Communication Technology and Policy Division

U.S. and Local Commercial Television Broadcast Stations of the World Wide Web • Pi-Yun An, Southern Mississippi • The purpose of this study is to investigate how the U.S. local commercial television broadcast stations have established their identity and deliver content in cyberspace and how they respond to improving Internet technology. By examining the content and mechanisms of current local broadcasters’ Web sites, this study allows for comparison with previous research and provides a basis for future comparison studies of trends.

Why They Chat: Predicting Adoption and the Use of Chatrooms • David J. Atkin, Leo W. Jeffres, Kimberly Neuendorf, and Ryan Lange, Cleveland State and Paul Skalski, Michigan State • The present study profiles the users of online chat rooms and other online services, focusing on social locators, media use behaviors and communication needs associated participation in community activities. Data were collected from a probability sample of over 300 respondents in a major metropolitan market located within the Midwest. Findings generally fail to confirm the upscale, heavy media-use, technology adopter profile posited by diffusion theory.

Corporate Monopolies and the Making of American Broadcasting, 1920-27 • Misook Baek, Iowa • This paper examines the role of the public interest in dealing with compounding relations between the antidemocratic political pressure of corporate monopolies and the rationale of technological progress, and how the public interest is constituted in those relations. In this examination, particular attention will be placed on alternative policy proposals of a noncommercial sector, which were drawn from a grassroots interpretation of the public interest based on the public utility nature of radio broadcasting.

Consumer Awareness and Adoption of Digital Television: Exploring the Audience Knowledge, Perceptions, and Factors Affecting the Adoption of Terrestrial DTV • Sylvia M. Chan-Olmstead and Byeng- Hee Chang, Florida • This study investigates the levels of consumer awareness and knowledge of digital television (DTV) in the United States. It also explores the consumer perceptions of DTV characteristics, benefits, and importance. Various consumer characteristics and DTV perceptions were examined to assess their influence in the adoption of DTV. It was found that the consumers have many misconceptions of DTV, and their DTV knowledge level is most related to personality traits and Internet usage/tenure.

Refocusing the Issues in the Legal Protection of Databases: The Application of Economic Characteristics of Databases • Byeng-Hee Chang and Seueng-Eun Lee, Florida • This paper tries to provide a new framework which can refocus the issues surrounding the legal protection of databases from an economic perspective. The authors assume that databases have economic values and are exchanged by providers (sellers) and users (buyers) in a market. Using the economic properties of databases as criteria, this paper reviews previous legal cases and suggested database protection bills.

The State of Convergence Journalism: United States Media and University Study • Carrie Anna Criado and Camille Kraeplin, Southern Methodist • This study’s focus is exploratory: to determine the extent to which U.S. media companies and university journalism schools have embraced convergence journalism, defined as the sharing of content and/or staff. Survey data show that the majority of both newspapers and TV stations have forged convergence partnerships – nine in 10 newspapers and eight in 10 TV stations. Likewise, just under nine in 10 of the college administrators surveyed had incorporated convergence training into their curriculum.

Conceptualizing the Convergence Craze: A Three-Dimensional Model of Multimedia Curriculum Reform • George Daniels, Alabama • No abstract available.

Web Publishing Confronts International Jurisdiction in Defamation Cases: Implications of Dow Jones v. Gutnick • Constance K. Davis, Purdue • The Dow Jones company is defending itself in defamation actions in Australia and Great Britain, where libel laws favor plaintiffs, because of articles that were available on Web sites in those countries. This paper examines the implications of United States publishers who fight libel cases in countries where their Web sites can be viewed and the recourse those publishers have should they lose, then compares it to similar jurisdictional questions in the United States.

Determinants of Global Internet Diffusion: An Exploratory Study • Daniela Dimitrova, Iowa State and Richard P. Beilock, Florida • There is an increasing digital divide around the world, yet little is known about the factors that affect Internet diffusion on a global level. In this study, a model was developed and estimated to explain global inter-country differences in Internet usage rates (IUR), as measured by Internet users per capita. Income was found to be the most important determinant. Two other important determinants were the openness of a society and infrastructure, using telephone and personal computer densities as proxies.

Consumer Judgements of Source Credibility in an Online Environment: A Functional Approach • Mohan J. Dutta-Bergman, Purdue • Recently, experts have become increasingly concerned about the quality of health information on the Internet. One of the critical concerns related to quality focuses on the credibility of online health information. Of particular emphasis is the role of the source in determining the quality of information received by the consumer. An important question, therefore, is: How do consumers go about evaluating the credibility of the source? Based on the 1999 HealthStyles data, this paper compares users and non-users of the Internet.

Internet Regulation – An Oxymoron? • Maria Fontenot, Tennessee • Several Congressional attempts to protect children from obscenity on the Internet have been dismissed by the courts. This paper focuses on two of those attempts: the Communications Decency Act of 1996 and the Child Online Protection Act of 1998. It examines and analyzes Supreme Court cases and decisions related to the two statutes and the First Amendment implications of regulating the Internet and World Wide Web. It also identifies regulatory patterns and addresses what lies ahead for cyberspace regulation.

The Interplay of Old and New Media: How the Traditional News Agenda Affected Web Searches Before and After September 11, 2001 • Cary Roberts Frith and Debashis “Deb” Aikat, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • The focusing events of September 11 led to the melding of the traditional media agenda and online agenda, as defined by Web search trends. Based on several multi-faceted theories related to agenda setting, this paper examined Web search trends before and after the September 11 attacks by analyzing actual keywords entered by Google search engine users in August, September, and October 2001. In subsequent analyses, the top search queries were compared with television and print media coverage of the same issues.

Liberating Friendships through IM? Examining the Relationship between Instant Messaging and Intimacy • Yifeng Hu, Vivian Smith, Nalova Westbrook and Jackie Fowler Wood, Penn State • This study explores the relationship between Instant Messenger use and intimacy between friends. Results showed IM use was positively associated not only with affective intimacy, but also with verbal and social intimacy. Findings are consistent with the Relationship Liberated perspective of Computer-Mediated-Communication, and suggest that IM promotes rather than hinders intimacy. Moreover, frequent conversation via IM actually encourages the desire to meet face-to-face. Theoretical as well as practical implications of the results are discussed.

Bridging Newsrooms and Classrooms: Preparing the Next Generation of Journalists for Converged Media • Edgar Huang, Karen Davison, Twila Davis, Anita Nair, Stephanie Shreve and Elizabeth Bettendorf, South Florida-St. Petersburg • This study has provided empirical evidence that will help journalism educators make informed decisions about how to teach media convergence. A national survey was conducted among college professors, news professionals, and news editors. The study found strong support for training generalists and teaching new technology while continuing to emphasize critical thinking in journalism schools. It concludes that dealing with media convergence in college journalism education is an urgent necessity.

Facing the Challenges of Convergence: Media Professionals’ Concerns of Working Across Media Platforms • Edgar Huang, Karen Davison, Stephanie Shreve, Twila Davis, Elizabeth Bettendorf and Anita Nair, South Florida-St. Petersburg • This paper examined some top concerns in the media industry brought up by media convergence including the need to update news staff, production quality, compensation for multiplatform productions and the legitimacy of media convergence. An online national survey was conducted both among merged and non-merged daily newspapers and commercial TV stations to find out to what extent such concerns were shared by editors/news directors and news professionals and what their answers were to such concerns.

Bridging the Digital Divide? A National Survey of the Integration of Internet-based Technologies in Undergraduate Journalism and Mass Communication Classes • Cassandra Imfeld and Koang- Hyub Kim, North Carolina • As one of the first national studies surveying the technological landscape of undergraduate classes in journalism and mass communication programs in the 2l’ century, this research presents an encouraging picture of professors’ integration of Internet-based technologies into their classrooms. In addition, this study examines the motivations behind professors’ rejection or adoption of such innovations. Based on several statistically significant relationships, the authors propose an exploratory model that predicts professors’ integration of Internet-based technologies into their classrooms.

