Cultural and Critical Studies Division

“Did You See That?”: The Production and Reception of Socio-cultural Issues in Telenovelas • Carolina Acosta-Alzuru, University of Georgia • Consumed in over 130 countries around the world by audiences that transcend gender, age, class, national and cultural differences, telenovelas are fascinating media products that are particularly suitable for the examination of the dialogue between media, culture and society. In 2003-2004, Venezuelan telenovela Cosita Rica took the stage alongside the country’s political crisis and deep polarization around the figure of President Hugo Chávez.

Advertising and Globalization: The Transmission of Culture in Nigerian Print Advertising • Emmanuel Alozie, North Carolina A & T State University • This study uses textual analysis to examine the cultural values and symbols conveyed by Nigerian consumer advertisements. Working within the framework of imperial and dependency theories, this study aims to discern whether Nigerian advertising merely promotes products or services, or seeks to exploit Nigerian social conditions. The study found that Nigerian mass media conveys both negative and positive values to underscore Western rather than traditional African values and to perpetuate social division.

ZANU-PF’s Control, Power, and Influence: A De-Democratization of Zimbabwean Media • Erin Armstrong, E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, Ohio University • This qualitative case study uses Rozumilowicz’s model of analysis by applying, in descending order, her four stages of transition in establishing free and independent media to illustrate how media in Zimbabwe have actually become less free and independent over the past 28 years. The paper further explores issues of control, power, and influence and concludes by addressing how globalization and new media may affect Zimbabwe.

The Political Economy of the Public Interest: How Media Research Can Stengthen FCC Policymaking • Jeffrey Blevins, Iowa State University; Duncan Brown, Ohio University • An examination of the studies used by the U.S. Federal Communication Commission (FCC) in its media ownership proceedings from 2003-2007 found an over-reliance on economic research to support the agency’s rule changes. We suggest that the broader inclusion of media critical cultural studies and social scientific research would strengthen the FCC’s policymaking process, with scholarship from the critical tradition of political economy providing a vital role in framing public interest issues.

Seeing What’s Important: Graham Nash and the Evolution of the Photography Collection • Robert Britten, University of Missouri; C. Zoe Smith, University of Missouri • A photograph is both a document and a documentation, a physical thing that can be held and a subjective, selected picture of the world. The available photographic record depends not only on what is photographed and by whom, but also on which images are collected and who is collecting them. We follow the collecting career of musician Graham Nash, of the American group Crosby, Stills & Nash.

He Says, She Says: (Inter)national Women’s (Mis)understandings of Charlie’s Angels 2: Full Throttle Minority Portrayals • Tania Cantrell, University of Texas at Austin • Feminist Film Theory and Comic Feminist Film Theory backdrop this study, which struggles through Asian, Asian American and American women’s perspectives regarding a globalized popular culture minority portrayal(s). Textual analysis and audience study reveal that stereotypes nor beauty nor behavior standards are transborder, dual pan-ethnicization occurs, women’s limited space within the male-constructed public sphere is reified, and Straubhaar’s (1991) cultural proximity notion is challenged; gender experienced through comedy trumps several societal demarcations.

Embodying Deep Throat: Fitting Mark Felt into the Watergate Narrative • Matt Carlson, Saint Louis University • On May 31, 2005, a long-running journalistic secret came to an end when Vanity Fair revealed Deep Throat to be W. Mark Felt, the associate director of the FBI under President Nixon. While the announcement bought to a close thirty years of speculation and accusations concerning Deep Throats’ identity, it created new complications in promoting Watergate as a marker of journalistic success.

Individualism, Choice, & Empowerment: Young Female Viewers’ Response to Sexualized Characters on Reality TV • Mackenzie Cato, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • Through focus groups, this study addresses young women’s response to the depiction of sexuality and sex-as-power imagery on the highly popular reality TV show The Girls Next Door. This study relies on literature based in postfeminist theory to discuss the recent shifts in female representation and its connection to issues surrounding women’s empowerment.

“Scripting” and “Exorcizing” Trauma: Female Survivors’ Testimonies of the No Gun Ri Killings • Suhi Choi, University of Utah • This paper examines female survivors’ testimonies in the No Gun Ri killings that refer to a tragedy in which United States troops, at an early stage of the Korean War, mistakenly killed South Korean refugees near and under the trestles of the No Gun Ri Bridge. Female survivors’ testimonies suggest that rhetors with trauma communicate their unutterable memories through both the act of scripting (articulation) and the act of exorcizing (letting out).

Covering the Northside: Exploring Bias Through Service-Learning to Facilitate Effective Civic Journalism • Sue Ellen Christian, Western Michigan University • An off-site reporting course rooted in the pedagogical theory of service-learning and in the journalistic practice of civic journalism sought to address the issue of bias in reporting and writing. A class of majority-White students met at an off-campus community center in a neighborhood that is majority African-American. Students covered issues unique to the neighborhood and participated in exercises and discussions to heighten their awareness of bias and stereotyping, particularly as related to race and ethnicity.

The NFL and Big Ten Networks: Exploring the implications of league-specific cable and satellite networks • T.C. Corrigan, Pennsylvania State University • This research critically explores, using political economy and classical economic theory an emerging trend in the ‘sports/media complex’ – that of the league-specific cable and satellite network. The NFL Network and Big Ten Network, which have been involved in prolonged negotiations with major cable providers, are provided as case studies for an exploration of potentially anti-competitive behavior and negative effects on fans and consumers.

Virtual Worlds, Real Brands: A Critical Interrogation of Commodification in Second Life • Jia Dai, University of Texas • Employing the Marxist notion of commodification—the process through which use value is transformed into exchange value, this study examines how Second Life is being commodified while advertisement agencies advance brand name corporations into the virtual world. Mosco’s discussion on three forms of media commodity— content, audience and labor in the digital environment provides a framework for the analysis of the commodification process.

Representations of the Other and the Critical Irony of “Team America: World Police” • Jacob Dittmer, University of Oregon • Team America ironically parodies Hollywood’s slick-action genre by employing puppets, not actors. Through the implementation of postmodernism’s tools of rearticulation and reappropriation, Team America comments on the Hollywood film industry and provides a social critique of representations of the Other. The film utilizes all three elements of Bakhtin’s carnivalesque with humorous and critically ironic intentions. However, misinterpreting irony and parody can yield unintended consequences. Is Team America a modern-day carnivalesque text?

