Communication Technology and Policy Division

The Effect of Internet Usage on Social Capital • Raymond N. Ankney, Temple • This paper examines whether the Internet affects social capital. Internet users were more likely to participate in local politics than nonusers were. However, Internet users had fewer community ties than nonusers did. Internet users also were more liberal, libertarian and of higher socioeconomic status than nonusers. Internet users watch television news fewer days per week observe television fewer days per week and watch television fewer minutes per day than nonusers do.

Technology-Induced Stressors, Job Satisfaction and Work-Place Exhaustion Among Journalism and Mass Communication Faculty • Randal A. Beam and Eunseong Kim, Indiana-Bloomington • For professors across a variety of disciplines, keeping up with technology has increasingly become a source of stress. This paper, based on results of a national study on the use of technology in U.S. journalism and mass-communication programs, finds that technology-induced stress can contribute to lower job satisfaction and a greater sense of job exhaustion for teachers in these fields. Suggestions are offered on how college administrators might improve the work environment for faculty to lower the level of technology-induced stress.

The E-mail is Down! Using a 1940s Method to Analyze a 21st Century Problem • Clyde H. Bentley and Brooke Fisher, Missouri • When the electronic mail system at a university crashed, researchers turned to a methodology developed more than 50 years earlier to examine the impact. Bernard Berelson used a survey questionnaire and field researchers to collect qualitative comments on what “missing the newspaper” meant to readers during a newspaper strike. That same questionnaire was modestly rewritten for this study. Like the original, the study found extensive anxiety over the loss of the information source, plus a high degree of habituation and dependence on the new medium.

Ensuring the End-to-End Network: A Policy Initiative for Broadband Open Access • Justin Brown, Florida • This paper reviews the FCC’s examination of broadband open access and offers a solution to ensure the preservation of the end-to-end network and free expression qualities of the next generation of the Internet. The proposed policy initiative enables individuals to retain the ability to create their own communication environments and fosters further content and application creativity.

Offering Help Creating “The Daily Me”: A Content Analysis of the Credibility and Editorial Policy Statements of Online News Sites • William P. Cassidy, Oregon • To address the credibility concerns regarding Internet information, some critics have called for online journalism sites to publish a credibility statement. This exploratory study analyzes 175 online news sites for the presence of such a statement, which should ideally contain information about standards, values, and corporate relationships. Webonly news sites were more likely than newspaper sites to publish credibility statements and to satisfy more of the criteria necessary for an ideal statement.

Internet Business Models for Broadcasters: How Television Stations Perceive and Integrate the Internet • Sylvia Chan-Olmsted, Florida and Louisa Ha, Bowling Green State University • This study examines the Internet business strategy as it applies in the broadcast television industry by proposing a framework of Internet business models for the television broadcasters and, drawing on this framework, assessing the broadcasters’ current Internet operation patterns. We found that the television stations have focused their online activities on building audience relationships, rather than generating online ad sales. The Internet is used as a “support” to complement the off-line core products.

From Grassroots to Active Citizens: Bridging Civic Deliberative Participation Online and Offline • Taeksoo Choo and Seung-Ahn Nah, Wisconsin-Madison • Primary goal for this study is to examine how online civic deliberation is constructed via the electronic bulletin boards, and in turn, to the what degree, online civic deliberation meets the necessary conditions for online civic deliberation. Secondary is to explore how online civic deliberative participation affects the offline civic activities.

To Be Or Not To Be Emotional: Impression Formation Effects of Emoticons in Moderated Chatrooms • Corina Constantin, Siram Kalyanaraman, Carmen Stavrositu, and Nathan Wagoner, The Pennsylvania State University • Rapid advances in technology have contributed to the ubiquitous use of emoticons in Computer Mediated Communication (CMC). However, little empirical evidence exists to document psychological effects of emoticons. This paper examines impression formation effects of emoticons in a moderated chatroom scenario. Fifty-eight (N=58) participants in a 2 (moderator’s use of emoticons) X 2 (chattersÕ use of emoticons) factorial design experiment were exposed to a chat transcript and then asked to rate their perceptions of the moderator.

Digital En Espanol: The Rise of Spanish-Language Television and the Transition to Digital • Humberto Delgado, and Lorna Veraldi, Florida International University • As U.S. television makes the transition to digital, Spanish-language television is coming of age. Multicasting multilingual broadcasts could generate substantial additional advertising revenue. However, a survey of station managers in Top Ten Hispanic Markets reveals only limited interest in Spanish multicasts among managers of English-language stations and no interest at all in English multicasts among managers of Spanish-language stations.

Modeling Social Support in On-Line Discussion Groups • Matthew S. Eastin, The Ohio State University and Robert LaRose, Michigan State University • While there is mounting evidence that people use the Internet to expand their social networks and receive social support, little is known about how they do so and with what effect the Internet has on overall levels of social support. Using 241 on-line support seekers, this study explored social cognitive mechanism as predictors of support activity, importance of on-line support and support network size. Further, the relationship between network size and perceptions of real-life social support was examined.

Current Status of the Direct Broadcast Satellite Industry: Is DBS a True Alternative to Cable • Ju-Yong Ha, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale • The DBS industry has been anxious to establish itself as a choice of multichannel television service in the U.S. This study reviews the recent changes in the DBS industry and examines the DBS industry’s performance in the competitive multichannel television programming market. The paper also explores recent regulatory changes and cable industry’s reaction to the competition from DBS. This examination provides a partial answer to the question whether the goal of the 1996 Telecommunication Act is being achieved. It suggests the rapid progress of the DBS systems may provide a possible solution to the cableÕs market dominance.

Comparative Evaluation of Virtual and Face-to-Face Interaction for Teamwork: Implications for Technology Adoption in Education • Anne M. Hoag, Krishna P. Jayakar and Kimberly Erickson, The Pennsylvania State University • With the rising popularity of the Internet, communication technologies have become an attractive means of delivering a host of services including education. The effectiveness of these technologies is premised on their ability to facilitate collaboration, teamwork and communicativeness. To assess how the team experience is affected by the technological mode of interaction, a quasi-experiment was conducted in a telecommunications management class.

Imagery Effects on the Selective Reading of Internet Newsmagazines: A Cross-Cultural Examination • Silvia Knobloch and Matthias R. Hastall, Dresden University of Technology and Dolf Zillmann, Alabama and Coy Callison, Texas Tech University • In an experimental internet newsmagazine, imagery of some articles was manipulated. Both front page and reports proper either presented no images, text-related innocuous images, or text-related agonistic images. During a fixed time span, readers read as much of the articles as they pleased. Their selective exposure behavior was unobtrusively recorded. Data were collected in two media cultures. Agonistic images fostered article choices and reading times of the associated texts. Innocuous images had more moderate effects.

Cross-Cultural Differences in Perceived Risk of Online Shopping • Hanjun Ko, SungWook Shim, Jaemin Jung and JooYoung Kim, Florida • This study investigates the perceived risk that can affect consumers’ purchase decisions during online shopping. Specifically, this study identifies the differences in perceived risk between online shoppers and non-online shoppers, as well as between American and Korean Internet users. It shows that the perceived risk is higher for inexperienced online shoppers. It also shows that both American and Korean Internet users had a similar degree of perceived risk toward online shopping.

A Multiplicity of Problems in Digital Must-Carry • Daphne Eilein Landers, Florida • This paper focuses on the implications that multiple signals/services inherent in digital television broadcasting introduce into cable carriage of local commercial television stations. It raises two main research questions: (1) What are the implications of multiple signals on the must-carry rules? (2) What do these implications reveal about the constitutionality of digital must-carry rules? Three main issues are addressed: capacity issues, duplicative programming, and primary signal/program-relatedness.