Universal Service: Expanding the ‘possibility space’ of Policy Discourse • Krishna P. Jayakar, Penn State and Harmeet Sawhney, Indiana • A number of proposals have been put forward to reform universal service and make it compatible with the new competitive telecommunications environment in the United States. The diversity and apparent contradictions between these proposals makes the public policy dialog scattered and confused. This paper introduces the idea of a ‘possibility space’ delineated by two dimensions – ‘intervention’ and ‘locus’ – that lays out the contours of the emerging intellectual landscape by placing past practices as well as present proposals on the same conceptual plane.

Flow as a Determinant of Online Purchasing Intention: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach • Jaw-Won Kang and Chang-Hoan Cho, Florida • The recent exponential growth rate of online shopping suggests that the Web has already been an important new medium for commerce. The purpose of this study is to reveal whether there exists the relation between “flow” and purchasing intention on the Web, and how the flow impacts the intention to purchase on the Web under a theoretically based model. To achieve the purpose, this study made an effort to integrate the theory of flow with the more traditional theory of planned behavior through a structural equation modeling approach.

To Broadband or Not to Broadband: The Impact of High-speed Internet on Knowledge and Participation • Nojin Kwak, Marko Skoric, Ann Williams and Nathaniel Poor, Michigan • This study investigates the impact of high-speed Internet on political and civic engagement. More specifically, we aim to examine the added value of broadband over dial-up connection with respect to individuals’ knowledge about current affairs, offline interpersonal-political and social-recreational—engagement, and community participation. Furthermore, we investigate the similarities and dissimilarities between early Internet and broadband adopters in terms of political and civic benefits that the respective technology has brought to early users.

Web Traffic Analysis Using Social Network Approach • Jae-Shin Lee and Geri Gay, Cornell; Cho Hichang, National University of Singapore • The focus of this study is to examine Web traffic patterns using the social network perspective. Social network analysis examines relationships among entities and helps find structural patterns of relationships. In this study, we recorded students’ Web surfing behaviors in log files and their Web surfing patterns were visualized using social network diagrams. With social network diagrams, we were able to display how traffic to different Web sites were interrelated.

Effects on Course Materials Available on the Web on Students’ Learning Attitude and Outcome • Xigen Li, Louisiana State • A survey of students in a large state university found use of Web-enhanced course materials was not associated with positive attitude toward attending classes. However, use of Web-enhanced course materials was found partly associated with both perceived positive learning process and learning outcome. Two thirds of the students accessed course materials on the Web quite often. The course materials on the Web that the students wanted the most were lecture notes.

Coming of Age in the E-Generation: A Qualitative Exploration of How Young People Use Communication Technology for Identity Building and Social Interaction • Sally J. McMillian and Margaret Morrison, Tennessee • Analyzing autobiographical essays written by 72 young adult college students, this study investigates how coming of age concurrently with interactive technologies has influenced their identity building and social interaction. Using a grounded theory approach, four axial themes (defining self, defining community, social interaction within the family, and social interaction with others) and two selective coding categories (duality and dependence) emerged to offer some insight into what it means to grow up in the E – generation.

Determinants of Instant Messaging Use • Namkee Park, Southern California • Instant messaging is a technological innovation featuring near-real-time communication and interactivity between users, which also exhibits network effects in its diffusion. This study identifies a profile of instant messaging users and empirically tests the prediction of network effects. The study results indicate that technological innovativeness is the only significant factor in predicting instant messaging use. It was also found that network effects play a critical role for the users to choose a specific service.

Both Sides of the Digital Divide in Appalachia: Uses and Perceived Benefits of Internet Access • Daniel Riffe, Ohio • No abstract available.

Antecedents and Consequences of Online Trust: Explaining Support for Censorship and Filtering of Internet Content • Mike Schmierback, Jaeho Cho, Heejo Keum, Hernado Rojas, Dhavan V. Shah, Wisconsin-Madison and William P. Eveland Jr., Ohio State • Trust has traditionally been important in understanding social exchanges and social capital. Online, trust may facilitate these or other processes. We test the relationship between two forms of online trust – interpersonal and privacy – and online participation, comfort and efficacy. We also consider how these variables predict support for online censorship and filtering software. Comfort and efficacy generally predict online trust, while those who are more trusting are less likely to support online restrictions.

Political Talk and Political Messaging: Models of Mediated Information Effects on Civic Engagement • Dhavan V. Shah, and Jaeho Cho, Wisconsin-Madison; William P. Eveland Jr., Ohio State and Nojin Kwak, Michigan • We examine the effects of informational use of traditional media and the Internet on civic engagement. Using a two-wave panel survey data, we find information effects on civic engagement are largely mediated through interpersonal political discussion and interactive political messaging. Most notably, online information seeking and interactive political messaging -use of the Web as a resource and a forum – strongly influence civic engagement, often more so than do uses of traditional print and broadcast media.

The Transition to Digital Television: Are We There Yet? • James A. Wall, Southern Illinois • This paper discusses the current transition from analog to digital television (DTV) and considers the advantages, capabilities, and limitations of DTV from the perspective of both broadcasters and consumers. In addition to high-definition television (HDTV), the impending DTV transition brings to the forefront new technological uses and capabilities for broadcast television including multicasting, datacasting, and enhanced TV.

Massively Multiplayer Mayhem: Aggression in an Online Game • Dimitri Williams and Marko M. Skoric, Michigan • Research on violent video games suggests that play leads to aggressive behavior. The first longitudinal study of an online violent video game with a control group tested for changes in several aggression measures and for cultivation effects. The findings did not support the assertion that a violent game will cause substantial increases in real-world aggression, but cultivation effects were found. The findings are presented and discussed, along with their implications for research and policy.

The TV that Watches You: Privacy Concerns Involving TiVo • Kevin D. Williams, Georgia • This paper focuses on privacy concerns related to TiVo’s collection of data from individual subscribers. The author contends that TiVo’s privacy policy and collection of data do not violate any current statutes. Although no law specifically regulates TiVo, the author believes legislation will be constructed based on three pre-existing statutes: The Stored Communications Act, the Cable TV Privacy Act, and the Video Privacy Protection Act.

News on the Web: How Much Print and Broadcast Top News Converge in New Media • Jin Xu and A.J. Baltes, Bowling Green State • This study examines how print and broadcast sites converge with respect to top story updating and story depth. Samples consisted of all the real time updates in twenty randomly selected 24-hour periods collected simultaneously from seven print and four broadcast websites by an automated procedure. Analysis focused on front-page updating, individual story updating, times of updating, distinct story output, and story length.

Perceived Motives for Clicking on Multimedia Features on News Web Sites: An Exploratory Study • Amy Zerba, Florida • The purpose of this research is to explore readers’ perceived motives for clicking on multimedia features on news sites. Findings suggest that technology difficulties are slowing the advancement of multimedia features on news sites, yet a fast connection and story interest could override these factors. The study also showed a significant positive relationship between increased exposure to news sites and the motive statement “I learn better with audio/video.”

<< 2003 Abstracts

Advertising Division

Stereotyping the ‘Model Minority’: A Longitudinal Analysis of Primetime Network Commercials, Comparing Asian Female and Male Characters to Themselves and Others • Dennis J. Ganahl, Liang Ge, and Kwangok Kim, Southern Illinois-Carbondale • Their population growth rate and purchasing power have made Asians a strong consumer market in the U.S. The longitudinal content analysis of primetime network commercials examined how Asians were portrayed in U.S. television commercials. Comparison analyses of All Asians to All Characters, Asian Females to All Females, Asian Males to All Males, and Asian Females to Asian Males were made for numerical representation, acting roles, products and age.

Is it Segmentation or Segregation? Exploring the Unintended Social Consequence of Targeting Minority Audiences with Advertising Placements Outside of Mainstream Media • Karie L. Hollerbach, Southeast Missouri State • An emphasis on segmenting audiences as a function of targeted marketing could lead to possible audience separation or even isolation for some audience members. This study examines the numerical representation and presence of African Americans relative to Caucasians in advertisements placed in primetime television programs found in the Nielsen African American Audience Index and the Nielsen General Audience Index.

