroom in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), this study examined the relationship between the independent variables of teachers’ attitudes toward computers and perceived innovation characteristics and the dependent variables of teacher satisfaction and utilization. Based on previous research, 10 hypotheses were formulated to examine the relationship between the variables. A self-administered questionnaire was administered to a convenience sample of 142 elementary school teachers. The results underscored the importance of attitudinal and perceptual factors to the successful implementation of computers in the classroom. Specifically, the findings have policy-making implications regarding the government’s campaign to implement educational computing throughout the educational system in T&T.

Diffusion of Courses with World Wide Web Features: Perceptions of Journalism and Mass Communications Program Administrators • Patrick J. Sutherland, Ohio University • no abstract

Communicating about Mass Communication: A National Study of the Content, Functionality and Value of University Mass Communication Program World Web Sites • Douglas J. Swanson, University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse • The study was undertaken to assess college and university mass communication program World Wide Web site content, functionality, and value, and to gauge faculty members’ opinions related to Web site creation and maintenance. Descriptive statistics, analysis of variance and t-tests were used to address three hypotheses relating to Web site use by academic programs and related perceptions of social order by faculty. Most programs had an operational Web site. Site enhancements varied widely while most faculty members’ opinions were thematically consistent.

Interactivity as a Cognitive Process • Mark Tremayne and Sharon Dunwoody, University of Wisconsin • no abstract

The Effects of Interactivity on Web Campaigning in Taiwan’s 2000 Presidential Election •Tai-Li Wang, Shih-Hsin University • Taiwan’s 2000 presidential election is a milestone for the Internet to be a campaign medium in a nation-wide election. By conducting field experiments during the campaign period, this study intended to find out the effects of web interactivity on campaign communication. It is assumed that, by adding human-to-online media or human-to-human interaction, the more interactive campaign websites will generate more campaigning effects. Results showed that the interactive level of a candidate website might not linearly contribute to positive web campaigning effects. In some cases, moderate interactivity may produce better effects than higher interactivity. In other cases, it may be voters’ political interest in election campaigns that predominantly determine online campaigning effects.

The Policy Debate over Exclusive Cable Television Franchising in Light of Citizen and Consumer Welfare: Compare Monopolistic with Competitive Cable Television Markets in Taipei, Taiwan • Ting-Yu Tiffany Wang, Yuan-Ze University • Whether arguing for municipal exclusive franchise or multiple franchises, prior research either limited its attention to economic efficiency or assumed the fulfillment of social values coming in the wake of consumer welfare. To overcome this “analytic asymmetry”, our research is a modest first attempt to examine both citizen and consumer welfare effects of exclusive versus multiple systems. We conducted a cross-sectional random-digit-dialing telephone survey of subscribers in Baytow (one operator) and Chungsan (three operators) cable communities in Taipei, Taiwan during the last two weeks of December, 1999. Consistent with previous research findings, greater consumer welfare in terms of service quality was found to be perceived by subscribers in the triopoly cable television community than those in the monopoly community. Significant perceived differences in several dimensions of media content quality were found between monopoly and triopoly. That is, greater diversity of channel types and lower prices were perceived by subscribers in the competitive market. In addition to availability of programming options and services based on cable systems data, the ratios – the prices in comparison with consumer perception of and satisfaction at content and service quality after exposure – can serve as empirical foundation for cable rate regulation. As expected, no significant difference in citizen welfare was found between monopoly and triopoly. The policy implications were explored.

DIGITAL DIFFERENCES: ATTITUDES AMONG MAJOR CAMPUS TAKEHOLDERS ON TECHNOLOGY IMPLEMENTATION – AN EMPIRICAL STUDY • Hilary Warren, Denison University and Nerissa Nelson, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point • Incorporating communication technology in higher education has fostered increased investment and training in addition to debate over appropriate curricular use. This debate over the use and implementation has occurred not only in the field of mass communication, but across disciplines. This study looks at four campus stakeholders: students, faculty, administrators and the information technology staff at a regional midwestern campus. The results suggest that a key challenge is a long-running debate over the role of higher education in a diverse economy and society.

Heuristics in Guessing and Remembering URLs: Implications for Effective URL Design • Jeffrey S. Wilkinson and Vivian Sheer, Hong Kong Baptist University • It is important for companies to understand how people find Web sites. Advertising, search engines, and guessing (mental heuristics) are the most common means. This exploratory study focused on identifying common guessing strategies that people use to find Web sites. A survey questionnaire was distributed to adult professionals in Hong Kong. Results confirmed some generalizations about this common behavior. Actual company Web sites are discussed within the context of existing policies regarding URL registration and selection.

The Third-Person Effect and Internet Censorship: A Comparative Study in Singapore and the United States • Wei Wu, National University of Singapore; Shuhua Shou, University of Alabama and Jancie Koo, Singapore Telecommunicaitons Limited • no abstract.

<< 2001 Abstracts

Advertising Division

RESEARCH
Click Here to Personalize a Friend of Barbie Doll: Metaphors and Promotional Appeals in Online Advertisements for Children • Debashis Aikat, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill • Based on theories related to metaphors in advertisements, cognitive comprehension by children, promotional appeals, and presentation techniques, the research for this study comprised a content analysis of 1,063 online banner advertisements with reference to use of metaphors, promotional appeals, promotional content and selling techniques. This paper argues that the impact and content of the Internet as a new advertising medium are distinctly different from traditional characteristics of television and print.

How Ads Work: Identifying Psychological Mechanisms that Make Emotional and Rational Appeals Successful • Cynthia M. Frisby, University of Missouri • An experiment was conducted to determine if two personality variables might be used to describe and explain individual differences in attraction to advertising appeals. Data collected in the study suggests that people concerned with creating and/or maintaining a particular image like advertising copy that focuses on image and physical appearance. Conversely, data revealed that people driven by inner values, attitudes, and feelings, prefer advertisements that provide information about a product’s quality.