Created Heroes and Humanized Soldiers: A Fantasy Theme Analysis of Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima • Koji Fuse, University of North Texas; James Mueller, University of North Texas • Six decades after the Battle of Iwo Jima, Clint Eastwood dedicated two movies—Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima—to respectively represent the viewpoint of each side of the fighting. This paper applies fantasy theme analysis to rhetorically critique dramatizing messages of those movies. This paper suggests a need for incorporating historical facts and audience analysis to delve into culturally defined hidden meanings of a media text.

Destroying the beast: An Analysis of Women’s and Animal Oppression in The Little Mermaid • Jeff Green, Denison University; Leland Morris, Denison University • The Little Mermaid is one of the most popular and successful Disney childhood films, yet its representations of women and animals are highly problematic. Building off existing literature, we examine the film’s ideologies of male and human superiority through the lenses of ecofeminism and hegemony theory. We argue that both animal exploitation and patriarchy are hegemonically negotiated in a way that strengthens both systems of oppression.

Governmentality and General Intellect in an Exemplar of Information Society: Dynamic Public Policymaking surrounding South Korean Game Industry • Choonghee Han, University of Iowa • This paper is aimed at discussing and analyzing public policy of a nation state, South Korea in this case study, with respect to the discourse of the information society. More specifically, public policy for online game industry is the main subject. Foucaultian theory of governmentality and autonomist theory were used as a theoretical framework. A textual analysis contextualized within deliberative and interpretive policy analysis was used in this paper.

Cascading Activation: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and Bush’s War on Terrorism • Robert Handley, University of Texas at Austin • The study employ the cascading activation model and the indexing hypothesis to theorize a hegemonic process by which frames that reside at the functional level compete to reshape or maintain the shape of frames that reside at the ideological level. I apply the model to the post-9/11 framing struggle over whether the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was part of Bush’s war on terrorism. The data support the cascading activation model, but also build on it.

We Have Ways to Make People Talk: Giving Voice to “No Comments” through News Quotation Strategies • Joseph Harry • Newspaper stories using “no comments” from sources were examined within a developing qualitative narrative perspective (free-linking indirect speech, FLIS) to first sketch out and make a case for FLIS as a useful news-discourse analysis approach, based in the long-studied quotation style known as free-indirect speech. Within this perspective, a New York Times article is examined mainly with respect to its use of indirect-quotation and FLIS modes, and general textual and quotational patterns are assessed.

Hari and Hallyu: Consuming Japaneseness and Koreanness in Taiwan • Shuling Huang, University of Maryland • Recently the Japanese and Korean popular cultures have swept across East Asia, giving rise to such trends as hari (craving for Japan) and hallyu (Korean wave) in Taiwan. This paper argues that those trends have created an immense consumption space associated with all things Japanese or Korean. This space is orchestrated by the Japanese and Korean culture industries but is also facilitated by the Taiwanese media and businesses.

And the myths live on: How the U.S. press told the tale of the bird-flu virus, 1996-2006 • Kunka Ignatova • This study examined ten years of U.S. press coverage of the H5N1 bird-flu virus and the possible pandemic (1996-2006). One elite and three regional newspapers were used. Framing analysis facilitated by the QDA Miner looked at the role the myths of the “other world,” the “victim,” and the “hero” played in coverage. The myths the four newspapers used in their reports transcended the particularities of the papers and presented a story ripe with news values.

Crazy Like Me: Critical Analysis of Pro-online Game Players as New Media Force • Dal Yong Jin, Simon Fraser University • Professional online game players as a new job category have recently developed in South Korea. With the rapid growth of knowledge-based information technology, such as broadband and online gaming, pro online gamers—who play each other rather than the computer—have become one of the most sought after jobs for youth. Moreover, pro online gamers have been spotlighted as new celebrities in digital economy and culture.

Neo-Nationalism Seeks Strength From the Gods: Yasukuni Shrine, Collective Memory and Hegemony in the Japanese Press • Matthew Killmeier, University of Southern Maine; Naomi Chiba, University of Southern Maine • This article examines Japanese press coverage of Premier Koizumi’s visits to Yasukuni Shrine from 2001-2006, and their domestic and geopolitical impact. It expands media hegemony via the concept of collective memory to examine how the visits complemented neo-nationalists’ revision of WWII via press discourses.

The Meaning of Lost as a Cultural Product in South Korea • Hyo Jin Kim • This study looks at the cultural meaning of the U.S. television show Lost in South Korea. Through the first season, this study examines the portrayal of Korean culture in the U.S. program through Korean consumers’ perspective. In the analysis, this study looks through Korean culture in four moments of the circuit of culture (du Gay et al., 1997). In addition, this paper examines the value of Lost as a cultural commodity in South Korea.

Ideal Image: A Re-conceptualization of Ideal Image within a Capitalist Society • Rachel King, Syracuse University, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications • The popularization of plastic surgery, continual issues of low self-esteem with women, and a variety of inadequately defined terms for the ideal image is reason to complete this study. In addition, the ideal image is now a commodity within the US and its capitalist society. A literature review was conducted to analyze the role of ideal image and the variety of terms used in similar ways.

Marxist Theory of the Media or Theory of the Media by Marxists? Reconciling Adorno with other Marxist Media Theorists • Farooq Kperogi, Georgia State University • Although Marx himself did not explicitly theorize the media, a fact that constitutes legitimate grounds to proclaim that there is no Marxist theory of the media, his postulations and adumbrations about the dialectics of cultural and ideological mediation have provided a robust springboard for the flowering of what can also legitimately be called a Marxist theory of the media.

A Discourse Analysis of Plastic Surgery Television Programs • Shu-Yueh Lee, University of Tennessee • This study explores the dominant meanings of plastic surgery television programs via utilizing discourse analysis and feminist perspectives to analyze the visual, audio, and textual presentations of plastic surgery television programs. In plastic surgery television programs, the norms of women’s beauty are repeatedly reinforced. Plastic surgery is portrayed as not only a starting but also an ultimate means to enhance and maintain women’s beauty.

What is the War on Terror? Exploring Framing Through the Eyes of Journalists • Seth Lewis, University of Texas at Austin; Stephen Reese, University of Texas at Austin • This study explored the framing of the War on Terror through interviews with journalists at USA Today. We tested the presumption that, because frames are organizing principles whose manifestations extend beyond the level of content alone, journalists’ personal discourse will reflect and reinforce frames found in the text. We discovered that reporters “transmitted” the War on Terror as shorthand for policy, “reified” the frame as concrete and uncontested, and “naturalized” it as a taken-for-granted condition.