A Propaganda Analysis of the Shared Values Initiative: The First US Advertising Campaign to the Muslim World • Alice Kendrick, Southern Methodist and Jamie Armstrong Fullerton, Oklahoma State • Former advertising executive Charlotte Beers, appointed Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, made propaganda history by implementing the first television “advertising” campaign to predominantly Muslim countries in 2002. Using the Jowett and O’Donnell 10-point propaganda analysis framework, this paper chronicles the events leading up to the creating of the controversial “Shared Values Initiative” as well as the reaction of various audiences to the campaign.

College Students’ Perceptions of ‘Creative Circumvention’ Beer Commercials • Lara G. Zwarun, Arlington • College students were shown beer commercials that “creatively circumvent” a self-regulatory advertising guideline, and asked what they believed they saw in the ads. Results indicate that some beer ads imply that dangerous activities are being combined with drinking, although the extent to which subjects perceive this varies by ad. Characteristics of beer ads that might contribute to these perceptions are considered; these findings could be used by beer advertisers to create more responsible ads.

RESEARCH
Perceptions and Purchasing of the Phrase “God Bless America” • John V. Bodle, and Larry Burriss, Middle Tennessee State • This study probes how meaningful the phrase “God bless America” is and whether it translates into purchases of consumer goods. The phrase is meaningful to two-thirds of Americans especially those calling themselves “born again” or “evangelicals.” Greater than one-fourth purchase consumer items with the phrase; it is particularly endearing to those with household income below $40,000óespecially when a high school diploma is the highest education level.

Cross-Cultural Comparisons of Interactivity on Corporate Websites: U.S., U.K., Japan and Korea • Chang-Hoan Cho and Hongsik Cheon, Florida • This study is a cross cultural examination of interactivity on U.S., U.K., Japanese and Korean corporate websites. Utilizing cultural difference criteria of high vs. low context, power distance and individualism-collectivism, this study compares three dimensions of interactivity on each country’s top 50 advertisers’ websites. Our findings indicate that western websites tend to emphasize consumer-message and consumer-advertiser interactivity, while eastern websites highlight consumer-consumer interactivity.

Who are the “Others”? Third-person Effects of Idealized Body Image in Magazine Advertisements • Yoonhyeung Choi and Glenn Leshner • Missouri-Columbia • This study examined the third-person effects of idealized body images in magazine advertisements by proposing the importance of gender-based “other” (male vs. female). Based on literature from reflected appraisal theory and third-person effects literature, we hypothesized that exposure to idea! body images would create larger third-person perceptions when the “others” were males. Findings confirmed that when “others” were defined based on gender, significant third-person perceptions occurred.

An Historical Analysis of Journalists’ Attitudes Toward Advertisers and Advertising’s Influence • Denise DeLorme and Fred Fedler, Central Florida • Journalists often seem to have contradictory attitudes toward advertisers and advertising’s influence. The relationship is necessary but complicated and no studies have investigated its historic roots. Thus, this paper explores the perspective of “journalism’s early insiders,” through an historical analysis of autobiographies, biographies, and magazine articles written by and about early U.S. newspaper reporters and editors. Results reveal eight interrelated factors contributing to the origins of these attitudes. The paper concludes with implications and future research recommendations.

The Demographic and Psychographic Antecedents of Attitude toward Advertising • Mohan Dutta-Bergman, Purdue • Attitude toward advertising has been widely researched in the last few decades. Its ubiquitous effect on the advertising industry manifests itself in the domain of consumer purchasing behavior and in the freedom of the industry in placing its messages in media outlets. Although the relationship of demographic variables with attitude toward advertising has been explored in past research, psychographic variables have not been looked at in the context of their effect on the construct.

Cultivation Effects of Television Viewing: A Study of Relationships Among Viewing, Materialism and Attitudes Towards Commercials • Dennis Ganahl, Hongwei Yang and Jie Lui, Southern Illinois-Carbondale • A survey of 358 college students in the U.S. examined the relationships among television viewing, materialism and the respondents attitudes toward television commercials. Television viewing was significantly correlated with materialism. This finding suggests that television viewing cultivates college students’ materialistic values. Viewing was also positively correlated with positive attitudes about commercials such as the identification with similar values as those represented in television commercials, the believability of television commercials and the identification of television commercials as a primary source for product information.

Consumer Recognition of Sports Event Sponsors: The Impact of Advertising, Ambushers, and Audience Factors • Kyoo-Hoon Han, Yongjun Sung, Spencer Tinkham, Georgia • Considering rapid changes in sports marketing environments and growing interest in sports event sponsorship, the present study examines what factors might affect consumer recognition of the official sponsors for a recent global sports event: the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Based upon marketing literature and prior empirical findings, five factors ó ambusher presence, advertising expenditure, country of origin, sports event involvement, and gender ó are predicted to influence the consumersí level of sponsor recognition.

Strategies for the Super Bowl of Advertising: An Analysis of Message and Creative Strategies for Commercials and Related Web Sites • Juran Kim, Jang-Sun Hwang and Sally McMillan, Tennessee-Knoxville • Super Bowl advertising provides an ideal venue for exploring message and creative strategies in commercials and related Web sites. This study found television commercials more often use transformational strategies while Web sites are more informational. Message strategies were generally more consistent across media than were creative strategies. Some unexpected relationships were found between message and creative strategies, but these and other findings point to the importance of tailoring messages to meet technological capabilities of media.

Proactive and Retroactive Position Effects And a System for Evaluating Pod Positions (SEPP) • Koanghyub Kim, W. Joann Wong, Xinshu Zhao, North Carolina at Chapel Hill • no abstract available.

Do Sport Sponsorship Announcements Influence Firm Stock Prices? The Wall Street Journal Effect • Lance Kinney and Gregg Bell, Alabama • Event sponsorship is among the fastest growing areas of marketing communication. Sponsorship funds exceeded the 2001 expenditures for cable television, syndicated television, national newspaper, outdoor, national spot radio, Sunday magazines and network radio combined. However, measuring the value of sports sponsorship is a consistent problem for event producers and event sponsors. Event study methodology allows event and sponsoring brand managers to assess the impact of sports sponsorship announcements on financial markets.

When Patients Influence Physicians: Empowerment of Fine-Print Readers by Direct-To-Consumer Drug Advertising and Implications to the Two-Step Flow Model • Annisa Lee, North Carolina • “The Large Print Giveth, and the Small Print Taketh Away” is a common expression to describe the deceptiveness and uselessness of product ads and fine print in general. The situation is completely different in drug ads. This paper will show that for drug ads, “The Large Print Giveth, and the Small Print Giveth even more.” A survey of 1081 participants indicates that fine print reading of drug ads affects changes in attitudinal and behavioral aspects in patients.

Public Attitudes toward Advertising: Trends and Predictors • Tien-tsung Lee, Washington State and Martin Horm, DDB Worldwide • Using a series of surveys conducted annually between 1975 and 2002, changes of public attitudes toward advertising were analyzed. Contrary to the findings of recent studies, the present research shows that American consumers hold increasingly positive attitudes toward advertising over the past few decades. In addition, predictors of such attitudes were identified using a 2001 survey.

Academic Institutional Television Commercials: A Comparison of Universities • Brian Parker and Gail Baker, Florida • This study cataloged the application of academic institutional advertisements and provided empirical documentation of 153 executional items. A content analysis of commercials from AAU leading research universities and other large non-AAU universities demonstrated significant variations in benefits communicated, commercial tone, image based claims, and the utilization of a spokesperson. In general, academic institutional advertisements combine a general message about the university reputation while promoting the product/service offered by the institution to prospective audiences.

From Information Retrieval to Actual Purchase: A Path Analysis of the Online Purchase Decision Making Process Among U.S. and Indian Consumers • Padmini Patwardhan • Texas Tech and Jyotika Ramaprasad, Southern Illinois • Drawing from theories of consumer decision making that posit hierarchies and exploiting their match with the components of online purchasing, this study first proposes a path model of online purchase decision making and then empirically examines it for U.S. and Indian consumers. The model integrates two stages-knowledge and behavior-of the rational consumer behavior hierarchy with a two-stage beliefs-action hierarchy.