Selling the Estate: An Analysis of Advertising Slogans for News Organizations • Salma I. Ghanem and Jacqueline S. Nirenberg, University of Texas-Pan American • This study explores the use of slogans in promoting news. It not only provides benchmark data from which to track changes in the use of slogans, but also a snapshot of the current state of slogans in the news business. News organizations scored low on brand identification, use of literary techniques, and hard-sell messages. While there was frequent use of precise messages, there was also a surprisingly high incidence of superlatives.

Effectiveness of Humorous versus Non-Humorous Commercials in Happy versus San Program Environments • Manish Gupta, Ginger Park, Christie Vanover and Lori Bergen, Kansas State University • A 2 x 2 factorial experiment was conducted to examine effects of mood congruency and mood intensity on effectiveness of humorous and non-humorous commercials in happy and sad program environments using dependent variables of recall, likeability and purchase intent. Humorous commercials performed better than non-humorous commercials in recall and attitude toward the ad. Non-humorous commercials performed better on attitude toward the brand and purchase intent.

The Impact of Cultural Distance and Linguistic Difference on Standardization of Global Corporate Communications through the World Wide Web: A Content Analysis of the US Global Brands’ International Web Pages • Kyoo-Hoon Han and Glen T. Cameron, University of Missouri-Columbia • This study attempts to examine how cultural distance and linguistic difference are associated with global brands’ corporate communications for foreign markets through their international Web pages. A total of 25 US global brands were sampled and their US and international Web pages for the selected four countries • the UK, France, Hong Kong, and South Korea • were analyzed. The results indicate that greater cultural distance between the countries leads to more differences in information cues and structural features between the US global brands’ US Web page and the respective international Web pages.

Wait! Why is it not Moving? Attractive and Distractive Ocular Responses to Web Ads • Nokon Heo, S. Shyam Sundar and Smita Chaturvedi, Penn State University • Participants (N = 46) in a 2x2x2 within-participants factorial experiment manipulating animation (animated, static), position (top, bottom), and product-involvement (high, low) of banner ads were exposed to eight online news pages. Their ocular responses (i.e., horizontal and vertical eye movements) were measures during their browsing. Results indicate that static ads and top ads tend to distract from news reading, and it takes a high-involvement product to attract visual attention toward animated and bottom ads.

Online Newspapers: A Content Analysis of Ad Formats and Rates • Joe Bob Hester, Texas Tech University • A content analysis of online rate information for the newspaper Web sites associated with the Top 50 largest U.S. Newspapers revealed that these sites offer few advertising options. On average, CPM impressions advertising rates for full banners range widely and are more expensive than on other sites; however, steep discounts are available. The findings suggest that as an industry, online newspapers have failed to agree on the value of their product.

Applying Expectancy-Value Theory to the Consumer’s Search for a Restaurant • E. Dennis Hinde, South Dakota State University • This paper compares the role of paid advertising for restaurants and that of informal, word-of-mouth communications on the same subject. It is a test of expectancy-value theory. Expectancy is defined as consumer beliefs about various media choices. Value is the worth a person attaches to the outcome of the search for a product. The instrument for this research was a telephone survey of 199 restaurant patrons.

Characteristics of Shoppers: Television; Catalog/Direct Mail/Department Store; Internet Shoppers • Mira Lee, University of Minnesota • The ability of marketers and advertisers to develop successful marketing and advertising strategies depends on an understanding of shoppers’ characteristics. In this paper, we discussed differences of demographic, psychological, motivational, attitudinal, and behavioral characteristics between shoppers and non-shoppers of three different types: television, catalog/direct mail/department store, and Internet shopper. The results indicated that each type of shopper has some unique characteristics, as well as similar characteristics across all three types of shoppers.

The Engine’s in the Front, But its Heart’s in the Same Place: A Study of the Use of Nostalgia in Advertising • Oren Meyers, University of Pennsylvania • Through the incorporation of critical studies of advertising and collective memory theory the paper suggests that advertising refers to the past through the construction of commodities as “memory sites.” The study then probes this assumption by focusing on three advertising campaigns that link consumers to their existing or invented shared pasts. Finally the study relates its findings to the current emphasis of American advertisers and marketers on targeting and segmenting strategies.

Influence of Film Critic Quotations in Motion Picture Advertising on Audience Attitudes • Michael A. Mitrook and Trenton C. Seltzer, University of Central Florida • In this study the value of film critic quotations is being questioned. Respondents were shown print advertisements for a hypothetical film in which two variables were manipulated: credibility of the critics (high, low, or mixed), and valence of the original raw quotations (positive or negative) from which the quotes were excised. Results show participants in the mixed critic credibility condition assessed attendance likelihood and purchase intention significantly higher than participants in the low critic credibility condition.

The Role Of Advertisements and Performance or Learning Goals In Product Selection Decisions • Catherine Ilse Pfeifer, University of Kansas and Jacqueline Hitchon, University of Wisconsin Madison • This is the first study to examine the effects of goal-oriented media messages on the selection of products by consumers and to apply psychological goal theory to mass communication. This experiment crossed learning or performance goals with the subjects’ perceived task abilities. They then viewed ads and selected a product (relationship seminar) with either a performance, learning, or humiliation-avoidance goal. Results mostly showed that subjects made their selections in alignment with the previously observed goal.

Seniors’ Perceptions Of Seniors In Magazine Advertisements: A Q Analysis • Tom Robinson, Southern Methodist University, Mark Popovich, Robert Gustafson, and Cliff Fraser, Ball State University • These days the “credo in advertising is that 1849 rules” (Taylor, 1995, p.40). This market segment is attractive to marketers because it represents a large number of individuals who are making changes, trying new products, and spending their money. Mike Neavill, director of corporate advertising for AT&T explains: Advertisers identity a target audience they believe serve as the best prospect for the products or services they have to sell.