Negotiating Masculinity and Male Gender Roles in Korean TV Drama • Jing Li, Ohio University • Korean TV dramas are believed to be the battlefield of the Korean feminism. Previous research has paid great attention to media’s representations of female gender roles in Korean TV dramas. However, there is an absence of study on representation of males, the indispensable counterpart in the social negotiation of gender roles. This study aims to examine the redefining of masculinity in two South Korean TV dramas, My Lovely Sam Soon and Full House.

Ideological Underlying the Discourse: A Textual Analysis of Xinhu News Agency’s Coverage of the Campaign Against Falun Gong • Matt Louis, College of MCMA, Southern Illinois University Carbondale; Lisa Brooten • In this ideological analysis, I explore the ideology underlying Xinhua News Agency’s coverage of the immolation of seven Falun Gong (FLG) practitioners in Beijing. These stories and one editorial serve as a window through which one can for the first time explore how official media in China handle a political crisis within a social context totally different from the Mao era.

“Community, Content, and Commerce”: Alloy.com and the Commodification of Tween/Teen Girl Communities • Sharon Mazzarella, Clemson University; Allison Atkins • Begun in 1996 as a “‘media platform to reach hard-to-reach young consumers,’” Alloy.com is an online “magalog” targeted to girls aged 12-24. While serving ostensibly as an online catalog for girls seeking access to the latest fashions, Alloy.com has become an interactive, magazine-like virtual community for tween/teen girls, and is part of parent company Alloy Media and Marketing’s attempt to target young people through traditional and non-traditional media alike.

The Nutty Professor and the Nut Paragraph: Social Control of Intellectual Deviance in (and by) the Newsroom • Mike McDevitt • We explicate a dynamic in which media are simultaneously an agent and subject of social control in depictions of intellectual deviance. In a case study of newspaper coverage of Ward Churchill, textual analysis showed how devices within the bounds of conventional objectivity enabled newspapers to operate as an unobtrusive agent of social control. We also interviewed reporters and editors to gain insights on attitudes that help to explain motives associated with control of intellectual deviance.

Rubles, Dollars, and Bhat, Oh My!: Commodification and Foreign Ownership in England’s Barclay’s Premier League • Anne Osborne, Louisiana State University; Danielle Sarver • Sport has been particularly useful for examining globalization and commodification phenomena largely because of its resistance to them. Sports, such as British Premier League football, seem to maintain, and in fact draw strength from, the cultural rootedness of their fans. Even though sport has been able to resist globalization it has not been immune; media have played a key role in accelerating the process.

Moral Dilemmas of an Immoral Nation: Gender, Sexuality, and Journalism in Page 3 • Radhika Parameswaran, Indiana University • Venturing into the yet uncharted territory of journalism’s popular representations in India, this paper examines representations of tabloid journalism in relation to gender, class, and sexuality in Madhur Bhandarkar’s award-winning 2005 film Page 3. The paper begins by tracing the historical, social, and economic contexts of Indian journalism in globalizing India, contexts that shape the potential meanings of Page 3 as a cultural critique of commodity journalism.

Going Places: Mobility, Domesticity, and the Portrayal of Television in New Yorker Cartoons, 1945-1959 • Randall Patnode • The installation of television in the American home following World War II was more than a revolution in technology and visual content. It merged Americans’ residual desire for greater mobility with their newfound yearning for domestic harmony. This article introduces the concept of “symbolic mobility,” as revealed in the contemporaneous cartoons of The New Yorker magazine, to explain how Americans adopted the new sensibilities of television.

How Women Negotiate Identity through the Viewing of Reality Makeover Programs • Lisa Pecot-Hebert, DePaul University • This paper examines makeover programs, particularly Extreme Makeover and The Swan, two shows that incorporate cosmetic surgery as a tool to permanently transform the body. Utilizing in depth interviews as a methodology, this paper explores how female audiences create meaning through the viewing of Extreme Makeover and The Swan, and examine how women incorporate these texts into their daily lives as they relate to their own bodies.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: A Critical Interrogation of the Broadcast Ownership Divide • Lyle Perkins, Louisiana State University • Democratic theory operates from the assumption that a robust exchange of diverse ideas is necessary for effective self-government. Given that mass media have largely supplanted traditional modes of political interaction, racial and ethnic minorities require access to these media in order to participate meaningfully in civic discourse. In practice, the American media system has never adequately lived up to the idealistic goals of diversity.

Beyond Vanity: Women’s Perceptions of Beauty • Larisa Puslenghea, Department of Advertising, University of Illinois • This paper investigates women’s conceptualizations of the underlying meanings of beauty (‘natural’ versus ‘artificial’, inner versus outer) and the way Eastern Europe women navigate through these formulations in the process of negotiating their identities. The study elaborates on traditional, feminist and postmodern theories of the body and uses this framework to analyze self-reflexive beauty perceptions and the way perceptions materialize in beauty practices.

“Fighting Back the Heathens”: Sex, Controversy, and Censorship in the Modern Campus Media • Daniel Reimold, Ohio University • College newspaper sex columns have received worldwide media attention and triggered levels of scrutiny and controversy unmatched by anything else in collegiate journalism over the past decade. This study is the first to focus specifically on the controversies, exploring their collective impact along with the acts of censorship aimed at suppressing them. Related information was culled from interviews with student columnists and editors, an historical review, and an examination of news reports and primary documents.

The American Filter • Indira Somani, University of Maryland • This study explored how a cohort of Asian Indians who migrated to the U.S. nearly 40 years ago have become acculturated to watching Indian television via the satellite dish. The study used two concepts of the integrative communication theory: enculturation and acculturation. Oral history interviews were conducted with 10 couples from the Washington Metro area.

From the Dance Hall to Facebook: Analyzing Constructions of Gendered Moral Panic in Girls and Young Women in Public Spaces • Shayla T. Thiel-Stern, University of Minnesota • The dominant cultural discourses surrounding MySpace and Facebook are reminiscent of the discourses surrounding the rise of dance halls in the late 19th and early 20th century, and specifically, girls’ and young women’s use of them. Much like MySpace and Facebook, there is some detectable panic about young women in public space. These discourses constitute what many scholars would refer to as a moral panic, or an overreaction to a perceived threat to society.