Advertising in Bulgaria: Prospects and Challenges in this Struggling Democracy • John Schweitzer, Bradley • The main objective of this study was to explore the history and evolution of advertising in Bulgaria. It begins with an overview of the country’s history and society and then examines the variables that affect its advertising industry: geography, transportation and population; the historical and cultural context of the country; the political and legal environment; the social and economic context and the state of the media.

An Empirical Investigation of the Relationship of Television Program and Advertising Delivery • June-Young Song and Kuen- Hee Ju-Pak, California State University-Fullerton • The present study investigated the relationship between program and advertising delivery by examining the people meter data of AC Nielsen Korea. Results indicate a large gap between the two types of delivery, which questions the current practice of equating the program delivery with the delivery for an ad inserted in the program. The relationship between the two measures was found to be moderated by various audience-related and communication context factors.

Anti-Drug Ads: Do Traditional Attitude Measures Exaggerate Their Effectiveness? • Carson B Wagner, Texas-Austin • Due to their obtrusiveness, the sensitive nature of illicit drugs, and research situation demands, self-report attitude measures used in anti- drug ad studies may produce exaggerated estimates of message effectiveness. To explore this possibility, a between-participants experiment (N = 25) was run to compare traditional self-report measures with newly-emerging, less obtrusive response latency attitude measures. Results indicate that self-report measures tend to magnify drug ad effects as compared to response latency measures.

You’re so Vain! The Influence of Personal Vanity in the Perception of Magazine Advertising • Tom Weir, and Roy Kelsey, Oklahoma State • This study attempts to fill a void in advertising literature by assessing the role of personal vanity in the perception of advertising. Subjects were rated for vanity on the scales of Netemeyer, Burton and Lichtenstein (1995), and subsequently asked to rate their perception of magazine ads. Results indicate that parts of the scale are more predictive than others. Regression analyses reveal that the more important parts of vanity are internal for men, and external for women.

Do the Number and Type of Sources Used to Appear to be Related to Infomerical Success? An Exploratory Study • Jan Wicks, Katy Widder and Robert Brady • Arkansas • This preliminary study examined whether infomercials having a greater than average or modal number of sources were more successful, using an industry measure of success, than those using fewer sources. Sources that past research suggested were persuasive were coded as present or absent (e.g. celebrity, expert) and summed to create a total number of sources in each infomerical. Results suggest that infomercials having more sources are more successful in generating sales.

The Test of the Effectiveness of Product Placements in Video Games: Comparing Explicit and Implicit Memory for Grand Names • Moonhee Yang, Lucian Dinu and David Roskos-Ewoldsen, Alabama • Given the increasing practice of brand and product placements in video games, this study examined the effects of placed brands on the game playersí memory. Both implicit and explicit memory for brands placed in two sports games were tested using a word fragment test, and a recognition task, respectively. The results indicated that although the players did not perform well on explicit memory (recognition test), they showed implicit memory (word-fragment test) for the brand names placed in video games.

SPECIAL TOPICS
Product Placement from Lumiere to E.T.: The Development of Advertising in Motion Pictures • Jay Newell, Iowa State and Charles Salmon, Michigan State• The practice of inserting trademarked products into popular entertainment in order to stimulate consumption, variously called “product placement” and “brand placement,” has been an integral part of advertising long before “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial” followed a trail of Reeceís Pieces out of the woods. Using internal documents from motion picture studios, advertising agencies and public relations firms, this paper traces the development of product placement from its beginnings with Sunlight Soap in the Lumiere films of the mid-1890s through the success of E.T. and Reece’s Pieces in 1982.

An Assessment of Consumer Attitudes toward Direct Marketing Channels: A Comparison between Unsolicited E-Mail and Postal Direct Mail • Susan Chang, Mariko Morimoto, Michigan State • An examination of consumer attitudes towards two major direct marketing methods, unsolicited e-mail and postal direct mail, Psychological Reactance Theory was used to determine what factors might influence consumers’ attitudes toward each communication method. Focus groups were conducted to discover the common themes and to identify the influential factors. The results of this study indicated that in comparison, unsolicited e-mails were more problematic than postal direct mail due to the inconvenience that spam presented to consumers.

Advertising Theory Beyond the Context of Advertising: Taylor’s Six-Segment Message Strategy Wheel Offers an Integrated Model of Political Science Theory • Anne Cunningham and Eric Jenner, Louisiana State • In an effort to integrate several decades of research on voter behavior this paper turns to four decades of consumer behavior research, culminating in two advertising planning models: FCB Grid and Six-Segment Message Strategy Wheel. After outlining the debate over the rationality of voting behavior and political involvement, we suggest that much of the political science research can be integrated if examined through Taylor’s Strategy Wheel. In seeking to integrate current findings in advertising and political science, this paper offers a contribution to both fields of inquiry.

Latino Consumer Behavior and Acculturation: A Communication Model • Olaf Werder, New Mexico and Frank G. Perez, Texas at El Paso • The fastest growing and largest consumer segment in the U.S. is the Latino market with a combined buying power of $630 billion. Given that several variables affect the consumer behavior of individuals and that Latino consumers are in a state of cultural flux, a variety of misperceptions exist that prevent successful advertising communication to U.S. Latino audiences. The goal of this study is to introduce a decision making model as it relates to Latino consumer behavior.

Hard-Sell Killers and Soft-Sell Poets: Modern Advertising’s Enduring Message Strategy Debate • Fred K. Beard, Oklahoma • The historical study of the advertising trade literature reported in this paper sought to describe and explain the nature of the enduring debate between advocates of hard- and soft-sell advertising. Data consisted of works published primarily in Printers’ Ink, supplemented with contemporary professional thought identified in advertising and marketing trade journals. The findings of the study are consistent, overall, with what many might consider to be the “received view” of modern advertising.

Exporting the “Fun, Fearless Female”: Cosmopolitan Magazine as a Case Study of a Global Media Brand • Michelle R. Nelson, Wisconsin-Madison and Hye-Jin Paek, Wisconsin-Madison• This case study is the first to examine branding for an international media brand. We compare Cosmopolitan magazine packaging (look and feel), editorial content, and advertising across Brazil, France, India, South Korea, Thailand, United Kingdom, and USA. Descriptive content analyses, in-depth examinations, and an interview with a local editor are used to explore strategies. Results intimate that while Cosmopolitan aims to create a standardized brand, the nature of the medium suggests some localization is necessary.

First- and Third-Person Perceptions of Advertising Images and Stereotyping:
An Inter-Generational Perspective • Tom Robinson, Brigham Young and Don Umphery, Southern Methodist • This study examines the relationship between third-person perceptions and stereotypes by determining on what basis older people and younger people perceive each other. More specifically, when individuals look at positive or negative images in advertisements what will be their perception of the effects those images will have on others. The results indicate that a third- and first- person perception does exist and that young people are influenced by stereotypes when making decisions about older people.

Warning Signals, Wind Speeds and What Next: A Pilot Project for Disaster Preparedness Among Residents of Central Vietnam’s Lagoons • Jyotika Ramaprasad, Southern Illinois • This paper describes a pilot disaster risk communication campaign that was designed and is in its final stages of implementation in Central Vietnam. Central Vietnam is highly prone to water related disasters, which cause enormous loss of lives and livelihood and make sustainable development almost impossible. Residents in the lagoons of Central Vietnam, who are particularly vulnerable because of their proximity to water, were the target audience for this project.

STUDENT
Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertising on Television: A Pilot Study • Juhee Cho, Arkansas • The goal of this pilot study is to see whether Direct-to-Consumer TV ads contain adequate information for consumers. This study analyzed eleven DTC prescription drug ads for the most heavily advertised drugs between 1999-2000. The results shows that information in DTC ads is not balanced and informative for consumers, suggesting the FDA should regulate DTC TV ads more closely to ensure public health.