Small Dailies’ Websites: The Current Status and Strategies in an Economic Slowdown • Byung Lee, Elon University • NO ABSTRACT

Copyright Policy in the Digital Age: Policy Considerations for the Use of Circumvention Technologies • Seung Eun Lee, Florida • This paper examines how the fair use, as an exception to the right of copyright owners, can apply in digital environment. For this purpose, this study examines how the courts have interpreted fair use exemption for the last ten years, in analogue as well as in digital age. This paper especially focuses on the question of what public policy motivations shaped the court opinion in the cases involving fair use exception to the copyright holder’s right.

An Analysis of the Characteristics of Early Internet Adopters • Tien-tsung Lee, Linda Li-Shuan Wang and Paul Bolls, Washington State University • A large number of studies have utilized and tested the Diffusion of Innovations theory. However, few literature exits concerning the characteristics of early adopters of the Internet. Using a large national data set collected in 1997, the present study investigates predictors of Internet adoption, which indirectly created a profile of early adopters of the Internet. Our findings mostly confirm the characteristics of innovators and early adopters as proposed by Everett Rogers, but provide more depth and breadth in the understanding of early users of the Internet.

Orientations of Web News Use and Audience Activity • Mei Lu, Michigan • This study seeks to understand which forces can originate people’s use of Web news and how different orientations affect the ways people select and process information. The use orientation is modeled as instrumental, ritualized, addictive, shared, and situated use. Audience activity is conceptualized as involvement and selectivity. Instrumental use predicts higher levels of involvement and selectivity. Addictive and shared use are associated with increased level of cognitive, behavioral and affective involvement.

Governance, Discourse and Social Actors: A Constructivist Approach to the Global Rule-Making Process • Sanghyun Moon, The Ohio State University • As e-commerce has led to profound changes in the way economic transactions are made and has spurred the rapid integration of global markets, governance of e-commerce has emerged as an important policy agenda around the globe. Given the broader social and economic implications of e-commerce, it is of no surprise that the rule-making process for global e-commerce has increasingly captured the attention of scholars. Despite the substantial contributions to understanding this process, a review of the literature reveals some weaknesses in the study of emerging forms of governance in global e-commerce.

Television Station Ownership Characteristics and Commitment to Public Service: An Analysis of Public Affairs Programming • Phillip Napoli, Fordham University • This study examines whether television station ownership characteristics are related to station commitment to public service, through an analysis of public affairs programming. The results suggest that, in terms of local public affairs programming, there is no significant relationship between ownership characteristics and programming. However, when public affairs programming is defined more broadly (to include locally and non-locally produced programming), there is a significant positive relationship between local ownership and quantity of public affairs programming.

The Chilling Effect of Internet Privacy Concerns • Jay Newell, Michigan State University • The transition from paper-based to digitally-distributed information has the potential to provide governments with the ability to strip away the anonymity of readers. In legal literature, surveillance of speech is often assumed to trigger a “chilling effect,” in which individuals avoid engaging in legal speech in order to avoid the chance of legal entanglement. Yet while there are frequent mentions of potential “chilling effects” in legal rulings, there is scant attention to the subject in the social sciences.

Credibility of Online Newspapers • Yoshiko Nozato, Ohio University • This research examined the credibility of online newspapers. There were strong relationships between credibility and respondents’ experiences with the Internet, online newspapers, and familiarity with printed newspapers. Timeliness, depth, reputation, and accuracy of online newspapers appeared to be important to respondents. The findings suggest that respondents perceived the content of online newspapers to be the same as printed newspapers.Online newspapers’ credibility was evaluated as being high.

State Theory and Telecommunications Surveillance Policy: The Example of the U.S. State’s Clipper Chip Initiative • Vandana Pednekar-Magal, Grand Valley State University and Peter Shields, Bowling Green State University • U.S. law enforcement and national security agencies have claimed that the proliferation of strong private sector encryption is eroding their ability to monitor the electronic communications of terrorists, drug traffickers, and the like. In response, the “Clipper Chip” initiative was launched. The aim of the initiative was to guarantee law enforcement access to a set of “spare keys” that could be used to “unlock” encrypted electronic messages. Efforts were also made to internationalize Clipper Chip.

CNN’s Emphasis on Change and Difference in Web Reporting of its Daily Tracking Poll During the 2000 U.S. Presidential Campaign • Matthew M. Reavy, Scranton • This study examines CNNÕs emphasis of change and difference in Web reports of the daily tracking poll it co-sponsored during the 2000 U.S. presidential election. The study finds that the network consistently over-represented change between polls, as well as differences between the two top candidates. The source of the problem was the networkÕs failure to properly account for sampling error when reporting poll results.

In Search of the Forest amid a Growing Number of Trees: Online Journalism Scholarship at the 10-Year Mark • Jane B. Singer and Sheryl Thiel, Iowa • The first decade of research about online journalism is marked by an emphasis on audience studies; a preponderance of methodologies borrowed from the study of traditional media forms, particularly in the leading scholarly journals; and an eclectic mix of conceptual approaches. Using a qualitative meta-analysis of research published in more than 40 journals, this study considers the past and offers suggestions about a potentially productive future for the study of journalism in this new medium.

Cyberspace and the United Arab Emirates: Searching for Tunes in the Air • Timothy N. Walters, Zayed University and Lynne Masel Walters, Texas A&M University • The United Arab Emirates is attempting to carve a piece of the future out its ancient desert by erecting Internet City on the main road connecting the Emirates of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. This effort is fraught with contradictions. The Emiratis are eager for the businesses and jobs that they expect to pull out of cyberspace. Yet, they are reluctant to make the social and cultural changes this will necessitate.

Dual Coding Theory and Multimedia Research: An Old Theory Offers a New Means for Measuring the Web’s Efficacy • David Weinstock, Central Michigan University • This paper examines the usefulness of Dual Coding Theory, a cognitive psychological theory dealing with memory creation employed extensively by educational disciplines as a means for evaluating multimedia classroom tools, as a means for guiding research — such as recall testing — aimed at measuring the effectiveness of online news content. Devised in the early 1970s, the theory has seen little use in mass media research to date.

<< 2002 Abstracts

Advertising Division

RESEARCH
Stripes and Stars and Selling Cars: An Analysis of Consumer Attitudes Toward Patriotic Themes in Advertising • Shannon L. Bichard, Texas Tech University • The use of patriotism in advertising has become increasingly popular. The current study specifically addresses consumer attitudes toward patriotic advertising in the wake of America’s war on terrorism. Multiple variables were statistically assessed for their relationship to consumer attitude formation and purchase intent. A telephone survey was conducted as a method to procure items for analysis. The findings suggest overall favorability toward the use of patriotic frames in advertising.

Contextual Effects of Advertising on the WWW • Chang-Hoan Cho, Florida • The current study was designed to understand task-induced contextual effects on congruent and incongruent banner ads embedded on two-task websites (information vs. entertainment). As predicted, it was found that a task-congruent banner ad was remembered better and yielded a more favorable attitude toward the ad and the brand, higher purchase intention and click-through, compared to a task-incongruent banner ad (H1). This task-congruency effect was the same for both information (H1.1) and entertainment situations (H1.2).

Reactions, Perceptions and Evaluations of Local Television Advertising • Ron Elcombe, Winona State University • Answers to three general research questions about viewers’ reactions to local retail television advertising were sought in this study: 1) What reactions do viewers have to centrally processed and peripherally processed cues within local retail television advertising? 2) How do consumers evaluate the information they perceive as being contained in local retail television advertising? and 3) What information is reported as missing and worthy of inclusion in local retail television advertising? A sample of local retail television commercials was shown to 18 subjects and qualitative data collected during in-depth, open-ended interviews.