24, Torture, & Getting Your Hands Dirty in the Name of Ideology • Ryan Thomas • This paper responds to Spigel’s (2004) call for greater research into fictional television formats in the post-9/11 era. It conducts a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of the fourth season of the popular television show 24 to determine what ideologies the show adopts in its portrayal of torture, given that the show has been the subject of much criticism from journalists.

Telling the story of Darfur through online video game: Narratives of genocide • Olesya Venger, University of Pennsylvania; Tyler Buckley; Juvenalis Asantemungu, Marquette University; Darele Bisquerra, Marquette University • Using narrative analysis, this study analyses a video game Darfur Is Dying in its attempt to spread awareness about the humanitarian crisis that is happening in Darfur, Sudan.

Jump Back Jack, Mohammed’s Here: A discourse analysis of Fox News’s construction of Islamic peril • Fred Vultee, Wayne State University • This discourse analysis uses Said’s concept of Orientalism to explore the ways in which Fox News uses the tools of news practice to create a uniquely menacing image of Islam. As Said (1979) suggested, within this image, Islam is inseparable from what Muslims do, and Muslims are inseparable from each other. The modern image of an irrational, unassimilable East confronting the rational, progressive West strongly echoes centuries of Orientalist conventional wisdom.

Ringing the Departed Dance: Hollywood Remakes of East Asian Films and the Emergence of Cultural Reinvasion • Shaojung Wang, University at Buffalo, State University of New York • This study delves into the implications of Hollywood’s recent remakes of Asian cinema on re-articulating the notion of globalization. Taking three remakes, The Ring, Shall We Dance, and The Departed, as examples, this paper argues that Asian films are Hollywoodized at the cost of losing their originality, resulting in the “dis-location” of Asian culture. Hollywood profits itself by invading Asian markets with the help of the culture it conquers, deteriorating the cultural industry it exploits.

<< 2008 Abstracts

Communication Theory & Methodology Division

The Logic of Argument Quality: Rethinking How Strong and Weak Arguments Are Operationalized • Betsy Anderson, University of St. Thomas and Marco Yzer, University of Minnesota • This article describes how “argument quality,” an important construct in the attitude & persuasion and message processing literature, is currently defined conceptually and operationally. It identifies potential problems with the traditional method for operationalizing the construct, and explicates conditions under which an alternative method for operationally defining argument quality would be useful. The major contribution of this article is to develop and describe an alternative method for operationalizing argument quality in experimental research.

A Selective Exposure Experiment on Social Identity Theory: Effects of News Valence, Character Race, and Recipient Race on Selective News Reading • Osei Appiah and Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, The Ohio State University; Scott Alter, Wood Johnson Medical School • Social Identity Theory suggests a preference for positive information about an ingroup and negative information about an outgroup. Hypotheses derived from this theory were tested by examining impacts of news valence, race of the character portrayed in the news, and recipient race on selective news reading in an experimental design.

Hip-Hop Fandom and Identification: Relations with Expectancies toward Alcohol and Tobacco among Young Adults • Michelle Arganbright, Washington State University • In a secondary analysis of experimental data, a sample of 195 college undergraduates (59 male and 136 female) participated in a cross-sectional survey addressing hip-hop fandom, identification, and expectancies toward alcohol and tobacco. Results were significant for hip-hop fandom, yet stronger for identification. Third-order correlations and regression analysis revealed that identification informed expectancies more strongly than fandom. Results are discussed within the frameworks of social cognitive theory and media uses-and-gratifications.

Psychometric Evaluation of Harter’s SPPA Global Self-Worth and Implications for Use in Mass Communication Research • Michelle Arganbright, Washington State University • Harter’s Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (SPPA) is used to assess adolescent self-worth and other felt competencies, although not commonly used in the field of mass communication. An examination of the instrument’s content validity, internal reliability, and construct, convergent/divergent, and external validities is provided. It is concluded that the Global Self-Worth subscale, and the SPPA as a whole, is a useful tool for communication researchers who are interested in the socialization effects of popular media upon adolescents.

Take Me to Your Leaders: Exploring a Two-Dimensional Model of Community Pluralism and its Effects on the Availability of Public Records • Cory Armstrong, University of Florida • This study extends research in community pluralism by examining how a broader look at the concept might provide more comprehensive measure. The model was used to examine how community power affects the level of transparency within decision-making.

The Value of the Third-Person Effect: Evaluating the Third-Person Effect in Theory Building • Tae Hyun Baek, University of Georgia • The third-person effect sheds light on understanding the self-other discrepancy in perceived media effects and potential behavioral consequences of the perceptual component. Despite the practical impetus and growing theoretical interest in the third-person effect, very little attention has been given to assess its efficacy and value for a more rigorous theory construction.

Item Difficulty and Political Learning: Inter-item and Inter-individual Differences Model • Youngmin Baek, Magdalena Wojcieszak, University of Pennsylvannia • Although political knowledge is measured by items with varying difficulty levels, communication studies have not scrutinized the interaction effects between item difficulty and media use on political learning. Drawing from American National Election Study 2004, this analysis investigates whether item difficulty moderates the impact that media use and interpersonal communication have on political learning. We find a noticeable interplay between item difficulty and media effects.

Toward a Taxonomy of Frames • Brian Baresch, University of Texas • Communications research has produced many definitions and descriptions of framing, but the subject remains with no standard theoretical treatment either within or across disciplines; researchers have not agreed on even a standard taxonomy of frames. This paper reviews the framing literature with the goal of identifying useful and generalizable frame classifications and models, with suggestions for further research and for application among working journalists.

Interpersonal discussion following citizen engagement about nanotechnology: What, if anything, do they say? • John Besley, Victoria L. Kramer, Qingjiang Yao and Christopher P. Toumey, University of South Carolina • The current study explores interpersonal discussion following participation in a novel form of citizen engagement about nanotechnology. Participants answered closed- and open-ended questions about their discursive behavior in a post-engagement survey. The study seeks to address whether organizers of citizen engagement can expect participants to extend the impacts of engagement beyond direct participants through interpersonal discussion.