Effects of Issue Ads on Candidate Evaluation and Voting Preference: Does Sponsorship Matter? • Fuyuan Shen, Pennsylvania State University and H. Denis Wu, Louisiana State University • This empirical study assessed the effects of attack and advocacy issue ads on candidate evaluations and voting preference in a hypothetical two-way, state senate race. It also examined the effects of sponsorship of ads on candidate evaluations and voting preferences. Subjects were exposed to either attack or advocacy print ads sponsored by either candidates or PACs/interest groups. Results indicated that while attack ads have significant effects on candidate evaluation and voting preference, advocacy political ads do not generate significant impact on subjects.

Advertising Gets Entertaining: A Case Study of Soap Advertisements in The 1930s • Juliann Sivulka, University of South Carolina • This case study analyzes soap advertisements during the 1930s. To create copy and illustrations that would appeal to American audience, admakers tried to more closely associate entertainment value with the product to gain attention. Admakers developed new ads forms that incorporated emotive appeals and such formulaic elements as dramatic photographs, motion picture themes, the comics, as well as daytime soap operas. The success of advertising lay in its ability to entertain, as well as inform and persuade.

Taking It Outside In Kansas: Effects Of An Integrated Communications Health Campaign And Its Echo • Esther Thorson and Doyle Yoon, University of Missouri • Take It Outside (TIO) is a multimedia integrated communications campaign designed and evaluated from the point of view of a specific theoretical stance. The topic of the campaign is second hand or environmental tobacco smoke. The goals of the campaign were to increase the number of people who report understanding the harmful effects of second hand smoke, and to reduce the number of smokers who smoke around others, particularly children.

The Role Of Aad As Mediator In The Effects Of Child And Adult Voiceovers In A Children’s Health Campaign • Esther Thorson and Doyle Yoon, University of Missouri • Attempts were made in this study to examine the effect of child voiceover on adults’ beliefs and behavioral changes, and mediating effects of Aad the dependent variables in a children’s health campaign. Results show that both child and adult voiceovers have an impact on Aad beliefs. In addition, child voiceovers have an impact on interpersonal communication, and adult voiceovers affect behaviors. However, Aad mediated those impacts. Implication of this result is discussed.

Do Free Offers Really Work: A College Student’s Experimental Survey Study • Alex Wang, University of Texas at Austin • This study examined the strength of the relationship between the willingness to accept the free offers online and the average involvement regarding three product categories: entertainment, clothing and healthcare. The findings suggested respondents would not accept free offers in the high-involvement product categories, while they would accept free offers in the low-involvement product categories. Implications for advertisers and the direction of future research were also presented.

An Exploratory Study: The Information Content of Deceptive Infomercials • Jan LeBlanc Wicks and Ron Warren, University of Arkansas • The information content of nine infomercials (or 16.98% of the 53 infomercials) that were identified as deceptive by the Federal Trade Commission is compared to non-deceptive infomercials studied in previous research using the Resnik and Stern (1977) approach. The deceptive infomercials averaged 7.66 information cues while the non-deceptive infomercials averaged 5.8 cues (Tom 1995/1996; Elliott & Lockard 1996). Deceptive infomercials appear more likely to present misleading product safety information and research results in order to make a sale.

Optimal Aad-Ab-PI Measures in the Journal of Advertising: 1991 through 2000 • ChongMoo Woo, University of Florida • The first objective of this study is to assess the items, scales, source, authors, reliability, and frequency of single-item scales and multi-item scales involving Aad-Ab-PI measures in the 1990s journal of advertising. The second objective is to use the aggregated Aad-Ab-PI measures to investigate the robustness of a mediation hypothesis and to assess the strength of specific paths in the model.

SPECIAL TOPICS
Advertising and the consumer movement of the 1960s and 70s • Sue Westcott Alessandri, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Mary Alice Shaver, Michigan State University • no abstract

Processing Ads in a Competitive Context • Chingching Chang, National Chengchi University • This study documents the interference from the ads of competing brands in the viewing context on evaluations of target ads/brands. It also shows that for the target brand promoting a relatively unique attribute is more effective than promoting a shared attribute. It further explains that consumers cope with persuasive messages by making attributions. These attributional thoughts not only affect their ad evaluations, but also impact brand evaluations via influence on ad liking and ad persuasiveness.

Actions Not Words: What The Handling Of Cross-Border Advertising Disputes Tells Us About The Interests Shaping Advertising In The European Union • Anne Cunningham, Louisiana State University • Working within the critical paradigm, this study seeks to identity the ideology supported by officials most involved in shaping European advertising self-regulation. As Europe moves toward unification, the advertising industry and its regulators have been charged with devising a system to handle international disputes. There can be little doubt that conflicts do and will continue to arise in the international transmission of advertising; but these are only surface-level conflicts.

Changing Direction: Assessing Student Thoughts and Feelings About a New Program in Strategic Communication • Cynthia M. Frisby, Bryan H. Reber, and Glen T. Cameron, Missouri School of Journalism • A number of recent studies have examined integration of advertising and public relations but none reports what students think. Over three semesters students in an Introduction to Strategic Communication course were asked to assess an integrated public relations and advertising curriculum. Students supported integration and viewed a focus on new technology, having a toolkit of integrated communication methods, and understanding the basics of relationship building as paramount.

Making the Invisible Visible Through Media Literacy: The Pinesol Lady and the Ghost of Aunt Jemima • Lorraine Fuller, University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff • Although many of the negative and stereotypical portrayals of Blacks in advertising have faded into oblivion, some still find their way into television commercials. These portrayals are of concern because they can have an impact on others’ social construction of reality about blacks. For years, the “happy mammy” symbol was used to market Aunt Jemima pancakes. The image came to an end in 1989 when the Quaker Oats company gave Aunt Jemima a new more modern look.

“Others” in the Era of Multiculturalism: An Examination of Interweaving Portrayals of Gender, Race, and Age in TV Commercials • Jongbae Hong, University of Southern Illinois-Carbondale • This study interrogated the ways in which complex gender, race and age relations are depicted in TV commercials. By examining the systematic ways that advertising depicts complex and interdependent relations between gender, race and age, this study attempted to find the ways by which TV commercials marginalize cultural “others” such as women, minorities, and the aged. The findings of this study showed that the relations between gender and race are heavily influenced by age, and that Euro-centric perspective prevails in advertising industry.