Advertising Agency Web Sites: Presence of Branding Content & Capabilities • Daniel Marshall Haygood, North Carolina – Chapel Hill • Many large advertising agencies offer specialized services in brand development, creation, and stewardship to clients. This research looks at how agencies are presenting their branding capabilities on their web sites, the extent to which this is being done, and whether there are significant differences in presentations of branding capabilities between the larger and smaller agencies. The research shows that the presence of branding capabilities on web sites is high, particularly among larger advertising agencies.

The Use of Relationship Marketing in Media Advertising Sales • Karie Hollerbach • Southeast Missouri State University • Customer relationship marketing and management is a business strategy designed to assist in the development and maintenance of mutually satisfying relationships between an organization and its customer base. It differs markedly from earlier customer contact strategies in that it focuses on the share of customer mindset, rather than on the share of market mindset; it produces unique learning relationships that get more intelligent with every transaction; it utilizes these learning relationships as a barrier to entry by other competitors; and it advances the idea that the level of customer investment should correlate with the measure of customer worth to the organization. Relationship marketing is currently being practiced in both the business-to-consumer and business-to-business environments. The level of relationship marketing strategy integration in the media advertising sales function has been qualitatively examined, and an initial base of support and execution has been found to exist. However, there are unexploited opportunities for relationship marketing strategy growth, development, and deployment in this organizational sector.

Athlete Endorsements in Advertising: Effects of Celebrity Endorsement, Sponsorship and Ethnicity of Endorser • Kihan Kim, Texas at Austin and Jongmin Park, Pusan National University • This study investigates the effects of three advertising cues: 1) sponsorship, 2) celebrity endorsement, and 3) the endorser’s ethnicity. Through the use of a three-factor experimental design, attitude toward the brand, purchase intention and identification are measured as dependent variables. The results revealed that adding sponsorship and celebrity cues and using an endorser of the same ethnicity as the target market generated more positive attitude towards a brand.

A Content Analysis of Corporate Advertising Claims in Magazine Advertisements: A Longitudinal Approach • Jung-Gyo Lee, Jae-Jin Park and Fritz Cropp, Missouri-Columbia • This study documents advertisers’ application of corporate advertising in popular magazines over time. A content analysis of 773 corporate advertisements in Time magazine revealed that there were significant differences in the usage of corporate advertisements among different industry groups across four time periods. The results indicated that corporate advertisements appearing in Time magazine between 1970 and 2000 were overwhelmingly dominated by image advertisements rather than advocacy advertisements.

Business and Communication Programs’ Contribution to Advertising Education and Research: A Comparison • Tien-tsung Lee, Washington State University • The measurement of individual scholars’ productivity is a popular topic in all academic disciplines. Two recent influential studies on advertising researchers compare individual researchers’ employment backgrounds and publications in three leading research journals in advertising. They concluded that business professors produced more publications than communication educators. The present research expands the scope and examines three areas related to advertising education: whether business or communication scholars train more future advertising practitioners and publish more research articles, and whether business or communication students are more likely to win advertising competitions.

The Effects of Physical and Social Outcomes in Print Ads on Brand Attitude and Purchase Intention • Yulian Li, Minnesota • This experimental study, consists of two experiments on two different products, investigates the effects of vicariously experienced outcomes on consumers’ attitude toward brand and purchase intention. Applying the cardinal rule of operant conditioning that human behaviors are largely controlled by outcomes, this study finds that physical outcome is reliably effective changing subjects’ brand attitude and purchase intention. However, in certain product categories, social outcome is more influential.

Perception Theory and Interactive Advertising Brand Web Sites: Perceived versus Technical Interactivity • Wendy Macias, Georgia • This study explored the application of perceptual theory to interactive advertising brand Web sites to better understand how interactivity should be defined (technical versus perceived). Results indicate that there is a substantial difference in attitudinal responses depending on the definition of interactivity. Definitions of perceived interactivity more clearly showed attitudinal responses to high versus low interactivity Web sites, thus supporting the concept of perceived interactivity. Results also indicate a very important point — interactivity dramatically influenced persuasion.

Black Women’s Portrayals In Women’s Magazine Advertisements: The Decade Of The 1990s • Teresa Mastin, Alison Coe, Sheri Hamilton and Sheila Tarr, Middle Tennessee State • Advertisements operate as socialization forces in mainstream society. Therefore, Black women’s portrayals in women’s magazine advertisements were examined in an effort to determine how their media portrayals may influence their acceptance in society and their acceptance of themselves. This study examined Black women’s portrayals in several women’s magazines — Essence, Ladies Home Journal, and Working Woman during the last decade of the 1990s. Results indicate women’s magazine advertisements send forth more exclusive than inclusive messages regarding Black women.

The Message and the Mindset: Effects of Structural and Perceptual Factors on Attitude Toward the Web Site • Sally J. McMillan, Jang-Sun Hwang and Guiohk Lee, Tennessee • This study examined effects of structural and perceptual variables on attitude toward Web sites. Consumers reviewed four sites that had varying feature levels and differing creative strategies. Data were collected about attitude, involvement, and perceived interactivity from 311 respondents. In general, perceptual variables predicted attitude better than structural variables. In particular, involvement with the subject of a site and the sub-dimension of perceived interactivity that measured level of engagement were the best predictors of attitude.

The Integration of Account Planning in U.S. Advertising Agencies • Margaret Morrison, Tim Christy and Eric Haley, Tennessee • This article reports the results of a national survey of account planners that focuses on how account planning is integrated into U.S. advertising agencies. Findings indicate that account planning is more integrated into advertising related aspects of communications campaigns and is less than successfully integrated for areas such as the development of media, sales promotion and public relations strategies. The implications of the study are then discussed.

Is Culture Going Global? A Comparison of South Korean and U.S. Newspaper Ads in the New Millennium • Hye-Jin Paek, Michelle R. Nelson and Douglas M. McLeod, Wisconsin-Madison • This study content analyzed U.S and South Korean newspaper advertisements for the year 2000 to investigate whether previous findings about cultural differences manifested in Eastern and Western ads are still valid. While communication styles were found to be different and localized, it appears that cultural values of individualism/collectivism reflected in Eastern and Western ads might be less distinct and globalized. Findings are discussed in terms of theoretical, methodological and socio-economic considerations, along with globalization/localization implication.

The Geography of Cross-National Research in Advertising, 1990-2001 • Yorgo Pasadeos and Ignatius Fosu, Alabama • NO ABSTRACT

Anti-Drinking and Driving PSAs: Persuasive Appeals and Images • Kasie Mitchell Roberson, Purdue University and Roger C. Saathoff, Texas Tech University • Television public service announcements have been key in creating awareness for prevention of alcohol-impaired. This study analyzed behavioral influence strategies and images in PSAs. The most frequent appeals were informative/ educational, empathy, fear and social modeling. While one might think that an expert would be an ideal choice in educating the audience about the issue of drinking and driving, spokespersons were the images found most often.

Negativity Effect or Message Sidedness Effect? Which Explains the Effects of Online Customer Reviews? • Shelly Rodgers and Mira Lee, Minnesota • The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of online customer reviews in light of two competing theories of persuasion – negativity effect and message sidedness effect – to determine which theory best explains this new phenomenon. This was accomplished with a two-factor, between-subjects experimental study. The independent variables were customer review type and monitoring process, and the dependent variables were corporate credibility, belief strength of positively reviewed attributes, attitude toward the brand and purchase intent.