Gender, Ethnicity and Ethnicity/Gender Relations Represented in Advertising Claims: An Analysis of Persuasive Techniques in Primetime TV Commercials Across 18 Channels • Jongbae Hong, Eunseon Kwon, Jeongseon Kwon and Suijeong Kim, Southern Illinois-Carbondale • This study investigates the reciprocal relationships between gender, ethnicity, and ethnicity/gender relations and persuasive advertising techniques, portrayed in primetime TV commercials across 18 channels. The findings of this study suggest that although men, white, and white men tended to use deceptive pseudo-verbal techniques most frequently, white men’s prestige were protected by their most frequest appearance in the use of extremely sophisticated visual techniques, resulting in the victimization of other cultural groups or as a result of other cultural groups’ victimization.

The Portrayal of Older People in Television Advertisements: A Cross-Cultural Content Analysis of the United States and South Korea • Byongkwan Lee, Michigan State and Bong-Chul Kim, Korea Broadcasting Advertising Corporation • A cross-cultural content analysis of 2,295 prime-time television ads ó 859 ads from the United States and 1,436 ads from South Korea ó was conducted to examine the differences in the portrayal of older people between U.S. and Korean ads. In two countries, the underrepresentation of older people in ads was found in terms of proportions of the actual population.

To Vary or Not? Research Implications of Ad Variation in Web Advertising • Sang Yeal Lee, Pennsylvania State • The tremendous growth of the World Wide Web has attracted many advertisers who want to take advantage of the medium. However, as the novelty of the Web disappears and users become experts of the Web, declining advertising effectiveness has become an important issue for advertisers. This article explores the potential impact of ad variation to maintain or increase advertising effectiveness in Web context.

A Content Analysis of Print Advertising Appeals in Times of Crisis • Alexander Muk, Southern Mississippi • The basic element associated with an advertising strategy is the choice of advertising appeals. Advertising appeals are commonly categorized into two broad types of appeal: rational and emotional. The purpose of this paper is to use content analysis procedure empirically examining the impact of September 11 on service advertising in magazines. In times of crises, what kinds of advertising appeal are highly utilized in print advertising?

Perceptual Antecedents to Attitudes toward Internet Advertising in General • Xiaoli Nam, Minnesota • Based on Pollay and Mittalís (1993) 7-factor advertising belief model and Fishbein and Ajzenís (1975) attitude theory, which posits that beliefs are mediators of attitude formation/change, this study investigates beliefs toward Internet advertising as perceptual antecedents to attitudes toward Internet advertising in general. A survey was administrated to 192 college students.

Understanding Celebrity Endorsers in a Cross-Cultural Context: An Exploratory Analysis of South Korean and U.S. Advertising • Hye-Jin Paek, Wisconsin-Madison • This study links McCraken’s “cultural meaning transfer” model (1989) with Hofstede’s cultural typology, to understand cultural meanings of celebrity endorsers in cross-cultural advertising. The content analysis of South Korean and US newspaper ads finds that ads in a high uncertainty avoidance and power distance culture employ a greater number of celebrity endorses and that there is some possibility for international advertisers to use standardized celebrity endorser strategy. Implications and directions for future studies are discussed.

Fighting to the Finish: Advertising and Public Opinion at the End of World War II • Robert A. Rabe, Wisconsin-Madison • This paper examines twar-related advertising at the end of World War II and efforts by the War Advertising Council and other groups to urge Americans to refocus their attention on the Pacific War in the final months of conflict. It discusses the debate within the industry over reconversion and advertising postwar consumer products and the role that advertising played in shaping Americans’ attitudes about the end of the war.

Gender Role Stereotyping in Children’s Television Advertising, 2003: A Cross-Cultural Study of the United States and South Korea • Eun-Jung Roh, Ohio • This study examined gender role portrayals in a sample of 212 television advertisements featuring children in programming aimed at children in the United States and South Korea. The results of the study showed that the recent tendency to increase the proportion of girl’s characters and their independent interaction in the samples of both nations supports that gender portrayals in TV commercials have less stereotyped content than had been indicated by previous research.

Congruity Effect Hypothesis: Attentional Focus and Commercial Effectiveness • Sela Sar, Minnesota • The purpose of this study was to investigate congruity effect. The congruity between subject’s attentional focus and commercial content was studied. Subjects were randomly assigned to either cognitive and/or affective attentional focus conditions. Subjects in both conditions were told to watch one television program segment. Attentional focus was directly manipulated. Subject’s attentional focus was manipulated through instructions and a television program segment.

TEACHING
Account Planning and Underground Education: Preparing Strategic Thinkers • Kendra Gale and Brett Robbs, Colorado-Boulder • Based on depth interviews with senior planners and planning directors from major U.S. agencies, this paper identifies the skills advertising agencies look for in entry level account planners as well as typical responsibilities of junior planners. While business and research understanding are vital areas of knowledge, interviewees repeatedly stressed the value of integrative thinking skills. Potential implications for curriculum development are discussed.

Attitudes Toward Grades Among Advertising Students: Creative Orientation, GPA, Gender and Other Factors • Don Umphrey and Jami A. Fullerton, Southern Methodist • Attitudes toward grades were measured among advertising majors at two universities. More favorable attitudes toward grades were found among underclass students, while more advanced students were more jaundiced in their attitudes. Findings indicated that female students were more favorably disposed toward grades, but perhaps this was a reflection of their higher GPAs. Those interested in the creative aspects of advertising demonstrated ambivalence. Attitudes toward professors were not necessarily tied to attitudes toward grades.

Legal Obligations to Students with Invisible Disabilities: What Advertising Teachers Need to Know about Working with Learning-Disabled Students in Team-based Classes • Debbie Treise, Elaine Wagner, Lindsay Minter and Linda Correll, Florida • This study investigates accommodation of learning-disabled (LD) students in team-based classes, such as Advertising Campaigns, from the perspective of deans of students, university general counsels and faculty attorneys. Four themes emerged, that could be important for faculty when LD students identify themselves: be proactive about disabilities guidelines, communicate with disabilities offices and to the student; set up and define rules in the syllabus by which students can assess progress; and share responsibilities with disabilities officers.

Applications of Q Methodology to In-class Advertising Research Projects • Douglas Blanks Hindman, Washington State • Audience research can help guide the development of a creative strategy by suggesting target audiences and advertising themes that would be particularly appealing to those audiences. This paper describes how Q methodology can be used as an alternative to survey research and focus group studies for in-class advertising research projects. The paper provides examples of how the technique has been used by students to develop creative strategies and evaluate existing campaigns.

<< 2003 Abstracts

Commission on the Status of Women

Medea in the Media: Maternal Myths in Print News Coverage of Women Who Kill Their Children • Barbara Barnett, University of Kansas • In reporting news stories about women who kill their children, journalists often employ myths of the “good mother/bad mother” to explain a crime that is both heinous and enigmatic. A qualitative narrative analysis of more than 200 news articles over a 15-year period found that journalists classify murderous mothers as either “perfect” women, who tried hard to be superior caregivers but were overcome by the pressures of mothering, or “imperfect” women, who shirked their maternal duties altogether.

Gender Portrayals in Sports Programming Commercials: A Content Analysis • Courtney F. Carpenter, University of Alabama • Research on gender portrayals in advertising has consistently demonstrated that even as social attitudes change, females are still stereotyped in advertisements throughout all media. This research investigates the portrayals of men and women in ads broadcast during sporting events. Males are more likely to be portrayed in stereotypical ways during male sports programs. Male narrators are used far more often than female narrators. Male programming is significantly more likely to feature a broader array of male stereotyped product categories.

Moving Beyond Job Satisfaction: A Qualitative Analysis of Women Journalists’ Turnover Decisions • Cindy Elmore, East Carolina University • Most studies addressing journalist turnover have surveyed current journalists, and few have focused on women. Here, 15 women former journalists were interviewed at length about their turnover decisions. An analysis yielded themes and a description of the turnover decision process that went beyond mere job satisfaction. The women’s experiences corresponded to Mobley’s turnover decision model and Valian’s findings about women’s slow rate of progress in the professions and the consequent alteration of their previous ambitions.