Re-inventing ‘Tricky Dick’: The selling of Richard M. Nixon in 1968 • Melissa McElroy, University of Alabama • In his race for the American presidency in 1968, Richard Nixon became one of the first presidential candidates to put together a group of people solely charged with changing his public image through the medium of television. This paper analyzes four of Nixon’s television commercials from that race using concepts related to the “star system” and to the idea of repositioning the candidate in the minds of the American public.

Advertisers Got Game: Examining Effectiveness of Product Placements in New Media • Michelle R. Nelson, University of Wisconsin-Madison • no abstract

A Semiotic Exegesis Of World Wide Web Advertising: The Search For A Contextual Understanding Of Digital Design • William Pritchard, Elizabethtown College • Via a semiotic reading of 100 Web advertisements, this study composes a culturally astute understanding of on-line advertising. Web advertisements are analyzed within, and against, the larger cultures of digital and traditional representation. Findings point to the inherent limitations of on-line design in comparison to traditional print design, and present the workings of a new culture of advertising defined by a universal equity among large and small advertisers and a palatable straying from traditional professional advertising codes.

Balance Theory and Advertising: A History, Review and Critical Perspective • Don Umphrey, University of Texas-Austin • Heider’s Balance Theory continues to have relevancy for advertising researchers today, even though has been more than 50 years since it was first introduced. This paper traces the roots of the theory and distinguishes it from other cognitive consistency theories. Further, the paper demonstrates correct and incorrect uses of the theory in advertising and in communication theory with advertising implications. Finally, recommendations are made as to how the theory might be used to probe advertising-related issues in the future.

TEACHING
Preparing the entry-level advertising portfolio: Pointing creative students in the right direction • Sheri Broyles, University of North Texas • A national survey of educators in advertising creative classes focused on what makes a good portfolio in terms of concept and presentation. The questions asked academics mirrored those asked of a national survey of creative directors in Slayden, Broyles, and Kendrick (1998). Results showed that academics and creative directors generally agreed on content and approaches, although academics were more likely to accept logos for copywriters and radio/TV for art directors than were professionals.

Rating Creativity: A Comparison of Judgments of Advertising Professionals and Educators • Alisa White Coleman, University of Texas -Arlington, Bruce L. Smith, Southwest Texas State University and Fuyuan Shen University of South Dakota • Advertising educators prepare students for jobs in the advertising industry. This paper examined one aspect of the industry-creativity-to determine the extent to which educators and agency professionals agree in judging creativity. Educators with a lot of industry experience gave much lower ratings than did professionals or less experienced educators. Educators and professionals tended to agree on the appropriateness of the ads and how well crafted they were.

Educators and Practitioners Look at the Advertising Curriculum • Alan D. Fletcher, Louisiana State University • In 1988 AEJMC established a Task Force on the Future of Journalism and Mass Communication Education. The Advertising Division’s contribution to the project was a survey of advertising educators and advertising practitioners, to measure the degree to which educators and practitioners agreed on the components of a strong advertising curriculum. The current study is a replication of the 1988 study. The study, which employed samples of Advertising Division members and corporate members of the American Advertising Federation, produced results that are very similar to the results of the earlier study.

An Analysis of Attitudes Toward Statistics: Gender Differences Among Advertising Majors • Jami A. Fullerton, Oklahoma State University and Don Umphrey, Southern Methodist University • This study measured advertising students’ attitudes toward statistics. 275 Undergraduate advertising students from two southwestern U.S universities completed a questionnaire used to gauge students’ attitudes toward statistics by measuring six underlying factors: (1) Students’ interest and future applicability; (2) relationship and impact of the instructor; (3) attitude toward statistical tools; (4) self-confidence; (5) parental influence; and (6) initiative and extra effort in learning statistics. Overall findings revealed that advertising students have a negative attitude toward statistics and the introductory statistics.

What’s the Big Idea? Using Socratic Seminars in Advertising Courses • Sandy King and Fritz Cropp, University of Missouri • Advertising students often have difficulty learning to identity, understand and apply creative concepts, or the “big idea.” Analyzing and discussing ads can help, provided the discussion extends beyond reactions and opinions. The Socratic seminar format can be applied in advertising creative concepts to provide a framework for making discussions more productive. This format not only helps students build a more meaningful discussion, it also develops critical thinking and speaking skills particularly valuable to advertising students.

STUDENTS
Effects of Web Site and Advertiser Credibility on Consumer Evaluation of Banner Ad, Brand, and Purchase Intent • Sejung Marins Choi, Michigan State University • The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of consumers’ credibility perceptions of a Web site and of an advertiser on their evaluations of the banner ad and the advertised brand and purchase intention. The impact of relevance or a match between the advertised product category and the content of the Web site was also examined. The results suggest a structural model with significant relationships among relevance, Web site credibility, advertiser credibility, and ad/brand-related concepts.

A Typology of Online Positioning Strategies Among Creative Programs • W. Glenn Griffin, University of Texas-Austin • Among the schools that train advertising creatives, competition for students is fierce. A handful of programs, both trade and academic, supply the industry with the top job candidates every year. Internet technology offers creative programs a new method for positioning themselves among competitors and for student recruitment. This paper proposes a typology of the strategies employed by creative programs taking advantage of the technology. Four distinct strategies are identified in the Online Positioning Strategy Model.

Emotional vs. Cognitive Purchase-Decision Involvement: Comparison of Brand Name and Product-Feature Decisions • Jooyoung Kim, University of Florida • Purchase-decision involvement has been thought to be an important concept in understanding consumers’ involvement in purchasing decisions. In addition, consumers have been viewed as having both cognitive and emotional involvements. To date however, there has been relatively little research that combines the purchase-decision and emotional/cognitive involvement. In this current research, a revised purchase-decision involvement scale was developed to measure both the cognitive and emotional involvement in selected situations involving product features and brand names.