Prescription Drug Advertising: The Effectiveness of Pitching Directlyt to Consumers • Subir Sengupta, Marist College • This study examined the attitude of consumers toward prescription drug advertising (PDA), and effectiveness of PDA. Telephone survey of 877 adults showed that most consumers are exposed to PDA, and are able to recall specific brands of prescription drugs they had seen advertised. Consumers appear to have a positive attitude toward PDA, and they frequently request their physicians for specific brands of prescription drugs. When requests are made, the physicians honor them in most cases.

Chronic Accessibility and Individual Cognitions: Examining the Effect of Message Frames in Political Advertisements • Fuyuan Shen, Penn State University • This study examines the effect of media framing on voter cognitions, and how such effect can be moderated by voters’ chronically accessible schemas. Participants in an experiment were exposed to political ads that have been systemically framed as either issue oriented or character oriented. Results indicated that while message frames could indeed prime audiences and alter the criteria they used in political evaluations. These effects, however, varied among those with different political schemas.

We Like It, We’re Going That Way, But Who’s at the Wheel?: An Exploratory Study of Integrated Marketing Communication • William N. Swain, Louisiana at Lafayette • The literature on integrated marketing communication (IMC) in the latter half of the 1990s offers evidence that a debate over the definition, acceptance, and leadership of the IMC remains unresolved. A survey was conducted to investigate perceptions of who should assume the leadership role in planning and implementing IMC, and whether there is consensus on those factors among samples of six groups with ties to marketing communication: advertising agency executives, public relations agency executives, corporate marketing executives, corporate public relations executives, advertising and marketing academics, and public relations academics.

The Effects of Third-Party Endorsements on Online Purchasing • Alex Wang, Texas at Austin • Do consumers process the third-party endorsement differently when it is presented in the form of news clip versus customer testimonial? This study investigated how consumers make their purchase decisions by integrating and examining two types of third-party endorsements, customer testimonial and news clip. The laboratory experiment tested several hypotheses on the determinants of a consumer’s purchase intention. The findings suggested that consumers evaluated the third-party endorsements by focusing on the believability and trust toward the news clip and customer testimonial to draw conclusion of their purchase intentions.

Use of Interactive Entertainment in Commercial Web Sites • Seounmi Youn and Heather Larson, North Dakota • Although marketers have incorporated interactive content into their web site as promotional tools, little academic research has been conducted on how marketers use these promotional tactics on the Internet. Using content analysis, this study examined how the top 100 megabrands utilize advergames, sweepstakes, and contests, and analyzed whether or not the use of online promotional tactics vary by product categories.

Effects of Advertising Images on Social Comparison: Do Societies Matter? • Shuhua Zhou, Peiqin Zhou and Fei Xue, Alabama • This paper investigated the effects of advertising images on social comparison variables. Participants from US and China took part in the three-group experiment. Affordable products and unaffordable products, as well as control images, were presented to participants. Subjects’ self-esteem and life-satisfaction were measured using a battery of scales. Results indicated affordable product images did not affect any dependent variables. However, exposure to unaffordable products produced mixed results.

SPECIAL TOPICS
Subversive Tactics in Early Nike Women’s Advertising • Jean Grow von Dorn, Marquette University • This analysis of early Nike women’s advertising suggests that the everyday lives of the creatives who worked on this account dramatically influenced the work produced. The author employed in-depth interviews with textual analysis. This study suggests that the creatives, through subversive tactics, challenged the gender bound paradigms that exist in advertising. Further, the author argues that their subversive reactions were driven by past experiences, as well as by their experiences while working on the Nike account.

Readers’ Perspective on Advertising’s Influence in Women’s Magazines: Thought on Two Common Practices • Eric Haley, Tennessee and Anne Cunningham, Louisiana State University • This study explores how consumers react to advertisers’ attempts to influence editorial content of media. Two practices are explored: complementary editorial (magazines giving editorial mentions to advertisers’ products or services) and attempts at content censorship. Specifically, the study looks at how women readers of women’s magazines make sense of the two aforementioned practices. Findings indicate that women feel that editorial mentions of advertisers’ products and services can be useful.

A Critical Application of Hofstede’s Masculinity/Femininity Continuum to the Gender Role Study: A Cross-cultural Comparison of Gender Portrayal in TV Commercials • Jongbae Hong, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and Jaejin Lee, Hanyang University • This crosscultural advertising study compared gender role portrayals between Korean and U.S. TV commercials by analyzing a total of 2545 TV commercials including 5037 characters. Based on Hofstede’s masculinity/femininity intercultural value dimension and the interconnection of gender, culture, and media, gender role portrayals in two countries’ TV commercials were compared in terms of six categories such as frequencies, roles, settings, product types, relationships, and occupations.

Unpaid Advertising: A Case of Wilson the Volleyball in Cast Away • Michael L. Maynard and Megan Scala, Temple University • This study explores how Wilson the Volleyball’s non-purposive placement in Cast Away ironically resulted in a profitable advertising buy. After briefly discussing product placement in films, and how Wilson’s case is radically different, a cost efficiency calculus of how much advertising dollars were saved is offered. The effect of the unpaid placement is considered from the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), leading to a qualitative analysis of the effect of Wilson’s exposure.

PF&R Advertising in the Islamic World: The Portrayal of Women in Egyptian Television Commercials • Jami A. Fullerton and Azza Ahmad, Oklahoma State University • This study examines the portrayal of men and women in Egyptian television commercials and provides insight about advertising content in the Islamic world. It attempts to examine how the content of Egyptian television commercials reflect Egyptian culture and compares the findings to content studies from the U.S. and other countries. A pool of 306 commercials and 337 primary characters were examined from 18 hours of Egyptian prime time programming.

Longitudinal Content Analysis of Gender Imprints Left by Primetime Network Television Commercials: How Advertisers Portray The Gender of their Prospects • Dennis J. Ganahl and Kwangok Kim, Southern Illinois University • Advertisers must target their commercials to their prospects, which means the prospects must be able to see how the products fit into their lives. This research was designed to see how advertisers use gender images to target their prospects. This research was designed as a 3-year longitudinal study of prime time commercials for the same major networks during the same time period each year to insure comparable samplings and reliable coding.

Advertising and the First Amendment: The Central Hudson Analysis and the Impact of Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Reilly • Michael Hoefges, Tennessee • Since 1980, the Supreme Court has used a complex form of intermediate constitutional scrutiny – the Central Hudson analysis – as a litmus test for government regulations of commercial speech. In Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Reilly (2001), the Court used this analysis for the first time to test the constitutionality of state restrictions on tobacco advertising. This paper reviews the Court’s commercial speech doctrine through the Lorillard Tobacco decision and determines the legal impact of that case.

A Proper Prescription for Commercial Speech? A Study of the Food and Drug Administration Warning Letters Regulating Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertising • Annisa Lee North Carolina-Chapel Hill • This paper explores the criteria the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) uses to regulate Direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising. Analysis of 108 warning letters issued by the FDA to pharmaceutical companies shows signs of subjective, vague and immaterial regulations used to discontinue drug ads on a regular basis. Such evidence, demanding the need for more First Amendment protection for commercial speech, gives way to the purposeful expansive system of the FDA regulation.

TEACHING
The Decision to Major in Advertising: Gender Differences and Other Factors • Jami A. Fullerton, Oklahoma State and Don Umphrey, Southern Methodist • This study surveyed 275 advertising majors from two southwestern universities to determine the factors influencing their selection of their major. Many of the students reported being attracted to advertising because of its creative aspects. Reflecting this, more than one-third of the students expressed a desire to work as art directors or graphic designers after graduation. When asked about sources of information about aspects of their advertising major, most frequently cited were television, movies and ads in the media.