“Miss Marple with Barracuda Teeth”: Gendered Coverage of Governor Olene Walker in the Utah Press • Jenille Fairbanks and Holly Cox, Brigham Young University • With the August 2003 nomination of Governor Mike Leavitt to the EPA, Utah’s highest government office was filled—for the first time—by a woman. As Olene Walker was propelled to the forefront of the public agenda, journalists faced the novel task of introducing and covering a 72-year-old female governor. This paper explores gendered frames applied to Governor Walker by the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret Morning News during her transition to, and first months in, office.

Male And Female Sources In Newspaper Coverage Of Male And Female Candidates In Open Races For Governor In 2002 • Eric Freedman and Frederick Fico, Michigan State University • This study assessed how capital city newspapers used male and female experts and non-expert, uncommitted sources in covering 2002 races for open governorships. It examined four states with a female nominee and five states where both major candidates were male. Regardless of the candidates’ gender, the overwhelming majority of nonpartisan sources cited were male. Female non-expert sources appeared far less than their proportion in the population. The story proportion of women experts reflected the gender imbalance of experts recommended by university news bureaus. Female reporters, however, had a greater tendency than their male colleagues to cite female nonpartisan sources.

The Queen of Questions: Washington Correspondent Sarah McClendon Championed Citizens’ Right to Know • Cary Roberts Frith, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • Sarah McClendon, the nation’s longest-serving Washington correspondent, covered twelve presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to George W. Bush. This paper addresses McClendon’s controversial reputation as an outspoken female journalist doggedly pursuing stories of interest to her readers. Specifically, it explores the most famous — or infamous — questions she asked at White House press conferences, her reasons for asking them, how presidents responded to them, and how her colleagues in the press corps covered them.

Mapping the Sea of Eating Disorders: A Structural Equation Model of How Peers, Family and Media Influence Body Image and Eating Disorders • J. Robyn Goodman, University of Florida • This paper used a structural model to investigate how family, peers and media influence body image and eating disorders. Because previous research indicates many potential influences as explanatory factors for negative body image and eating disorders (see Thompson et al., 1999), researchers have proposed several integrative models that include peer, family and media as casual factors. However, none have been fully tested. The model revealed that media pressure and peer’s dieting talk and behaviors were the greatest influences on thinness awareness, thinness internalization, social comparison, which in turn influenced body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness and eating disordered behaviors.

Advertising Images of Females in Seventeen: Positions of Power or Powerless Positions? • Frances E. Gorman, University of Kansas • A semiotic analysis, informed by feminist theory, is used to determine how advertisements in Seventeen magazine depict myths of femininity, i.e. whether females as portrayed as delicate, as subordinate vs. independent and as possessing sexual power. The majority of ads in Seventeen displayed females as subordinate rather than independent. Powerful sexuality was also observed. Analyzing the meanings behind these images provides insight on the identities of teens and their need for widespread media literacy.

Pinkifying the Brand: Early Nike Women’s Advertising and the Evolution of Mediated Representations of Female Athletes • Jean M. Grow, Marquette University • This paper analyzes the first seven years of Nike women’s advertising. The study addresses how the creative process was influenced by the creative team’s everyday life experiences, both inside and outside of Nike, and how those experiences impacted the advertising they produced. The paper suggests that in spite of Nike’s early concern that women’s advertising might “pinkify” the brand, the advertising ultimately had a positive influence on Nike, as well as on current images of female athletes.

Taking Feminism’s Pulse: The Women’s Health Movement in the Ladies’ Home Journal Health Coverage Between 1969 and 1975 • Amanda Hinnant, Northwestern University • What kind of information did readers of the Ladies’ Home journal receive about women’s health during feminism’s second wave? This paper responds to that question by qualitatively examining how the Journal tackled issues that the Women’s Health Movement likewise deemed important. Though both the movement and the magazine shared the common liberal-feminist goal of educating women about health, the Journal did not often advocate a radical-feminist critique of the health care system.

Progress at a Snail’s Pace: An Exploration of Women Communication Faculty’s Sex-Specific Professional Concerns • Lisa Joy Lyon and Keisha Hoerrner, Kennesaw State University • A national survey building on earlier data of female AEJMC faculty members was conducted to explore gender-specific job stressors and the support mechanisms in place to help alleviate them. The top professional concerns were (1) lack of time to do research, (2) salary, and (3) organizational politics. The current top items reveal little differences over time from the past five years. Despite some incremental improvements, change in academy appears to be slow.

Jeanne Toomey, Homicide Reporter and Alcoholic, Still Laughing: From the First Post, the Bergen Street Shack, To “The Last Post,” A Cat House in Connecticut • Beverly G. Merrick, New Mexico State University • How does one measure the lessons learned by a journalistic odyssey? Homeric myth does not describe the odyssey of heroic women. No one is waiting to welcome the troubled hero home after she has weathered the storms, fought the battles. However, if one defines the odyssey by looking at the barriers Jeanne Toomey had to overcome to open doors for other women in the journalism profession, her life is quite remarkable. She dared to break the stereotypes, to literally crack the molds into which she was cast. She gained respect for herself in the process, while keeping a sense of humor.

Framing the Internet in Gendered Spaces: An Analysis of iVillage and Askmen.com • Cindy Royal, University of Texas at Austin • While access to the Internet in the U.S. is reaching parity between males and females, over time, gender differences in terms of usage, agency, and representation with technology are becoming evident. With many studies characterizing the gender divide as eliminated, attention is diverted from other types of divides. The purpose of this study is to identify trends in content on two sites, iVillage and AskMen.com, that can contribute to different attitudes about using Internet technology.

Virtual Girls: A Framing Analysis of Girlhood in Two Online Girls’ Magazines • Helena K. Särkiö, University of Florida • The purpose of research was to identify constructions of girlhood online through study of sites for teenage girls. Of interest also was whether online constructions of girlhood may differ according to sites’ tie-ins with offline print media and their owners. Informed by a cultural studies perspective, framing analysis was conducted on two online girls’ magazines; the hyper-commercial cosmogirl.com and the ultimate e-zine, purplepjs.com. Both hegemonic and counter-hegemonic constructions were found, but one can only speculate about the relationship to media ownership.

Wrapped Up in Pink Ribbon: The Mediated Construction of Breast-Cancer Reality • Janet Tate, University of Tennessee • This content analysis compared breast-cancer information from 1,085 medical-literature citations with that found in 118 women’s – magazine articles over the eleven-year period of 1992 through 2002. These comparisons were then analyzed to see if the medical literature’s findings were accurately represented in the women’s magazines, and to determine if a preexisting trend toward reporting on cause rather than on other breast-cancer issues continues.

Essence Essentials: African American Women and the Performance of Class • Jennifer Bailey Woodard, Middle Tennessee State University • The ethnographic focus group is used in this audience-centered study as the primary method to reveal the everyday use that Black women make of Essence as they negotiate class values within the pages of the magazine and within their own interpretative communities. This feminist cultural studies research formulates a theory of how Essence serves as both liberator and hegemonic oppressor in the social construction of meaning.

<< 2004 Abstracts

Science Communication Interest Group

The making of a menace? A qualitative framing analysis of how newspapers covered the prescription drug OxyContin • S. Camille Broadway and Kim Walsh-Childers, University of Florida • This study scrutinizes newspaper coverage of the prescription painkiller OxyContin between 2000 and 2002, when OxyContin abuse became a common story topic. Through qualitative analysis, the study identifies three dominant frames: menace; blame and responsibility; and pain. The study discusses the anecdotes, sources, narratives, word choice, and metaphors that make up each frame in an attempt to understand the “common sense” understanding of the issue the coverage created.