Perceived Risk and Risk Relievers in Online Auctions • Hanjun Ko, University of Florida • This study examines the perceived risk of consumers about online auctions and to determine the preferences for different levels of risk reductions methods when purchasing a product at online auctions. Results show that the perceived risk is higher for those who have not used online auctions than online auction users because they perceived a higher level of risk in terms of financial, time, and psychological risks.

Consequences of Commercial Web Presence: An Exploratory Study of Korean Business Adopters of Web Sites • Jung-Gyo Lee and Jae-Jin Park, University of Missouri-Columbia • A key research issue to the present study is to explore how marketers who have already presented on the Web perceive the World Wide Web as a marketing communications tool. The research focus is on examining what organizational benefits are recognized and how such benefits are associated with organizational features, attitudes toward the Web presence and overall satisfaction with the Web presence.

Internet Communication Benefits and Marketing Competitiveness: An Exploratory Analysis of Senior U.S. Advertising Executives’ Perceptions • Padmini Patwardhan and Hemant Patwardhan, University of Southern Illinois-Carbondale • Using an email survey, this study empirically examined current perceptions of Internet capabilities for marketing and marketing communications among 145 senior advertising agency executives in the Unites States. Generally, opinions about the benefits of Internet use in marketing were highly positive. Factor analysis revealed six specific Internet benefit dimensions: Cost/Time Efficiency, Customer Orientation, Customer Interactivity, Promotional Use, Personal Contact Replacement, and a more general benefit • Overall Value of Internet in Marketing.

An Empirical Examination of the Factors Affecting Attitude Toward the Site • Chan Yun Yoo, University of Texas-Austin • The purpose of this study was to empirically examine the factors affecting attitude toward the site, and to explore the relative importance of those factors. The study employed a within-group experimental design using an online survey. Four different predictor variables (i.e., product involvement, Internet skill, users’ interactivity with the site, and attitude toward the front page) have been tested in relation to attitude toward the site.

<< 2001 Abstracts

Commission on the Status of Women

A Picture of Health: How Women’s Magazines Frame Medical News and Femininity • Barbara Barnett, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • Women’s magazines have long been an important source of information for women about health concerns, including birth control, nutrition, and child care. While these publications have offered important messages about health, women’s magazines have simultaneously offered information about femininity. This qualitative analysis employed framing to explore the themes found in forty-four non-fiction health articles in ten women’s magazines published from December 2000 through February 2001. The analysis found that illness was often presented as an event that rendered women incomplete — and therefore unable to find happiness through men, marriage, and children.

Women in the Newsroom: Influences of Female Editors and Reporters on the News Agenda • Stephanie Craft and Wayne Wanta, Missouri • This study compared issue agendas and story focus at newspapers with relatively high percentages of women in editorial positions with those at newspapers with lower percentages of female editors. Results of the content analysis of 30 newspapers showed little difference in issues covered. Papers with predominately male editors contained news with a more negative focus. Newspapers with a high percentage of female editors also tend to treat their female reporters on a par with male reporters.

On Equal Footing: The Framing of Sexual Difference In Runner’s World • Marie Harden, State University of West Georgia, Julie Dodd and Jean Chance, Florida and Vicki Wuertz, Florida Southern College • Although sports media has been criticized for marginalizing and excluding female athletes, running has been touted as a “uniquely egalitarian” sport by enthusiasts and by the leading U.S. running magazine, Runner’s World. This research examines all editorial photo images in the magazine during 1992, 1996 and 2001. The magazine was found to provide adequate overall percentages of women in its photos, but to also perpetuate sexual difference in the way that it presented female runners.

Video Games are from Mars, 1.25 not Venus: Gender, Electronic Game Play and Attitudes Toward the Medium • James D. Ivory and Hillary Wilkerson, Wyoming • Despite the widespread popularity of video games, studies have consistently reported that males play more than females. This paper analyzed original survey research of college students and found a similar gender gap, though a sizable female video game-playing minority was observed. Game content and publicity was also investigated, with representations of women indicating considerable justification for the medium’s comparatively limited popularity among females, and general suggestions were made concerning changes in game content.

The Making of Dr. Laura Schlessinger • Phylis Johnson and Max V. Grubb, Southern Illinois University • Since the 1980’s Fairness Doctrine’s repeal, the American broadcasting system has shifted from a model of objectivity to advocacy, with broadcasters asserting their rights to put forth their agenda. The distinction between news, information, and entertainment has blurred – all in the name of constitutionality, but more likely in the name of ratings. This paper analyzes the events that led to the acceptance – and rejection – of the moral platitudes of Dr. Laura Schlessinger.

From The Cradle to the Grave: The Unfulfilled Bill Of Rights Reflected In the Hidden Dialogue of “Everywoman” • Beverly G. Merrick, New Mexico State University • This is a White Paper, an award-winning essay that points to the need to present viewpoints in the mass media suppressed due to gender. The essay is written in the form of Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyon. The research won second place in the nation, faculty, of the Bill of Rights “Significant Silences” competition, through the AEJMC. The arguments herein should help media professionals overcome the denial of gender dominance.

Women’s Status in Reproductive Health Decision-Making: A Communication’s Perspective • Nancy Muturi, Iowa • Reproductive health information is a basic human right. Most women are however denied this right due social-cultural and economic factors that impede their reproductive health decisions causing them to face unwanted pregnancies, and sexual and domestic violence, sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS. This paper examines those factors from a communications perspective, drawing its theoretical framework from Grunig’s Excellence in Communication theory. Data were gathered among rural women in Kenya.

Did Women Get Stiffed?: Reviews of Susan Faludi’s Backlash and Stiffed • Julie O’Reilly, Bowling Green State University • This semiotic analysis examined book reviews of Susan Faludi’s Backlash (1991) and Stiffed (1999) to determine if the overt or underlying content of the reviews suggested any gender bias toward the subject matter of each book or Faludi as their author. Results indicated that reviewers’ treatment of the “gendered” subject matter of the books through use of metaphorical, attitudinal, and other language types produced dominant readings that marginalized feminists and reinforced traditional conceptions of masculinity.