E-Business in the Marketing Communication Curriculum: Integrate, Don’t Isolate • Jim Pokrywczynski, Marquette • Although discussion of e-business in the curriculum usually has roots in the marketing or computer science areas, implications are also extensive for the communication industry and deserve some consideration. This paper outlines the influence that e-business has on communication areas like advertising and public relations, broadcasting and journalism. The paper posits the argument that changes in the curriculum should be integrated across most or all existing courses, rather that creating a rash of independent new courses to address this issue.

Multimedia for Mortals: Rationale, Resources, and Tips for Integrating Visuals, Audio, and Video into Lectures for Advertising Courses • James Hamilton, Georgia • Developments in desktop computing, digital encoding, digital delivery systems, and the integration of these with the practice of marketing and advertising have progressed to the point where producing multimedia presentations for courses in advertising is a practical possibility for people who have no other specialized, technical knowledge than a reasonable familiarity with using personal computers. This essay presents a rationale, resources, and tips for using multimedia presentations in advertising courses.

The Development of Distance Learning Courses: A Training Camp • Robyn Blakeman and Ralph Hanson, West Virginia • More colleges and universities across the country are implementing online distance learning courses as alternatives to traditional classroom instruction. Students who consider participating in online courses are as diverse as the courses themselves. Online courses must encourage student interaction and recognize and adapt to, individual student learning styles. This paper will examine how to develop an online course, retain student interest, develop course content as well as how to encourage interaction through these many venues.

STUDENT PAPERS
Environmental Determinants of Foreign Entry Mode Choice of U. S. Based Transnational Advertising Agencies • Jaemin Jung, Florida • This paper investigated the impact of host country environmental factors on the entry mode choice of U.S. advertising agencies. The hypotheses were derived by using the theories on the determinants of foreign direct investment in the manufacturing firms and service industries. The three hypotheses depicted U. S. advertising agencies empirically tested and revealed significant results. Joint ventures are preferred to acquisitions when the cultural distance between the host country and the U.S. is more distant.

The Roles of Emotion and Cognition in Attitude Formation from a Product Trial Under Different Purchase Decision Involvement Conditions • JooYoung Kim and SungWook Shim, Florida • Affective and cognitive responses to a product trial are examined in an experiment containing four cells representing two product types (hedonic and functional) and two involvement situations (low and high purchase decision involvement). The stimulus products were a computer game and grammar-checking software, and one hundred twenty five college students were sampled for the experiment. The specific affective responses studied were pleasure, arousal, and dominance; product cognitions are represented as the expectancy value from the product attributes (sum of (product beliefs x attribute evaluations)).

Web Context Effects on Perceptions of Product Attributes • Jung-Gyo Lee, Missouri-Columbia • This research reports how product attributes primed by contextual Web pages affect consumers’ judgments of products presented in subsequent Web pages in terms of product quality. It also looks at the moderating effects of individuals’ own levels of product involvement on assimilation and contrast processes. As expected, extremity of the context and ambiguity of the target brand were found to exert significant influences on judgment of product information.

Truth in Advertising: Progressive Era Reform and the New Professionals • Robert A Rabe, Wisconsin- Madison • This paper examines changes generated in the advertising industry in the years between 1900 and 1914 to “clean up” advertising and establish the newly professional industry as “progressive.” After discussing the historical interpretations of the progressive era and advertising history, it argues that, given an accurate interpretation of “progressive,” these efforts should place the advertising reformers within the bounds of the larger progressive movement of the early 20th century.

Anti-smoking Advertisements: The Effects of Corporate Credibility on Ad Credibility • Jennifer A. Robinson, Angela M. Adema, Lucian Dinu, Ignatius Fosu, Alabama • This paper examined the relationship between corporate credibility and antismoking ad credibility when source identification occurs at the end of the ad. Cigarette companies were perceived as less credible than both nonprofit agencies and the government. After exposure to ads attributed to them, the cigarette companies’ credibility increased. Source identification did not impact ad credibility. A model relating corporate (source) credibility, attitude toward the ad, ad credibility, and issue involvement was proposed and partially supported.

Website Structures And Audience Flow: A Network Approach • Dongyoung Sohn, Texas at Austin • What makes the Web a unique advertising medium? On which objective standards can we valuate each vehicle and compare it with others? Existing standards for audience measurement and vehicle valuation on the Web are heavily dependent on the traffic information of a separate site at a certain point or interval in time. As a result, the structures of interconnections between sites, which are unique to the Web, have not been carefully examined.

Materialism, Social Image and Self-Esteem in China: A Model of Advertising’s Social Effects from the Perspective of Social Comparison Theory • Peiqin Zhou, Alabama • The exploratory study tested the model examining the social effects of advertising in China from the perspective of social comparison theory. The study was designed within a broader context including materialism, global attitude toward advertising, self-esteem and life-satisfaction. The study found that using advertising images as the social standard improves self-esteem of Chinese college students, which is opposite of most previous research. It was argued that future-orientation employed by Chinese college students may help to understand the striking findings.

<< 2002 Abstracts

Commission on the Status of Women

ESPN SportsCenter and Coverage of Women’s Atheletics: “It’s a Boys Club” • Terry Adams and C. A. Tuggle, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • Despite growing levels of participation by female athletes at all competition levels and documented fan interest in women’s athletics, media coverage of women’s sports remains inferior to that given male sports. This study is a replication of Tuggle’s original (1997) study to determine whether the existence of two women’s professional sports leagues has resulted in increased coverage of female athletics.

Broadcasting Gendered Sports Portrayals: The Effects of Watching Such Presentations on Attitudes of the Societal Role of Women • James R. Angelini, Indiana-Bloomington • This study examined the effects of viewing televised sports, with either positive or negative tactics used in commentating or production techniques, of both male and female sports, on individual opinions on the roles of women, as gauged on the Attitudes Toward Women Scale. Exposure to the positive female sports condition resulted in better attitudes for women’s role in society. Exposure to the other three conditions did not have an effect, either positively or negatively, on these beliefs.

Gender and Journal Productivity: A 15-Year Census on How Women are Doing • Ken Blake and John V. Bodle, Middle Tennessee State and Edward E. Adams, Brigham Young • A census of refereed articles (N=6,535) in 10 primary journalism and mass communication journals from 1986-2000 determined that women have over the time period produced 28.6 percent of the journal scholarship. In recent years (1996-2000) women have produced 38.5 percent of journal scholarship. Women were found to collaborate on research at rates similar to men. Among women, assistant professors produced the most journal scholarship. “Non-faculty” women produced more than either female associate or full professors.

Women Reporters and Managers Make A Difference in Korean Newspapers • Sooyoung Cho, Missouri-Columbia • This study is unprecedented in its objective to examine the effect women reporters and managers have on other journalists in the newsroom and on content in Korean newspapers. Results are that women managers and more women reporters make a difference in the better treatment of women journalists in the newsroom and in the improved coverage of women in newspapers. The study surveyed all the women journalists in Korea’s ten national newspapers and three business newspapers.

Coverage Of Female Athletes In Women’s Sports Magazines: A Content Analysis • Susan Francis, Ohio • The purpose of this thesis was to examine women’s sports magazines to see how female athletes would be portrayed. Historically, female athletes have been under-represented in the media and have been portrayed in traditional feminine roles. A content analysis was conducted examining the three women’s sports magazines, Conde Nast Women’s Sports & Fitness, Sports Illustrated for Women and Real Sports. The results of this study demonstrates that significant improvement in women’s sports coverage is still needed.