Pathways to Alarm or Shortcuts to Apathy? Examining Communication Effects on Concern About Global Warming • Andrew R. Binder, University of Wisconsin-Madison • Research on news portrayals of science and technology often focus on the framing of science issues and on the accuracy of media depictions, especially with regard to scientific uncertainty and consensus. Unfortunately, many of these studies suggest direct effects of media content on the attitudes of individual media users. In this paper, I propose that such effects are unlikely and that public views of issues related to science are significantly shaped by interpersonal discussion.

Speaking Out Among Strangers, Friends, and Kin: Social Setting and the Spiral of Silence • Ken Blake and Robert O. Wyatt, Middle Tennessee State University • Spiral of silence research typically tests willingness to dissent among strangers. In a statewide survey, we experimentally tested spiral effects among friends, family, and strangers. Initially, we found micro-level spiral of silence effects only among friends and family. The effect among strangers appeared only after subjects had been primed by the more congenial climate of opinion among friends or family. We propose further probing how social ties influence micro-level spiral of silence effects.

Chronological Inconsistency: Reexamining the Persuasive Process • D. Jasun Carr, University of Wisconsin Madison • To date, the majority of studies surrounding persuasion presented subjects with simple, consistent cues prior to or during exposure to the argument. Yet while any number of cues are obvious from the outset, there are instances in which information is not revealed until after the primary argument has been introduced. The results of this experiment illustrate the interaction between interest, cue placement and attitudes toward nuclear power as an alternative energy source.

The effects of mass media and interpersonal communication on college women’s desire for fair-skinned appearance. Yuen Ting Chay • Poh Kwan, Wai Yin Chong, Sok Kuan Lee, and Stella Chia, Nanyang Technological University • This study examines the direct and indirect effects of (1) exposure to skin lightening ads and (2) exposure to fair skin ideal in interpersonal communication with peers, on college women’s attitudes towards fair-skinned appearance and their consequent intention to lighten skin. We conducted a survey with a sample of 305 Singaporean college women. We found that college women’s exposure to skin lightening ads was indirectly associated with the college women’s intention to lighten skin.

Inside the Narrative: The Role of Information Placement upon Narrative Persuasion • Michael Dahlstrom, University of Wisconsin-Madison • Studies of narrative persuasion often treat narrative as a homogenous construct while the field of discourse comprehension highlights its heterogeneity. This study brings the two areas of study together to examine the potential effect of information placement within a narrative on persuasive power. Results suggest that assertions placed on the causal chain of a narrative result in both greater recall and perceived truthfulness than assertions placed off the causal chain.

Agenda-Building Theory in Communication Research: Toward Coherence and Parsimony • Bryan Denham, Clemson University • In the years since political scientists Cobb and Elder (1971) advanced agenda building as an alternative structural perspective to the normatively appealing, yet realistically untenable, democracy theory, the agenda-building framework has been applied somewhat sporadically and inconsistently in at least three types of communication studies: (a) Those that analyze reciprocity and interchange among policymakers, mass media and mass publics.

From the Cradle to the Grave: A Lifespan Approach to Media Effects • Jacob Depue, Nathan Gilkerson, T.C. Kelvin Choi, Brittany R.L. Duff and Brian Southwell, University of Minnesota • Variations in brain function, schema development, and knowledge representations throughout Variations in brain function, schema development, and knowledge representations throughout the lifespan may lead to profound differences in media effects. Existing research in tobacco use, violence and aggression, and political advertising are provided as examples revealing initial support for these ideas, while highlighting gaps in the literature.

Distinguishing Dimensions of Political Discussion Using Demographic, Media Use, Political and Personality Variables • William Eveland, Alyssa Morey, Myiah Hively, The Ohio State University • Our understanding of what contributes to various dimensions of political discussion is lacking. This representative survey examines similarities and differences in prediction of overall political discussion, safe discussion, dangerous discussion, and diverse discussion. Findings indicate substantial differences in prediction patterns, with the most pronounced difference between safe and dangerous discussion – despite a positive correlation between these two variables.

Expanding and validating applications of the Willingness to Self-Censor scale: Self censorship and media advisers’ comfort level with controversial topic • Vincent Filak, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Scott Reinardy and Adam Maksl, Ball State University • Research on the Willingness to Self-Censor (WTSC) scale (Hayes, Glynn & Shanahan, 2005 a, b; Hayes, Uldall & Glynn, 2007) has posited that the desire to withhold one’s opinion in the face of an unfriendly audience is an intrinsic, as opposed to situational, trait.

Media Influence on Suicidal Ideation: A Theory Testing Approach. KW Fu • The University of Hong Kong • Based on the conceptual framework of the social cognitive theory, this paper proposes a novel way of operationalization of the psychological mechanism of media influence on suicidal ideation and then tests the theoretical model by the application of structural equation modeling. A two-wave panel study with a randomized sample in Hong Kong, China indicated that the proposed operationalization closely fit to the data collected and empirically supported the model. A reciprocal effect was also confirmed.

“Spiral of Cynicism”“ or “Virtuous Circle”: Political Alienation and Television News Use • Laurel Gleason, The Ohio State University • Inconsistent conceptualizations of political alienation in media studies complicate efforts to synthesize prior research. This essay establishes the utility of deconstructing the dependent variable. Analyzing NES data, I find no relationship between television news use and regime based trust or external efficacy, but a positive relationship to campaign interest and internal efficacy, and a negative relationship to incumbent based trust. Accordingly, I encourage researchers to avoid broad conclusions regarding the implications of media for democracy.

The Framing Debate: Idealistic Framing versus Pragmatic Framing and the Relationship to Information Processing • Melissa Gotlieb, Ashley Anderson, Porismita Borah, Itay Gabay, Nam-Jin Lee and Douglas McLeod, University of Wisconsin-Madison • We introduce a hybrid approach to framing effects examining factually equivalent frames and the role of resonant facts on information seeking. An experiment manipulating health care policy options in terms of benefits versus risks finds that framing effects occur with the presentation of equivalent frames but when resonant facts are added, reflection and involvement become more important for predicting information seeking. We place these findings in the context of the idealistic and pragmatist framing debate.

Who Gets the Media Attention?: Media Polling and Primary Election Coverage • Sungtae Ha, Kyung Hee University • This study scrutinized how poll reporting affects the subsequent news coverage of political campaigns in the same news media. For this purpose, a content analysis of USA Today’s coverage of the 2008 primary elections for presidential nomination. A close relationship between the changes in the amount of news coverage of candidates and their standings in polls was found. This finding implies that the scientific news information may cause a winner-centered narrative of reporting.