Magazine Coverage of Katharine Meyer Graham, 1963-1975 • Mary Rinkoski, Ohio University • From her husband’s death in 1963 through Watergate, the Pentagon Papers and a pressmen strike in 1975, Katharine Graham rose to success as the head of the Washington Post Company. The blossoming feminist movement coincided with Graham’s rise to power and American magazines molded her into a figurehead for the women’s liberation movement. Initially receiving coverage based on her gender, Graham eventually earned magazine attention for her successful management.

Mind the Gender Gap: Gender Differences in Motivation to Contribute Online Content • Cindy Royal, Texas-Austin • Recent studies indicate that women are using the Internet in the same numbers as men. But, is this statistic misleading in that it fails to highlight gender issues in terms of the quality of usage at higher levels of participation? The Internet provides inherent agency that puts the creation of Internet content into its users’ hands. This study will analyze gender differences in motivation and willingness to participate in the Internet as contributor of content.

Gender Switching-Repositioning the Distaff: A History of Women in Bahamian Media • Juliette Storr, North Carolina State University • Colonization inspired beliefs about superiority and inferiority. These beliefs are still among us. This study focuses on the transitions from colonization to independence in mass media (print, radio and television) in The Bahamas and women’s experience in mass media under both systems. It covers the period 1784 to 2001. It examines gender relationships within the context of the relationship between culture and empire and culture and nation-state.

Peering through the Glass Ceiling of the Boys’ Club: Examining How Masculinity Affects the Journalism and Mass Communication Infrastructure • Billy Wooten, Kentucky • A 1992 census of AEJMC membership found females in 28 percent of mass communication faculties. With obvious gender bias in the field, the question must be asked: Why are women denied access to journalism and mass communication education? The answer lies not only in how females are oppressed within the field but also in how men systematize the infrastructure of the field. This study explores how masculinity affects the systemic structure of journalism and mass communication education.

Relationship Content In Four Men’s And Women’s Magazines • Alexis Zachary and Bryan Denham, Clemson University • This paper discusses the portrayal of intimate relationships in men’s and women’s magazines. The authors performed content analysis on relationship articles in two women’s magazines, Cosmopolitan and Glamour, and two men’s magazines, Maxim and Playboy, from September, October and November 2001. The articles were examined for their communication content, relationship aspects, sexual content, the author’s gender and pro-man or pro-woman slant. The results indicated that the portrayal of relationships does indeed differ in men’s and women’s magazines.

<< 2002 Abstracts

Science Communication Interest Group

Media Production In The Science Classroom: A Literature Review Of Media Literacy, Science Literacy, And Student-Authored Hypermedia • Timothy Bajkiewicz, Southern Florida • Media literacy and science literacy have, individually, been recognized as crucial educational components in furthering a citizenry properly prepared for the hypermediated and technologically complex 21st century. This paper examines the relevant literature in media and science literacy efforts and applies them together to a relatively new area of research, student-authored science hypermedia (e.g., student-created science Internet sites). The potential of student-authored hypermedia could bridge the similar and complimentary efforts of media and science literacy.

Book Reviewers’ Recognition of Environmental Ethics In Aldo Leopold’s “A Sand County Almanac” • James Carstens, North Carolina, Chapel Hill • Aldo Leopold, who wrote his seminal work, “A Sand County Almanac” in 1949, is now credited with formulating and articulating some of the basic ethical and philosophical tenets that lead to the development of biology conservation, land ethics, biocentrism, deep ecology, and biodiversity. Analysis of the initial treatment and reception of the book by reviewers shows that only one reviewer, Hal Borland, recognized and emphasized the important ethical questions and concerns that Leopold raised regarding man’s relationship to nature.

The Web and E-Mail in Science Communication: Results of In-Depth Interviews • Rebecca Dumlao, Eastern Carolina and Shearlean Duke, Western Washington • Using open-ended interviews, researchers identified 12 themes concerning web and e-mail use by science writers. The web and e-mail “speeds information” between sources, reporters, editors, and audiences. “Skepticism” about information quality leads science writers to urge practices of “good judgment” by web users. A diagram illustrates ways “speeds information” is changing journalistic work. Suggestions concerning future research on diffusion of information are offered.

Idiocentrism, Issue Involvement, & Health Communication: A Social Psychological Framework • Mohan Dutta-Bergman, Purdue • Existing research demonstrates that audience members demonstrate systematic differences in the messages they respond to. The social psychological model of human behavior suggests that a person’s disposition interacts with his/her situation to produce a communicative response. Idiocentrism/allocentrism is one of the few personality factors that has received a great deal of attention in the realm of audience response to health messages. Issue involvement is a situational dimension that has been extensively researched in the information processing literature.

Source Credibility And Global Warming: A Content Analysis Of Environmental Groups • Terry Flynn, Syracuse • The purpose of this study was to determine how environmental journalists rate the credibility of environmental groups as sources of information on the global warming debate. A self-administered survey questionnaire, based on the Meyer’s Credibility Index, and a quantitative content analysis was used to test the credibility and coverage of environmental groups involved in the global warming debate over the last two years.

Use of Quasi-Scientific Explanations in U.S. Media Coverage of the Stem Cell Debate • Jennifer Hutt, Kristie Swain, Jennifer Richter, Li Jin, and Ping Wang, Texas A&M • Science writing curricula often stress the importance of using explanations to make a story understandable to readers. This study examines the use of explanation in U.S. stem cell media coverage, through a content analysis of news stories appearing in three newspapers, three newsweekly magazines, and three network television news websites from 1994 to 2001. Two-thirds of explanations were definitions. Consistent with previous research, the use of explanation in these stories was highest in specialized science sections and did not vary according to story length.

The Effect of Labeling Genetically Modified Food on Perception of Accountability • Tracy Irani, and Janas Sinclair, Florida International • This experiment examined the impact of various types of genetically modified GMO food labels. Labeling was expected to affect perceptions of government and industry accountability, which in turn was expected to impact attitude toward purchase and global attitudes toward plant biotechnology. The findings provided evidence for this two-step model. Further, global attitude was more favorable than attitude toward purchasing the GM product, and attitude toward purchase was lower when the product contained GM ingredients.