Still Photographs of Female Athletes Featured in Sports Illustrated Versus Sports Illustrated for Women • Lauren A. Gniazdowski and Bryan E. Denham, Clemson • This study examines how Sports Illustrated and Sports Illustrated for Women portray female athletes in still photography. The research builds on existing works that have shown male and female athletes most commonly photographed “in action” and “posing,” respectively (for reviews, see Duncan & Messner, 1998; Kane & Lenskyj, 1998). Although some scholars have analyzed gender-specific publications, existing media studies have focused largely on general sports magazines.

We Must, We Must, We Must Increase our Bust: How College Women negotiate the Media’s Ideal Breast Image • J. Robyn Goodman and Kim Walsh-Childers, Florida • Through focus group interviews, this study examined how college women negotiate exposure to media images of disproportionately large-breasted women. The results showed that media images influence women’s breast satisfaction directly and indirectly, through perceived effects on men’s breast size ideal. However, women’s beliefs did not always correspond to the dominant ideology equating beauty with disproportionately large breasts. Personal experiences, self-confidence, and interactions with men, family and friends influenced their views of the mediated ideology.

Newspapers Transition From Women’s to Style Pages: What were they thinking? • Dustin Harp, Texas-Austin • This research considers newspaper trade articles during the 1970s to determine how industry insiders viewed the termination of-women’s pages and introduction of style sections. Women who constructed these sections dominated the discourse, which focused on a section’s content rather than the name above that content. The discourse also indicates that newsroom constraints, and male editors, prevented women editors of these women’s/style sections from constructing the content they desired.

Jane Grant: “There Would Be No New Yorker Today If It Were Not For Her” • Susan Henry, California State-Northridge • Jane Grant co-founded The New Yorker with her husband, Harold Ross, playing a crucial role in the magazine’s conception, birth, post-partum struggles and early success. This paper describes Grant’s New Yorker work as well as a journalism career that included being the first woman general-assignment reporter at the New York Times. Also examined is her work as co-founder of the Lucy Stone League, which fought for married women’s right to keep their birth names as a sign of their equality with their husbands.

She May Be Fit, But She Must Be Fashionable: Women’s Sports and Fitness Marketing through the Lens of French Feminist Theory • Tara M. Kachgal, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • Using French feminist theories, this essay seeks to add a more theoretically-informed perspective for analyzing how female specificity is configured in U.S. sports and fitness marketing to women. In examining whether the visual and rhetorical strategies used by Nike and Reebok can disrupt, or circumvent, patriarchal gender logic, I pay particular attention to higaray’s theories of subjectivity.

Margaret Goss: Pioneering Female Sportswriter and Sports Columnist of the 1920s • Dave Kaszuba, Susquehanna • No abstract available.

Gendered Radio News Discourse: A Social Border Guard • Aliza Lavie, Bar-Ilan University-Israel • Only 10% of all interviewees in radio news and current events programs are women. The exclusion of women as interviewees, the absence of their voices and the compartmentalization of the few female interviewees into pre-defined categories, highlight radio discourse as a social border guard. In the case of Israeli radio, despite diverse social changes, including feminization of the media, several factors identified by media professionals, operate in concert to counteract the effect of gender

Gender-Differentiated Media Coverage of Political Candidates: A Look at the Georgia 2002 Republican Primary for Governor • Rebecca I. Long, Kennesaw State • Women are typically seen as having a disadvantage in the political arena because of stereotypes. While these stereotypes are less prevalent now, these beliefs are apparent in print media coverage. A content analysis of 146 articles from six newspapers indicated that coverage of the Georgia 2002 Republican Gubernatorial Primary differed along gender lines. Given media’s importance, it is critical to examine this differentiation to understand the gender factor in media coverage of statewide politics.

To American Eyes: Cultural Feminist Analysis of an Alternative Representation of Islamic Womanhood • Therese L. Lueck, Akron • This textual analysis examines the widely circulated Muslim magazines Islamic Horizons, and its construction of Islamic womanhood in the two years surrounding September 11, 2001. Informed by cultural feminist theory, this analysis locates sex separation as a conversion strategy. The magazine’s representation of Islamic womanhood mirrored a nostalgic American femininity characterized by modesty and moral superiority, modernizing it with contemporary acknowledgement of diversity and intellectual individualism. Its portrayal of Islamic womanhood did not shift markedly after the September 11 attacks.

Snatched: Gender, Class And Media Constructions Of “The Summer Of Child Abductions” • Leigh Moscowitz, Indiana • This study examines how the news media used assumptions about gender and class identities to construct the major “epidemic” of child kidnappings during the summer of 2002. Through a textual analysis of articles that appeared in USA Today and Newsweek magazine, this paper shows how media coverage of kidnappings reflects societal constructions of family, childhood and sexuality. In doing so, the media play off of-and contribute to-constructions of vulnerability in girlhood, and sexual deviance and violence in masculinity.

Aging Women and TV News • Suzanne Nelson, Minnesota • This research takes a close-up look at women television news reporters and then examines what it is like for women reporters to age in TV. The images of women television news reporters from two periods, 1986 and 2000, are examined and career women reporters are surveyed, revealing their personal experiences with management, audiences, and consultants regarding appearance (one reporter was told, in effect, that it would be good if she were taller) and regarding age.

Perfect Little Feminists: Resistance, Femininity, and Violence in the “Powerpuff Girls” • Spring-Serenity O’Neal, Indiana • This textual analysis explores how the Powerpuff Girls cartoon offers opportunities for resistance reading. Although the text contains violence, there are numerous instances where the three lead female characters gain empowerment through positive social messages from peers and each other. In depicting strong female characters engaging in unusual activities, the Powerpuff Girls offers an alternative view of the “perfect girl” that scholars have found in many Disney productions.

Did Women Listen To News? A Critical Examination Of Landmark Radio Audience Research (1935-1948) • Stacy Spaulding, Maryland • This paper critically analyzes the generalizations researchers made about women’s program preferences and the quantitative data used to support these assumptions. This research suggests that in analyzing their own data, researchers were blinded by pre-conceived notions of what programs women preferred. In particular, early research published in 1935 in The Psychology of Radio boldly called discrimination against women’s voices a product of societal prejudice, but failed to break with conventional wisdom about what programs women actually enjoyed listening to.

The C-Cup Norm: Exposure to Media Ideals and Desire for Larger Breasts Among College Women • Kim Walsh-Childers and Robyn Goodman, Florida • This study examined the relationship between exposure to media images of large-breasted women and women’s breast dissatisfaction. Female undergraduates viewed images representing women with small, medium or large breasts. Exposure to larger-breasted images was more likely to increase women’s ideal breast size, ideal cup size, perceptions of men’s ideal breast size, acceptance of a large-breast norm and likelihood of using artificial means, other than implant surgery, to increase breast size or make their breasts appear larger.

Black Womanhood: A Content Analysis of Essence and its Treatment of Stereotypical Images of Black Women • Jennifer Bailey Woodard, Indiana State-Bloomington and Teresa Mastin, Middle Tennessee State • This content analysis examines whether or not Essence works as a feminist text that dispels stereotypical images of Black women. We hypothesize that (a) there will be more evidence to dispel the stereotypes than to perpetuate them and (b) that of the four major African American women stereotypes – mammy, matriarch, sexual siren, and welfare mother/queen – the matriarch and sexual siren stereotypes will be dispelled more frequently. Results support hypothesis (a) entirely and hypothesis (b) partially.