In Search of the Opinion Climate: A New (and Novel) Test of Spiral of Silence Theory • Andrew Hayes, Ohio State University; Jorg Matthes, U of Zurich; Myiah Hively and William Eveland ,The Ohio State University • We tested a heretofore never-investigated proposition from spiral of silence theory that fear of social isolation (FSI) prompts people to seek out information about the climate of opinion. Taking an individual difference perspective, in study 1 we develop a short and easy-to-administer measure of a person’s FSI that is less likely to produce the interpretational problems that plague research using other measures.

Contextual Antecedents and Political Consequences of Adolescent Political Discussion, Discussion Elaboration, and Network Diversity • Myiah Hively and William Eveland, The Ohio State University • Understanding how adolescents come to be informed participants in democracy is a key concern in political socialization. However, our understanding of this process is hampered by limited research on the antecedents of a sufficiently wide array of communication behaviors and cognitions, in addition to a limited repertoire of knowledge outcomes in adolescent research.

The Study of Electoral Ambivalence as Mediator of the Relationship between Talk Radio Exposure and Electoral Decision Making • Jay Hmielowski, Ohio State University • Research has looked at dispositional characteristics and exposure to cross-cutting information as sources of political ambivalence. In addition, research shows that high ambivalence affects citizens’ political decision-making processes. This study expands extant political communication research by focusing on varied types of political talk radio exposure as possible generators of ambivalence and the role of ambivalence as mediator of the relationship between talk radio and electoral decision-making.

Voices of Convergence or Conflict? A Path Analysis Investigation of Selective Exposure to Political Websites • Thomas Johnson, Weiwu Zhang and Shannon Bichard, Texas Tech University • This research employed a path analysis model to explore the degree to which reliance on offline and online media use, offline and online discussion of political issues, as well as political attitudes and demographic factors predict whether an individual will engage in selective exposure to political websites.

A Planned Risk Information Seeking Model • LeeAnn Kahlor, University of Texas at Austin • Recent attention paid by researchers to health-related information seeking has focused primarily on information seeking within specific health contexts. This study attempts to shift some of that focus to the more individual-level variables that may impact health information seeking across contexts. The researcher posits a planned risk information seeking model that takes into consideration multiple health and environmental risk-related research streams. The resulting model accounted for 59% of the variance in information seeking intent.

Virtual Doppelganger: Effects of a Virtual Reality Simulator on Perceptions of Schizophrenia • Sriram Kalyanaraman, University of North Carolina, David Penn, UNC-Chapel Hill, James D. Ivory, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and Abigail Judge, UNC-Chapel Hill • The much-touted promise of virtual reality is increasingly gaining popularity in user-centered information research. One domain which has attracted considerable attention is that of stigma research, with scholars suggesting that virtual environments could serve as effective proxies in battling implicit stereotypes and prejudices. However, existing research has rarely examined the effects of a virtual simulation of a mental illness in rigorous experimental scenarios.

Explicating and measuring social relationships in social capital research: A working paper • Mami Kikuchi and Cynthia-Lou Coleman, Portland State University • Focus of this working paper is a discussion of the explication of the construct Social Capital and the measures communication scholars employ in operationalizing social relationships as part of social capital. We found that, while some scholars use similar measures of social capital, the conceptualizations vary, and that operationalizations are not uniformly used. Moreover the linkage between the concepts and the measures is not always clear.

Identifying the Key Targets for CSR Marketing: Associating the Consumer Characteristics with Purchase Intentions of CSR-Marketed Products • Hyo Kim and Esther Thorson, University of Missouri at Columbia • Despite the increasing importance of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) practices as an effective corporate marketing tool, there has been limited understanding about the target consumer groups susceptible to CSR marketing. The current study investigates the consumer characteristics which would be associated with consumers’ attitudes toward and purchase intentions of CSR-marketed products. The national sample (n=2,712) from DDB Life Style Study (2005) was analyzed.

The view at the border: News framing of the definition, causes, and solutions to the illegal immigration problem • Sei-Hill Kim, John Carvalho, Andrew Davis and Amanda Mullins, Auburn University • Analyzing newspaper articles and television news transcripts (N = 484), this study explores how American news media have framed the issue of illegal immigration. More specifically, we analyze the way the media present the questions of why illegal immigration is a problem, what the causes are, and how to fix the problem.

Distrust in the Local News Media and Civic Participation: Moderating Roles of Race and Connection to Community-based Communication Resources • Yong-Chan Kim, University of Iowa; Kyun Soo Kim, University of Alabama • Background: Previous scholarly discussions about growing distrust in the local news media have offered contrasting stories. Based on a communication infrastructure theory (CIT) perspective, the current study is an attempt to reconcile them by testing two moderating factors: race and individuals’ connection to community-based communication resources (measured by ICSN or integrated connection to community storytelling network).

Political Advertising and Agenda Setting: An Experimental Exploration of the Need for Orientation and Obtrusiveness • Yonghwan Kim, The University of Texas at Austin • This paper aims to examine the effects of political advertising on issue salience; the role of need for orientation in agenda-setting process; and the relationship between the individual levels of obtrusiveness of the issue and its salience. The results support the central proposition of the agenda-setting theory, which is that the political ads’ issue salience was transferred to the participants’ issue salience.

When the Movie Ends the Thinking Begins: Examining Entertainment Elaboration and the Mediating Role of Film Engagement • Heather LaMarre and Kristen Landreville, The Ohio State University • This study focuses on how individuals elaborate about socio-political issues in entertainment media. Data from an experiment (N = 302) were used to assess the direct and indirect effects of major motion picture films on elaboration about political issues raised within a fictional movie. Using structural equation modeling, the model revealed that viewing a fictional movie about electronic voting fraud led to increased elaboration about electronic voting in national elections.

Age and public opinion: Testing generational and life cycle effects on agenda setting • Jae Kook Lee, Renita Coleman and Maxwell McCombs, University of Texas at Austin • This study tests effects of age on the agenda-setting process both by cross-sectional and by longitudinal analysis. Using ANES survey data from 1960 to 2004, this study found that neither generational nor life-cycle effects significantly influenced agenda setting. Results indicate that the public agenda is fairly stable across generations and age cohorts despite increasing signs of media diversification and audience specialization. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Exploring effects of knowledge and interest on agenda setting • Jae Kook Lee, University of Texas • This study tests two competing hypotheses explaining the role played by political knowledge on media effects, using a conceptualization of political knowledge as a measure of news reception. With a content analysis and 2004 ANES survey data, this study found that knowledge was a positive and better predictor of the magnitude of the agenda-setting effect at an individual level than classic media use items. Further, knowledge was found to mediate effects of interest on agenda setting.