Framing the Environmental Agenda: A Qualitative Comparison of 1970 Nixon Speeches and Time Magazine • Diana Knott, Ohio University • This study compares the rhetorical frames employed by President Richard Nixon and Time magazine’s reporting in 1970 to gain a better understanding of early mainstream environmental references. The frame Nixon used most often was that of the need for a collective, unified effort to address the nation’s environmental problems. By contrast, the frame used most often by Time was that of the economy and quality of life versus the environment.

Media Coverage of Conflicts of Interest in Science • Katherine McComas, Leah Simone, Maryland • There is a growing concern among scientists that media attention to conflicts of interest in science threaten the public’s belief in the integrity of the field. To examine media coverage of conflicts of interest in science, we conducted a 10-year content analysis of stories from The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and USA Today. The results suggest a steady stream of stories highlighting the negative aspects of conflicts of interest in science.

The ‘Trust Gap’ Hypothesis: Predicting Support for Biotechnology Across National Cultures as a Function of Trust in Actors • Susanna Hornig Priest, Texas A&M, Heinz Bonfadelli, University of Zurich, Switzerland and Maria Rusanen, University of Kuopio, Finland • Using results from the 1999 Eurobarometer survey and a parallel telephone survey done in the United States in 2000, this study explored the relationship between levels of knowledge, educational levels, and degrees of encouragement for biotechnology. We found only weak relationships among these variables, calling into question the common assumption that science literacy produces acceptance. Differences between European and U.S. reactions to biotechnology appear to stem from different patterns of trust in institutions.

Context In Print And Online Environmental Articles • Ryan Randazzo, Jennifer Greer, Nevada-Reno • A content analysis of environmental articles in leading U.S. dailies revealed that few of nine types of context examined were included in the printed version of the articles. None of the newspapers were using the potential of the Internet consistently to add more context to their environmental articles online. In fact, fewer contextual elements appeared online than in the print versions.

Environmental Threats, Information Sources and Optimistic Bias: Environmental Risk in Appalachia • Daniel Riffe, Jan Knight, Ohio University • Telephone survey of 405 adults in Appalachian Ohio counties examined general and detailed environmental risk perception; evaluation of environmental information sources (government, companies and businesses, and local media); and “optimistic bias” (belief that others are more likely to suffer negative events than you) about environment-related health risks. General optimistic bias confirmed, but varied with number of specific threats where one lives. Local media best source, but source evaluations vary with perceived seriousness of environmental threats.

Motives To Seek Threatened And Endangered Species Information For Land-Use Decisions • Janas Sinclair, Florida International, Frank Mazzotti and Jocie Graham, Florida • The theory of planned behavior was used to survey land-use planners and regulators in South Florida. Past behavior, attitude toward act, and social norms predicted 42% of the variance in intention to seek information about threatened and endangered species, such as the Multi-Species Recovery Plan (MSRP), in land-use decisions. Communications for this audience should also address relatively low levels of past behavior, knowledge of the MSRP, information exposure, and external perceived behavioral control.

Relationships Among Important Outcomes Of Science Campaigns Aimed At The General Public • Debbie Treise, Michael F. Weigold, Kim Walsh-Childers and Meredith Friedman, Florida • In recent years many science organizations have found it increasingly important to target message campaigns at the general public, or at least that portion of the general public that is interested in science. This study was intended to increase our understanding of the relationships among key aspects of the public’s attitudes and beliefs about science. For this study, 301 undergraduate students answered questions about their attitudes toward, support for, and knowledge of science and read a science website story and answered questions about it.

Forecasting the Future: How Television Weathercasters’ Attitudes and Beliefs about Climate Change Affect Their Cognitive Knowledge on the Science • Kris Wilson, Texas-Austin • The topic of climate change has recently resurfaced on many news agendas, but increasingly the scientific and political issues mix. Previous research has noted that even though the public relies primarily on television news as a source of climate change information, broadcasting has few environment and/or science reporters to cover the topic. This study considers another potential source — television weathercasters.

<< 2002 Abstracts

Religion and Media Interest Group

The President and the Marketing of American Civil Religion • Andrea Allen, Texas at Austin • Since 911, President Bush, like other presidents before him, has used religious rhetoric when publicly addressing the American people. This paper examines Bush’s use of civil religion, as described by Robert Bellah, through the frame of the seven devices of propaganda outlined in the 1939 book, The Fine Art of Propaganda. Content analysis of major newspapers two months before and after September 11 supports the increasing prominence of the presidential religious rhetoric.

“Molympics”? Journalistic Discourse of Mormons in Relation to the 2002 Winter Olympic Games • Chinng Hwang Chen, Brigham Young University • During the 2002 Winter Olympics, many made the argument that attention on Salt Lake City provided an opportunity to reshape the Mormon image. Using discourse analysis of newsmagazine and newspaper articles, this paper assesses whether media portrayals of Mormons shifted during the Olympics. It argues that a model mority discourse used by journalists in past decades to describe Mormons persisted in most fundamental respects. Some details changed, but larger stereotypical images were not challenged.

Inventing a Nation: Political Consequences of Quaker Missionary Education, Literacy and Publishing in Colonial Kenya • David N. Dixon, Azusa Pacific University • Among almost every group in Africa, missionaries wrote down the language, then taught people to read and write. To accomplish this they created school and churches in which self-governance was taught, practiced and eventually demanded. These became key sites where national identity was forged. Using the Friends Africa Mission in colonial Kenya as a case study, this paper examines how institutions play a part in Benedict Anderson’s model of creating nations by imagining communities.