“An Examination of Scientific and Cultural Controversy Through an Ethical Lens” A Case Study of Mediated Discourse about Kennewick Man • Cynthia-Lou Coleman, Portland State University • The authors propose a reconceptualization of the technical rationality-cultural rationality framework in risk communication theory by incorporating the philosophical anthropology approach to ethics into the model. Borrowing from the work of Clifford Christians, the authors offer a framework for criticism that encompasses rationality, pluralism and ethical considerations. The authors argue that merging the numerous overlapping constructs of philosophical anthropology (Christians, 1997; Christians & Traber, 1997; Wilkins & Christians, 2001), technical progress (Habermas, 1970), positivist coverage (Priest, 1995), technical rationality (Plough & Krimsky, 1987), cultural rationality (Coleman, 1995), and news framing (Scheufele, 1999), will result in a richer theoretical understanding of news coverage of scientific controversies.

Altruism, Self-Interest, and the Reasonable Person Model of Environmentally Responsible Behavior • Julia B. Corbett, University of Utah • This study operationalized a new model of environmental behavior to test its utility in predicting the relatively hard task of getting people out of their cars. The Reasonable Person Model of environmentally responsible behavior (Kaplan 2000) hypothesizes that a mix of self-interest, altruism, personal norms, desirable choices, and participatory problem-solving are the best predictors of behavior. In a random sample telephone survey of drivers (N=344) along the Wasatch Front, all independent variables were significantly correlated to behavior with the exception of one personal control measure. Multiple regression model found that 52 percent of the variance in environmentally responsible behavior was predicted by the independent variables (R2-.52, p<.001). However, none of the measures of personal control contributed significantly to the model.

To Drill Or Not To Drill? Assessments Of News Coverage And Citizen Opinions Regarding U.S. Environmental Policies • Cindy T. Christen, Colorado State University • This experiment examined assessments of the slant and reach of local and national news articles, as well as the influence of personal opinion, on assessments of public opinion regarding two U.S. environmental policy issues: oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and ratification of the Kyoto treaty on global warming. While the perceived slant of environmental news articles proved to be a fairly robust predictor of nonpartisans’ public opinion estimates, support for an effect of perceived media reach on opinion judgments was mixed. Exposure to news articles that contradicted personal views appeared to enhance the tendency of partisans and nonpartisans to project their own opinions onto others.

Social Change and Status Quo Framing Effects on Risk Perception: An Exploratory Experiment • Jessica L. Durfee, University of Utah • Operating from a “guard dog” perspective of the media, this study investigated whether “social change” or “status quo” news frames affected individuals’ risk perceptions, using an experimental design. The participants who read the story with the social change frame reported the highest level of risk awareness (F34.88, p = .00), indicating that the way the media frames a story about environmental health issues has the potential to influence the audience’s perception of risk.

An Ounce of Prevention: The Role of Critical Thinking and Message Frames in Addressing Low-involvement Environmental Risks • Susan Grantham, University of Hartford and Tracy Irani, University of Florida • This study examined the relationship of critical thinking dispositions and message frames on the attitude – intent – behavior relationship toward a low-involvement environmental risk. No interaction between critical thinking disposition and message version was observed. However, a main effect for message version indicated that respondents who received the positively framed message (benefit) held a stronger attitude and stronger behavioral intent than subjects who received the negatively framed (cost) or control message.

Optimistic Bias about Cancer Risk and Information Sources in Appalachia • Hong Ji and Daniel Riffe, Ohio University • This study examined relationships of Appalachian residents’ optimistic bias to their knowledge about cancer and information source. A significant but slight relationship between optimistic bias and cancer knowledge was found. Optimistic bias was not significantly related to the ease of access to health information, or to number and types of sources identified.

Communicating Clinical Trials and Public Opinion • Maria Len-Rios, University of Kansas • The Institutes of Medicine says it is imperative to ensure that Americans become involved in the clinical research enterprise. A regional telephone survey of U.S. adults (N=426) is used to explore how people learn about clinical trials, what sources people rely on for medical information, and to predict intentions to participate in clinical trials. Results show radio is an important medium. Participants relied on physicians, books and health magazines for health information.

Teens and Contraception: Using Social Judgment Theory to Predict Young Adult Attitude Changes and Create Persuasive Campaigns • Carolyn Ringer Lepre, Cal-State University at Chico • Adolescents and young adult sexuality is a subject of considerable concern in the United States today. It is estimated that 3 million teenagers are infected with sexually transmitted diseases each year. HIV/AIDS has been the sixth leading cause of death among 15- to 24-year-olds in the United States since 1991. By December 2002, more than 301,000 persons between the ages of 20 to 34 have been diagnosed with AIDS, meaning most were probably infected while they were teens due to the long incubation period between HIV infection and AIDS diagnosis. This study uses principles of social judgment theory to create an experimental newspaper article, designed to measure how an exposure to a birth control article with an embedded message might change individual attitudes.

Media Response to Bioterrorism and Emerging Infectious Diseases: Pressing Problems and Plausible Solutions • Wilson Lowry, William Evans, Jennifer A. Robinson and Karla G. Gower, University of Alabama • In this manuscript we identify the most pressing problems faced by journalists and public information officers who respond to health-related emergencies, especially emergencies related to bioterrorism and emerging infectious diseases. We also suggest plausible solutions to these problems. This menu of key problems and proposed solutions was developed through interviews with experts in journalism, bioterrorism, public health, and health and risk communication. A framework from the sociology of news is used to contextualize our research questions and to make sense of our experts’ comments and concerns.

Conflicted Scientists: The “Shared Pool” Dilemma of Scientific Advisory Committees • Katherine A. McComas, Cornell University and Leah Simone Tuite, University of Maryland • Science advisors play an integral part in government policy making, yet these advisors are often equally attractive to regulated industry. Despite efforts to manage conflicts of interest among science advisors, allegations of conflict frequently plague advisory committee deliberations or outcomes. This paper examines the so-called “shared pool” dilemma using data collected from 92 members of 11 Food and Drug Administration advisory committees. Results examine members’ views regarding committee impartiality and fairness of conflict of interest procedures.

Public Discourse and Scientific Controversy: A Spiral of Silence Analysis of Biotechnology Opinion in the U.S. • Susanna Hornig Priest, Jaejin Lee and Gayathri Sivakumar, Texas A&M University • This analysis applies spiral of silence theory to public opinion about biotechnology in the United States. A substantial minority in the U.S. has reservations in this area. Evidence is presented that a spiral of silence, as conventionally measured, has developed. However, other dynamics – including the greater willingness to speak out of those who believe themselves more knowledgeable, as well as differences among groups who apply different forms of moral reasoning – are also at work.

Adolescent and Young Adult Processing of Science Information from a News and an Entertainment Source • Donna Rouner, Marilee Long, Lina Saldarriaga and Carrie Browder Gragg, Colorado State University • A sample of 160 responded to either a newspaper story or a proposed situation comedy script about a new birth control method. Covariates included beliefs, self-efficacy, involvement and gender. Although the newspaper story showed greater recall and more positive thoughts about the innovation, the proposed situation comedy script elicited more favorable thoughts about the medium. Gender differences on sexual beliefs, self-efficacy and thoughts elaborate the findings.

Reinforcing Cultural Representations of Gender and Science: Portrayals of Women Scientists and Engineers in Popular Films • Jocelyn Steinke, Western Michigan University • This study analyzed cultural representations of gender conveyed though images of female scientists and engineers in popular films from 1991 to 2001. While a significant number of women scientists and engineers were presented as equal and valued members of research teams, the portrayals often focused on the women’s attractiveness and beauty and their romantic relationships. Some of the traditional stereotypical images of scientists as lonely, mad, nerdy, social outcasts also were noted.

<< 2004 Abstracts

Religion and Media Interest Group

Discord and religious identity: News framing of Muslims in the Kashmir conflict. • Sandhya Bhattacharya, Pennsylvania State University • For the past five decades (and more) the state of Jammu and Kashmir has been a territory of contention between India and Pakistan. This paper examines the conflict in Kashmir from a religious perspective. Given the growing popularity of a Hindutva ideology and increasing communal tensions within the country, the study asks how Muslims in Kashmir, Pakistan, and India are framed with regard to the conflict. Content analysis has been used to identify news framing patterns of Muslims. Results indicate that Indian newspapers do indeed focus more on Muslims than Hindus and that news frames of Muslims tend to be a lot more negative than positive. Implications of such framing patterns are discussed with regard to the nature of communal relations (between Hindus and Muslims) in India.