<< 2003 Abstracts

Science Communication Interest Group

Playing the Information Game: A Survey of Credibility and Health Information on the World Wide Web • Heather A. Black, Syracuse • In their search for health information, consumers use mass media sources (newspapers, television, radio, and the World Wide Web), interpersonal sources (family and friends), and professional sources (physicians). This online survey used credibility theory to investigate consumers’ perceptions of mass media channels for health information. The results suggest that consumers view mass media channels similarly, and they may not employ traditional credibility cues to evaluate the World Wide Web sites they use for health information.

Credibility and Online Health Information Consumers • Camille S. Broadway, Florida • This study examines consumer credibility perceptions of the Internet and online health information. The study draws on the literature and perspective of source credibility and media credibility studies. Respondents to a 34-question online questionnaire scored the Internet as above average on measures of reliability, ease of use and credibility. The Internet, the most popular source of health information for participants, also scored higher on a trustworthiness measure than traditional media.

Accent on the POZitive: A Content Analysis of Biomedical AIDS Stories in POZ Magazine • William P. Cassidy, Wisconsin-Whitewater • This study examines biomedical AIDS stories published in POZ, a magazine targeted at HIV-positive men and women in the United States, during 1996-2000. A monthly stratified sample of 12 issues was content analyzed. Results show that the overall tone of coverage was .94 on a scale of 0 to 2 (0=negative, 2=positive) and that medical or scientific (non-governmental sources), unaffiliated HIV-positive sources and AIDS activist sources figured most prominently in coverage.

The Framing of an Agricultural Controversy: Constructing News About Food Irradiation • Hong-Lim Choi, Iowa • This study aimed to look how journalists construct a version of scientific reality in their media coverage of a scientific controversy. The content analysis focused on the sources cited, the appeals used by these sources to convince the public of their positions regarding the issue, the factors that influenced the nature of this coverage and the framing strategies that have been applied to inform the public about scientific innovation.

Primary Sources of Health Information: Comparisons in the Domain of Health Attitudes, Health Cognitions and Health Behaviors • Mohan J. Dutta-Bergman, Purdue • The recent growth in consumer autonomy in health care accompanied by the surge in the use of new media for health information gathering has led to an increasing scholarly interest in understanding the consumer health information search construct. This paper explores consumer health information seeking in the realm of the primary sources of health information used by consumers.

Question of Trust: The Effects of Knowledge and Public Accountability on Risk and Benefit • Tracy Irani, Florida and Janas Sinclair, Florida International • Public accountability, based on information about the commitment of an organization, was examined as a construct distinct from social trust. Subjects read material communicating either strong or weak government accountability for regulating plant biotechnology. The results provided support for extending the interpersonal accountability framework to a public context: perceptions of government responsibility and determination for regulating plant biotechnology were greater when accountability was strong rather than weak.

Women’s Thoughts and Information Management Women Searching the World Wide Web for Health Information: Exploring Thoughts and Information Management • Maria E. Len-Rios and Frances Gorman, Kansas • This study uses think aloud protocols to explore the thought processes of women (N=12) as they search the World Wide Web for information about leading healthier lifestyles. We use the normative management of information and self-efficacy as our theoretical approach. Analysis of 231 health-specific thoughts shows that women seek information that will provide them hope for improving their health. It also suggests that self-efficacy, source credibility and self-identity play important roles in women’s involvement with health information.

An Entertainment-Education Video as a Tool to Influence Mammography Compliance Behavior in Latinas • Gail D. Love, California State-Fullerton • The purpose of the study is to gain a greater understanding of the relationship between culturally sensitive health-related messages and screening behavior among Latinas. A communication intervention in the form of a two-minute, Spanish-language, entertainment-education video was field-tested in conjunction with a reinforcement interview one week after respondents viewed the video. Implications are increased knowledge and diffusion of information may not necessarily lead to short-term attitudinal and behavioral change, particularly when unpleasant consequences may result.

Environmental Hazards, Cancer Risk Judgment and Media Use in Appalachia • Daniel Riffe, Ohio • Phone survey (N=469) examined cancer risk judgments among Appalachian Ohioans, exploring how concern over local cancer-related environmental health hazards is related to those judgments and to media use, particularly medical and health-related news. Personal risk was related to seriousness of local environmental hazards, with subjects demonstrating biased optimism about risk to others. Use of health-related and medical-related news was also related to seriousness of local hazards, but not with perceived personal risk.

New York Times and National Magazine Coverage of Project Chariot, 1958 to 1962 • Ron Rodgers, Ohio • This study reviews The New York Times’ and magazine coverage from 1958 to 1962 of Project Chariot • an Atomic Energy Commission plan to blast out a harbor in northwest Alaska with four nuclear bombs. And in doing so, this study traces the four-year debate among scientists, government agencies and environmental activists that was largely played out in the media and ultimately led to the first stirrings of the modern environmental movement in the United States.

The Impact of Risk Communication on the Acceptance of Irradiated Food • Lulu Rodriguez, Iowa State • This study used a quasi-experimental design to assess the impact of pro- and anti-food irradiation messages on consumer opinions, and to understand the process of opinion formation regarding the diffusion of information about this controversial technology. The data came from a longitudinal panel of 223 adults in Minneapolis, MN., who completed three successive questionnaires. One group received a packet containing information materials; another did not.

Perceptions of Media Coverage of Conflicts of Interest within the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Advisory Committees • Leah Simone and Katherine McComas, Maryland • Using the theories of agenda-setting, framing and those that explain perceptions of bias in the media and media influence on the public, we explored the U.S. FDA officials’ perception of the media coverage of conflicts of interest within the FDA’s advisory committees. Informants attributed what they perceived as unfairly negative stories to various constraints faced by modern-day media, journalists’ own ideological considerations and the FDA’s reluctance to rebut unfavorable coverage.

Agenda-Building, Source Selection and Health News at Local Television Stations: The First Nationwide Survey of Local Television Health Reporters • Andrea H. Tanner, South Carolina • This study was the first nationwide examination of local television news health reports looking at health and medical newsgathering from the reporters’ perspective. Data from this study revealed significant insight into how these health reporters receive ideas for their health stories and what influences a health reporter to cover a particular topic. The findings suggest a theoretical link between agenda-building and health reporting, suggesting a health reporter’s reliance on sources is exacerbated by the technical nature of health and medial news.

Promise or Peril: How Newspapers Frame Stem Cell Research • Kimberly R. Taylor, Florida • Newspapers have long been the public’s dominant source of scientific knowledge. In recent times, biotechnology issues have been featured with growing frequency. The purpose of this study was to examine how issues surrounding stem cell research have been portrayed in two major newspapers. A textual analysis was performed on 49 articles published from August 2000 through September 2001, using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The analysis found that a frame of uncertainty dominated coverage.

The Communication Needs and Behaviors of Iowa Apple Growers and Cider Producers • Andrew Zehr, Iowa State • This study determined how Iowa apple and cider producers gather and disseminate food safety information. A questionnaire asked about their media use and trust in information sources. A test of third-person effects of media on perceptions of public worry about food safety issues found evidence only on topics of food irradiation and genetically modified crops. The findings suggest a combination of media and interpersonal sources to efficiently communicate with this group.

Communicating Forest Management Science and Practices through Visualized and Animated Media Approaches to Community Presentations: An Exploration and Assessment • Donald Zimmerman, Carol Akerelrea, Garrett O’Keefe, Colorado State and Jane Kapler Smith, U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station • Natural resource managers have used a variety of computer-mediated presentation methods to communicate management practices to diverse publics. We explored the effects of visualizing and animating computerized presentations in explaining forest succession, fire behavior, management options, and mathematical models. In an experimental design using purposive samples, rural mountain, town and student groups appeared to have gained substantial information from the presentations with inter-group differences depending on presentation mode.