Portrayal of Religion in Reality TV Programming: Hegemony and the Contemporary American Wedding • Erika Engstrom and Beth Semic, Nevada-Las Vegas • The authors examined the treatment of religion in reality TV programming, namely, The Learning Channel’s “A Wedding Story,” by conducting a content analysis of 85 recently aired episodes. Results support a hegemonic portrayal regarding religion: most weddings were somewhat religious, Christian, held in a church, involved traditionally worded vows and few religious rituals, and included mention of the word “God.” The authors discuss the program’s potential to provide viewers with more diverse religious portrayals.

Ramadan Advertising in Egypt: A Content Analysis With Elaboration on Select Items • Kevin L. Keenan and Sultana Yeni, The American University in Cairo • Factors related to the Islamic holy month of Ramadan are discussed. A content analysis of 508 Egyptian television commercials is described. Comparisons of ads run during Ramadan and those run during a non-Ramadan period are made. Findings show fewer ads during Ramadan, more emphasis on charity messages during Ramadan, and more conservatively dressed characters in ads during Ramadan. Results concerning family orientation are mixed. The content analysis is supplemented with details elaborating on individual advertisements.

A Slow Death of the Self: A Trend Reflected by the National Advertising Campaign for “Religion in American Life” During 1949-1970 • Annisa Lee, North Carolina at Chapel Hill • By analyzing 80 ads launched in a national advertising campaign, Religion in American Life, during 1949-1970, this paper explores the effect of the changing landscape in aspects of religion, family, and authorities on the identity or self for individuals and society as a whole. Results show marked disintegrations in all three aspects of life and a threat posed to redefine the self amidst chaos.

Framing Reality: Shaping the News Coverage of the 1996 Tennessee Debate on Teaching Evolution • Cynthia A. McCune, San Jose State University • This study triangulated research methods to analyze how the public debate on a controversial issue was framed, and by whom, as a means of understanding the process and outcome of that debate. Its findings support the idea that public debates are framed by all involved parties, not just the news media. It also considered how the relative power position held by each side in this debate may have affected their interactions with the news media.

Children’s Media Coverage Of Critical Events: The Case Of The Aftermath Of The Assassination Of Yitzhak Rabin • Edith Manosevitch, Washington • This study explores the role of children’s news media in establishing meanings of critical situations and promoting notions of active citizenship. A content analysis of three Israeli children’s magazines coverage of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin is conducted. Findings suggest differences between religious media and secular media in terms of coverage of values related to democracy. Findings also reveal a variety of ways by which democratic practices of giving voice and notions of empowerment can manifest themselves within children’s media.

Uncivil Religion and Uncivil Science: A Case Study in News Framing and the Sociology of Knowledge • Rick Clifton Moore, Boise State University • As part of his overall argument in the book Unsecular Media, Mark Silk claims that acts of “uncivil” religion — when one religious body openly disparages another — are consistently condemned by the media, but in a way that affirms religion. Herein, I investigate whether Silk’s perspective is able to theoretically distinguish religious incivility from other forms. I propose that Peter Berger’s work in the sociology of knowledge can offer insights that Silk’s more narrow approach cannot. To investigate this possibility, I engage in a case study of two news stories that occurred in at approximately the same time and place.

Using My Religion: An Analysis of Religiosity Manifest in the Profiles of Mormon Singles Seeking Relationships Online • David W. Scott, South Carolina • This study represent a seminal analysis of the convergence of religious culture and technology (Internet culture) from the perspective of religious individuals, adding to Zaleski’s (1977) findings by demonstrating how one particular religious community is fostered and sustained on the Internet — not by doctrinal tenets, but rather by a common search for relationships with others.

The Modern Media As Surrogate Shaman • Gregory M. Selber, and Salma I. Ghanem, Texas-Pan American • In times of severe crisis, when societal foundations are shaken along with the confidence of the people, the collective society searches for its bearings, seeking to regain its composure and strength. Traditional socialization devices such as family, school and church were once the institutions which individuals and segmented collectives turned to for explanations, reassurance and hope. In today’s secular, fragmented, diverse American society, these formerly vital institutions have become outmoded.

Removing Epistemological Blind Spots: Interdisciplinary Foundations for the Study of Media and Religion • Daniel A. Stout, Brigham Young University and Judith Buddenbaum, Colorado State University • While religion is an established focus of research in the social sciences and the humanities, it is only beginning to emerge in the field of mass communication. The study of media and religion has been hindered by the misconception that there is little or no foundational literature to build upon. This paper removes such epistemological ÔÔblind spots” by identifying fields where religion is conceptually developed as a credible means of studying society. The paper ends with a discussion of opportunities and challenges of interdisciplinary studies.

Newspaper Coverage of Religion in the 2000 Presidential Election • Mike Trice, Louisiana College and Charles Mayo, Southern Mississippi • According to many observers of the 2000 presidential election, religion was prominent during the campaign, from George W. Bush’s faith-based “compassionate conservatism” to the outspoken morality of Al Gore’s running mate, Joseph Lieberman. This content analysis seeks to examine whether religion, both corporate and personal, found its way onto the pages of four of America’s most prominent newspapers; We find that, despite such general impressions, inclusion of religion and religiosity in actual news coverage of the campaign and its candidates was minimal.

Media Framing of Islam and Terrorism: A Method of Analyzing Perceptions of Religious Portrayals in News Reporting • Robert H. Wicks, Jan L. Wicks, Ron Warren and Todd Shields, Arkansas • Religion, like politics and economics, has an enormous impact on the evolution of peoples, societies and nations. News reports, however, often fail to adequately or accurately frame the religious dimensions of information that involves conflict. This report urges mass communication scholars to consider religion as an important explanatory sociological variable that is often neglected or misrepresented in the course of reporting on geo-political conflict.

The Detroit Newspapers’ Coverage of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit Before and During the Newspaper Strike • Geri Alumit Zeldes, Michigan State University • A content analysis of the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press showed that coverage of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit during the Detroit Newspaper Strike (July 13, 1995 to February 20, 1997) increased, and the tone of the coverage was more favorable during the strike than before the strike. The findings contrast with claims by members of the Catholic Church in Detroit that the newspapers had an institutional bias against the church.

<< 2002 Abstracts