Spirituality Online: Teen Friendship Circles and the Internet • Lynn Schofield Clark, University of Colorado • Several recent studies of religion and online virtual communities have set out to demonstrate the ways in which the Internet is radically altering how people experience and participate in religious life in contemporary society. With its starting point in the “offline” social environment of young people, this article expands upon that research, offering an analysis of narratives gathered with in-depth individual interviews and focus groups. The paper explores how young people of various levels of religious commitment are using new communication technologies in relation to their religious practices and beliefs. It argues for an analysis that views teens as both consumers and producers of religious and spiritual meaning online.

The Gospel of Freedom and Liberty: George W. Bush, the “War on Terror,” and an Echoing Press • David Domke, Kevin Coe and Robert Tynes, University of Washington • Freedom and liberty long have been core elements of U.S. national identity, dating to the mythic founding of the nation as a republic that would serve as a beacon of democracy. In the months following the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration emphasized these values in reconstructing what Niebuhr has called a nation’s positive “social myth”: a culturally embedded narrative that distinguishes a nation from others, justifies its existence, and establishes a sense of superiority to others. The focus of this manuscript is on how these values were presented in presidential communications and, in turn, often “echoed” by news coverage — as defining moral qualities of the nation that were divinely desired for all peoples, with the United States as the God-chosen promoter and defender of the values. The argument here is that such claims were simultaneously rooted in religious fundamentalism while engendering political capital in this period of crisis.

Independent News Web Sites’ Coverage of Religious Freedom and Restraints on Religion in Central Asia • Eric Freedman and Maureen Walton, Michigan State University • The five Central Asian governments tightly control religious freedom and practices. Most mass media is state-owned or tightly controlled, and journalists exercise self-censorship even without official censorship. One result is a dearth of reporting by domestic media about religious freedom issues. Western-based Web news sites provide alternative venues for covering these issues. This study examines types of religion-related coverage by three Web news sites, their use of unnamed sources and journalists’ pseudonyms, and where their journalists report from.

A Quantitative Comparison of the Portrayals of Islam in British and American Newspapers • Mark Hungerford, University of Texas at Austin • This content analysis contrasted coverage of Islam in four prominent newspapers in America and Britain during the two years after September 11, 2001. Five variables were coded on stories about Islam: if it appeared in a conflict frame; if Muslims were depicted as violent; context of coverage; valence of coverage; and lexical usage of the adjectives “Muslim” and “Islamic.” Overall, coverage varied little among the four papers, suggesting similar news values about Islam in both countries.

“We can get redress nowhere”: Seditious libel and free expression for early nineteenth century Native Americans, as told in Indian Nullification by William Apess, • Kevin R. Kemper, University of Missouri at Columbia • William Apess, a Native American preacher and political activist, used press clippings in a book entitled Indian Nullification of the Unconstitutional Laws of Massachusetts Relative to the Marshpee Tribe to defend himself against a charge of seditious libel and build a case against his ministerial accusers. Also, his story gives a glimpse into the meaning of free expression during the 1830s in Massachusetts, as well as introduces Apess to journalism and mass communication scholars.

Mapping the Landscape of Compassionate Conservatism: Analyzing the Moral Vocabulary of a Religious and Political Discourse • Brian M. Lowe, SUNY at Oneonta • Since its emergence in 1998, the term “compassionate conservatism” has drawn varying degrees of media attention as to how it synthesized particular religious conceptions of charity and service with recent understandings of (neo) conservatism. This paper utilizes the moral vocabularies strategy (Lowe, 2002) to examine the compassionate conservatism discourse as articulated in the documents in the Compassionate Conservatism Archive at the White House web site. This analysis focuses on examining what specific moral claims and policies were promoted by the Bush Administration as “compassionate conservatism” in order to construct an ideal type of what constitutes this emerging form of political and religious discourse.

Spirituality that Sells: An Analysis of Religious Imagery in Magazine Advertising • Rick Clifton Moore, Boise State University • Little research has been done on religious dimensions of one of the most powerful media forms, advertising. In this study I conducted a content analysis of advertisements in three popular national magazines to determine how much religious imagery is present in them, and how it is portrayed. Only a small number of ads were found to include religious images. Equally important, use of imagery from eastern religions was very different from use of western ones.

Dueling Southern Baptist Press Agencies: An Examination of Coverage of Denominational Controversies by Baptist Press and Associated Baptist Press • Bryan Murley, University of South Carolina • On July 17, 1990, the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee fired the two top journalists at Baptist Press, the official news agency of the SEC. In the wake of these firings, a group of Southern Baptist journalists formed the Associated Baptist Press. As the two agencies covered controversies within the denomination, it became evident that they were covering the same events from vastly different worldviews. This study examines themes that emerged from this coverage.

Religion in the Box: Religious Television Programming and Viewership in the Philippines • Elena E. Pernia, University of the Philippines • This study sought to discover religious cultural adaptation by Christian programs and networks in the Philippines, using a combination of content analysis, survey, and in-depth interviews. A good number of these programs exhibits adaptation in terms of content and production values. However, there is no conclusive evidence to indicate that audiences, who adherents of different Christian religions, have accommodated such shows as regular habit. Hence, the influence of these shows on audiences is limited.

Church and State in Utah: Local Newspaper Coverage of the LDS (Mormon) Church and Political Actors over a First Amendment Controversy • David W. Scott and Christopher S. McDonald, University of South Carolina • This study compares an LDS Church-owned newspaper with a secular newspaper in their portrayals of the LDS Church and city officials during a political controversy. Both newspapers emphasized Conflict. The secular newspaper discursively constructed the political divide as primarily religious (framing Mormons as exerting undo influence on politics). While the church-owned newspaper acknowledged the religious divide, emphasis was placed more on divisions between local lawmakers and the mayor.

John Bascom’s Journalism: Moral Force and Proto-Progressivism • Jeffery A. Smith, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee • One liberal Christian and reform writer often overlooked in histories of the Social Gospel movement and the Progressive Era is John Bascom (1827-1911), a moral philosopher whose books and essays were in the forefront of American religious and political thought. A severe critic of the shallow, sensational, and partisan newspapers of his time, Bascom looked deeper than current events and sought systematic cures for individual and social ills.

Architecture And Land Use As Religious Speech: A First Amendment Frontier • Robert L. Spellman, Southern Illinois at Carbondale • Faith communities speak through the location and design of their churches, synagogues, mosques and temples. Although below the radar screen of most of the public, a great conflict between faith communities and public authorities has ensued since the U.S. Supreme Court decided in Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith in 1990 that strict scrutiny did not apply when free exercise of religion was curtailed by laws of neutral applicability. The paper argues that free speech jurisprudence offers a constitutional shield for faith groups faced with government efforts to either control their location through zoning or dictate their message through architectural and historic preservation laws.

The New York Times’ Coverage of the Holocaust • Toby R. Stark and Beth Olsen, University of Houston • This content analysis examines the amount and type of media coverage of the Holocaust by the New York Times from 1933 – 1941, specifically related to the agenda-setting and framing theories. The New York Times was selected because it is considered an elite publication – other media outlets often cover an issue after it has been reported in the New York Times. Results show that the New York Times minimized the importance of the Holocaust in its coverage.

Geopolitical Imaginations about Mormons in News and Popular Magazines, 1910-2002 • Ethan Yorgason and Chiung Hwang Chen, Brigham Young University at Hawaii • This paper explores news and popular magazines’ portrayals of Mormonism through the lens of geopolitics. It argues that geopolitical reasoning dangerously exacerbates difference and represents people as essentialized and threatening Others. Media portrayal of Mormonism through Protestant inspired geopolitical reasoning was strong throughout the second half of the nineteenth century and the first decade and a half of the twentieth century. Geopolitical content in stories about Mormonism moderated in subsequent decades, but geopolitical reasoning flared up under liberal secular guises in the 1970s and 1980s. Continued use of geopolitical terminology and themes remains a problematic feature of stories about Mormonism.

<< 2004 Abstracts