Too Much of a Good Thing? Heterogeneous Networks, Discussion Disagreement, and Political Participation • Nam-Jin Lee, Douglas McLeod and Dhavan Shah, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This study examines the possibility that the effect of a heterogeneous network on political participation is contingent upon the extent to which people actually experience contentious discussion airing disagreement in such networks. On the basis of the 1992 Cross-national Election Studies survey, this study found that a heterogeneous network was mobilizing for people who actually experienced higher levels of disagreement via political discussion, but demobilizing for those who did not.

Intersecting Frames in Health News: The Role of Emotions in Responsibility Attribution • Lesa Hatley Major, Indiana University • This study extends Iyengar’s (1991) and Kahneman and Tversky’s (1984) work to examine how the use of episodic and thematic and gain and loss framing in health news stories affects emotional response and how emotional reactions might assist us in understand the link between these frames an attribution of responsibility. Using an experimental design, this study manipulates the context of newspaper stories about the top two health concerns in the United States – cancer and obesity.

How stable are Framing Effects? A Two-Wave Experiment on Competing News Frames, Judgment Formation, and Judgment Stability • Jorg Matthes, University of Zurich • Previous research has only yielded little insights about the longevity of framing effects. In a 2×2 experiment, subjects are exposed to a news frame and their judgment formation is manipulated. After a distraction task, they read an opposing news frame. It is shown that memory-based judgments can be easily changed after the exposure to a competing frame; on-line judgments, however, remain stable. Thus, judgment formation is the crucial factor behind stable framing effects.

Resonance or Dampening? Relevance, Elaboration and Cognitive Interference • Dan McDonald, Jingbo Meng, Melanie Sarge and Caryn Ragin, Ohio State University • Most models of communication assume that relevant aspects of content lead to greater attention and increase an individual’s motivation for involvement, and that increasing the relevance of a given message tends to increase the depth of processing, and therefore should increase memory of the content. However, the literature suggests that the relationship is not that simple.

The Politics of Emotion: Voter emotions, news media use and participation • Kang Namkoong, Timothy Fung and Dietram Scheufele, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This study examines the mediating role of emotions on the relationship between news media use and political campaign participation. Numerous studies have investigated the effect of news media use on political participatory behavior. Research in this area, however, focused mostly on cognitive variables as influences on people’s behavior, rather than an interplay of emotions and cognitions. This study hypothesizes that emotional reactions to candidates can mediate the effect of news media attention on political campaign participation.

The Influence of Liking for Anti-Smoking PSAs on Smoking-Related Behavioral Intentions • Xiaoli Nan, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Xiaoquan Zhao, George Mason University • In this research, we examine the relative influence of liking for anti-smoking PSAs and argument strength on smoking-related behavioral intentions. We analyzed data from Legacy Media Tracking Survey and found that the relative impact of PSA liking and argument strength varied as a function of smoking status (never smokers, former smokers, current smokers) and age group (youths aged 12-17, young adults aged 18-24). For younger never smokers, only PSA liking predicted intentions not to smoke.

Influence of Incident Affect and Message Framing on Persuasion: The Case of Promoting Sun Protection Behaviors • Xiaoli Nan, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This research examines the interplay of incidental affect (positive vs. negative) and message framing (loss vs. gain) on individuals’ beliefs and behavioral intentions related to sun protection behaviors. Results of a laboratory experiment revealed that for happy participants a loss-framed sun protection message, compared to a gain-framed message, led to greater perceived susceptibility to health risks resulting from sun exposure. For sad participants, message framing had no differential impact on perceived susceptibility.

The Credible Brand Model: The Effects of Ideological Congruency and Consumer-Based Brand Equity on News Credibility • Tayo Oyedeji, University of Georgia • This study proposes and tests the Credible Brand Model (CBM), which explicates the effects of consumer-based brand equity and ideological congruency on audiences’ perceptions of the credibility of news media outlets and the believability of their messages. The data from a survey probing respondents’ perceptions of two media outlets, CNN and Fox News Channel, was analyzed with SEM. The data showed strong support for the CBM (NFI=0.93, CFI=0.96, and RMSEA=0.06).

Influences of Rationality and Discounting Cues on Relative Sleeper Effect: The Case of Health-related Persuasive Messages • Chia-hsin, Chinese Culture University, Taiwan • The present study investigated the effects of individual rational processing tendency and a commercial persuasive message’s discounting cue on participants’ attitude toward juice consumption over time. A 2 (attitude changes between 4 weeks) × 2 (high/low rationality) × 2 (persuasive messages with/without discounting cues) mixed factorial design was employed to examine relative sleeper effects. Results revealed the interaction effect of high-rationality and discounting cue on attitude change over time. Applications on health promotions are suggested.

Adolescents’ Exposure to Sexually Explicit Internet Material and Sexual Satisfaction: A Longitudinal Study • Jochen Peter and Patti Valkenburg, University of Amsterdam • This study investigated the causal relationship between adolescents’ use of sexually explicit internet material (SEIM) and their sexual satisfaction. Drawing on a three-wave panel survey among 1,052 adolescents aged 13-20, structural equation modeling revealed that exposure to SEIM reduced adolescents’ sexual satisfaction. This effect of SEIM was stronger for adolescents who had limited sexual experience. Similarly, SEIM reduced sexual satisfaction among adolescents who did not talk with their friends about SEIM. No gender differences emerged.

Correlations Among Variables in Message and Messenger Credibility Scales • Chris Roberts, University of South Carolina • While credibility is a complicated construct involving interrelationships among messenger, message, communication channels, and recipients, the most widely used credibility indexes seek to measure only one of those attributes at a time. This study used two widely used credibility scales to simultaneously measure message and messenger credibility.

Exploring media-induced information seeking: When does a news story cross from too little to too much? • Mike Schmierbach, Penn State University; Michael Boyle, West Chester University • This paper further develops the Media-Induced Information seeking Model, which proposes that individuals will seek additional news on a topic as a response to a collection of sometimes offsetting influences, including uncertainty-related anxiety, perceived utility of media content, and beliefs about the importance of the topic. Analyses of experimental data show that overly long stories make individuals disinterested in a topic while headline-only “teasers” fail to provide adequate competence to process future content.