<< 2003 Abstracts

Religion and Media Interest Group

A Structural Equation Model of Religiosities Effect on Mass Media Use and Civic Participation • Greg G. Armfield, Missouri-Columbia • This research looks at the relationship of mass media, religion, and secularization theory with regard to civic participation. A structural equation model was created and successfully tested to test the structural interactions of religion, secularism, and mass media in relation to civic participation. Findings show current mass media use by religious individuals is driven by secularization theory (Buddenbaum, 1986; Buddenbaum & Stout 1996).

Appalling Sin or Despicable Crime: An Exploration of Media Frames Surrounding the Catholic Church Priest Sexual Abuse Scandal • Lois A. Boynton and Dulcie M. Straughan, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • This paper examines newspaper coverage of revelations about Father John Geoghan’s sexual abuse of boys and the Church’s cover-up attempts. The study employs quantitative and qualitative analysis of stories to examine the scope of scandal coverage, sources used by reporters, and whether stories provided an analysis of the crisis or focused on the events. Furthermore, the paper identifies and analyzes frames used to describe the scandal and the issue of assignment of blame for events.

Religion News and Cultural Categories: The Intersection of Religion, Media, and Culture in Journalism • Cheryl Casey, New York University• This paper considers how religion is covered in contemporary newspapers. Using the framework of analysis developed by Silk, the paper identifies the topoi, or common cultural categories, which help journalists make sense of the multitude of beliefs, faith groups, and modes of spirituality characterizing American religiosity. Examples of news coverage of the death of Mother Teresa are used to uncover dominant topoi and illumine the relationship of religion, media, and the culture at large.

Following The Party Line: Xinhua News Agency’s Coverage Of The Falun Gong Movement • Chiung Hwang Chen, Brigham Young University-Hawaii • This study examines the relationship between government and news media in China through analyzing the media’s coverage of the government’s crackdown against Falun Gong. I argue that although the economic reforms since the 1980s might have financially disrupted the news media’s reliance on the government, the press, especially government-owned news organizations, still functions as propaganda agents for the Chinese Communist Party as journalists uncritically follow the party line in reporting on the Falun Gong movement.

Religious Socialization and the Media: A Qualitative Study of How Baby Boomers View the Entertainment Media as a Cultural Resource for Parenting • Lynn Schofield Clark, Colorado • Employing perspectives from cultural studies and developments in the ethnographic study of religion, this paper explores six themes that emerged in the discursive strategies of U.S. “baby Boomer” parents when they were asked about what they hoped to teach their children about religion. The paper examines how and under what circumstances parental approaches to religious socialization cultivate a view of the entertainment media as a threat or as a possible aid to religious socialization.

Created in Whose Image? Examining Network TV’s Treatment of Religion • Scott H. Clarke, Michigan State • 39 fictional network television programs were analyzed for content relating to religious characters. Results suggest that television characters’ religiosity is not an important consideration for television producers as a whole. However, programs produced by Paxson Communications and Viacom; as well as those airing on the PAX network, have significantly more religious characters than average. This finding supports both gatekeeping theory and Paxson’s stated goal of increasing the amount of spirituality on network TV.

Aid Workers or Evangelists, Charity or Conspiracy: Framing of Missionary Activity as a Function of International Political Alliances • David N. Dixon, Azusa Pacific • In 2001, Christian aid workers were arrested by the Taliban in Afghanistan on charges of proselytizing. A year later, Baptist hospital workers were gunned down in Yemen. In one case, the country was an enemy of the United States; in the other, an ally. The way in which the proselytizing and the national government was portrayed changed from one set of coverage to the other, suggesting that political interests, not religious ones, drive news coverage.

Press Freedom and Religion: Measuring an Association Between Press Freedom and Religious Composition • Guy Golan, Louisiana State and Colleen Connolly-Ahern, Florida • The current exploratory study argues for the inclusion of religious composition variables as possible measures of press freedom. An analysis of press freedom and religious composition measures in 190 nations along with correlation measures reveal highly significant associations between the religious composition of nations and their level of press freedom. The study calls upon future studies to further examine the association between religion and press freedom and argues for the inclusion of religious variables in future studies on press freedom.

Religious Beliefs, Media Use, and Wishful Thinking in the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election • Barry Hollander, Georgia • A long-documented link exists between vote intention and a prediction of who will win a political campaign, described in some research as wishful thinking. A number of factors are thought to enhance the effect, such as selective exposure to media content and similar others, and moderate the effect,- such as exposure to public opinion polls and knowledge about politics. Religious factors were found to increase wishful thinking, an impact moderated to a small degree by exposure to the news media.

Preferred Shades of Green: Religion as a Factor in News Framing of Environmental Advocacy • Rick Clifton Moore, Boise State • Are religious groups portrayed more negatively in the media than are secular groups? This study addresses this question by measuring portrayal of two groups engaged in similar environmental advocacy campaigns. One group was clearly evangelical, the other a-religious. Using a research method similar to that used by Kerr and Moy (2002) I found news stories about the groups were not significantly different, but articles by weekly columnists did present the religious group significantly more negatively.

Presentation of Media Practice: Dramaturgical Analysis of Religious Accounts of Media •Jin Kyu Park, Colorado-Boulder • This paper attempts to apply Erving Goffman’s “dramaturgical approach” to the analysis of the interview contexts as well as “accounts of media” articulated during the interview by the media audience. Especially, the interest of this paper lies in how religious meanings and identities of audiences are employed in their presentation of self in terms of media practice.

The Economic Response of Religious Television Stations to Digital Implementation • Brad Schultz, Mississippi • A theoretical model of organizational behavior (Oliver, 1991) was applied to religious television stations in the U.S. to assess their economic responses to the digital television conversion. Results showed that religious stations are more likely to abandon or reduce operations, but have strong resistance toward selling and would like to explore new revenue opportunities. Because of this dilemma, religious broadcasters viewed the conversion as a burden, not a benefit.

Authenticating the Religious Experience: A Textual Analysis of the Construct of History and Religion at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah • David Scott • Using a textual analysis as suggested by Stuart Hall in his introduction to Paper Voices, this author examines the manifest and latent discourse present in the marketing, tours, and historic presentations of Temple Square in Salt Lake City. This study demonstrates how these elements rhetorically perpetuate theological constructs by emphasizing particular historic artifacts and bounding religious discourse within the discursive construct of “museumness” and the mythology of the “pioneer.”

Religious Community on the Internet: An Exploratory Analysis of Mormon Websites • Daniel A. Stout, Brigham Young • In light of considerable speculation about the impact of the Internet on religiosity, this exploratory study evaluates actual religious websites in terms of what they contribute to various dimensions of community. An analysis of three Mormon websites reveals that while some features promote service and diversity, cultural values unique to the religion encourage more restricted network interactions than those described in general studies of Internet and community.

Use Of On-Line Bulletin Boards By Churches – An Exploratory Study • Amanda Sturgill, Carly Engibous, Megan Holmes, Pattama Jongsuwanwattana and Prachi Purohit, Baylor • This paper considers the use of an electronic bulletin board or forum as a part of a church site through detailed examination of 20 of the boards. Through examination of individual messages, the authors develop a coding scheme for bulletin board messages and found that the messages serve either an announcement purpose or a community-building purpose.

Journalism in Service to the Church • Martin Yina and Tony Rimmer, California State-Fullerton • This paper examines Catholic diocesan newspapers from the perspectives of the editors and reporters who work for them. The goal of the study was to better understand what it means to work as a journalist in such newspapers. The study applied the qualitative tradition of phenomenology. Interviews were conducted with journalists at diocesan newspapers in the Midwest, the West and the South.

<< 2003 Abstracts