Frames as Cues versus Frames as Facts: Effects on Economic Attitudes • Rosanne Scholl, Keith Zukas, and Dhavan Shah, University of Wisconsin-Madison • Researchers who shift frames through subtle cue changes often sacrifice external validity, whereas those who adopt a more ecologically valid position, shifting facts along with frames sacrifice experimental control. This 2×2 experimental study contrasted these approaches and demonstrated that the ecologically valid conception of framing produces stronger effects than the internally consistent approach. Treatments were professionally produced news videos featuring a veteran broadcaster. Frames of gain and loss affected sociotropic, but not pocketbook, economic evaluations.

How you feel makes you what you are: Partisan reactions to political incivility online • Kjerstin Thorson, Timothy Fung, and Emily Vraga, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This study brings together two debates: fears about an increasingly polarized electorate and the effects of uncivil political discourse, especially in the blogosphere. We explore the effects of an uncivil, attacking message on group identification and polarization. We find that uncivil messages provoke negative emotional responses among partisans, which can mediate changes in partisan identification, but this process depends on whether the respondents identified with the attacking or the attacked group.

Political Involvement and Type of Issue Moderate Priming Effects: Evidence from the 2006 Canadian Election • Sebastian Valenzuela, University of Texas at Austin • News coverage of political campaigns can have a decisive impact on the electorate, as the literature on framing, agenda setting and priming effects demonstrates. Which portions of the electorate are more susceptible to media influence, however, remains an open question. This study examines if voters’ involvement with politics and issue type moderate priming —the ability of mass media to change the importance citizens’ attach to an issue when evaluating political figures and parties.

I Think, I Talk, Therefore I Learn: Extending the Cognitive Mediation Model to Online Communication • Ming Wang, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This paper tests a cognitive communication mediation model in online news processing. The model posits that the effect of hard news use motivation on political knowledge is largely mediated through attention to online news, elaboration of online news, and subsequently online political discussion. Structural equation modeling supports this model.

Dynamics of individual television viewing behavior: Models, empirical evidence and a research program • Anke Wonneberger, Klaus Schoenbach, and Lex van Meurs, University of Amsterdam • Television viewing is a dynamic interplay of a multitude of activities that can vary tremendously from the moment the TV is turned on until it is turned of again. Previous models of individual viewing behavior as well as empirical studies have focused on isolated aspects of viewing only, such as the frequency and duration of viewing and patterns of program choice.

Neighborhood Disadvantage, News Media Use, and Public Affairs Knowledge • Masahiro Yamamoto, Washington State University • Focusing on public affairs knowledge, this study examines the effects of neighborhood disadvantage on political isolation. Data from a national survey indicate that neighborhood disadvantage is negatively associated with public affairs knowledge. Data also reveal that the knowledge gaps associated with neighborhood disadvantage become narrower among those who watch television news more frequently than those who watch television news less frequently.

Building up a Cognitive-Sociological Model of Stereotypical Frames and Their Effects • Aimei Yang, Oklahoma University • Framing analysis reveals that socially disadvantaged groups are frequently subjected to negative media framing. Findings from media effect studies suggest that stereotypical frames can activate the audiences’ negative cognitive and affective responses. However, little effort to date has been made to bridge findings from the two approaches and explain the mechanism through which these activated responses further influence people’s social lives and prevent people from changing their stereotypical attitudes.

<< 2008 Abstracts

Communication Technology Division (CTEC)

Only for you!: An investigation of tailored Internet services’ effects on users’ attitudes and gratifications • Keunmin Bae; Nivedita Chatterjee, Pennsylvania State University; Hyunjin Kang, Pennsylvania State University; HyangSook Kim, Pennsylvania State University • This study explored the relationship between types of tailored Web services and users’ levels of gratifications and attitude toward the services. A between-subjects experiment was designed, using iGoogle.com as the stimulus. Thirty-nine participants were randomly assigned to three different experimental settings – no tailoring, personalization, and customization. Users’ self-concept, peer pressure, and prior experience of iGoogle.com were also measured for their moderating effects.

Network structure in the political blogosphere of Korea’s National Assembly members • SungSoo Bang, University of Texas, Austin • This study examines Internet use by politicians and the network structure of the political blogosphere of Korea’s National Assembly members. By focusing on politicians, this study examines the relationship between the Internet and democracy in Korea. Through content analysis and hyperlink network analysis, this study found that the politicians’ use of the Internet reached saturation stage in Korea, but the network structure of the political blogosphere supports a fragmentation hypothesis rather than public sphere theory.

Standardization in Television and Video Technology • Stephen Bates, University of Nevada, Las Vegas • The United States is in the midst of its biggest technological changeover ever, from analog to digital television. This paper probes the history of standard-setting in broadcasting by placing it in the context of standard-setting in other realms, such as railroad gauges, AC/DC electricity, currency, and traffic rules. The paper discusses five questions: In what circumstances are standards advisable? Who should set standards? When should government set standards? When should government change standards?

Editorial Attitudes about Online Citations in Top Mass Communication Journals • Michael Bugeja, Iowa State University; Daniela Dimitrova • Previous studies documented the problem of vanishing online footnotes in academic journals. Little has been accomplished to resolve the phenomenon, of special importance to mass communication, responsible for the diffusion of new technologies in society, including the journals that represent it. Few studies have analyzed editorial policies addressing online footnotes. This study investigates whether editors of mass communication journals recognize the severity of this problem and have adopted policies to mitigate the effect.

Reaching the techno-savvy viewers: Third-person perception about the effectiveness of YouTube as a media literacy tool about body image • Kimberly Bissell, University of Alabama; Juan Meng, University of Alabama • While there is a great deal of literature available documenting the behavioral effects of the mass media on patterns of disordered-eating, a smaller band of literature examines third-person perception as it relates to the media’s effect on self and others’ body image distortion.

MySpace is your space?: Examining self-presentation of MySpace users • Kris Boyle, Texas Tech University; Thomas J. Johnson, Texas Tech University • The study examined the role of self-presentation on MySpace pages through the information users post on their sites. MySpace users were more comfortable with posting the broad pieces of information, like gender, race, zodiac sign, and hometown. They weren’t as willing to present personal information like income, whether they smoke or drank or groups they belonged to. Age and motivations for creating a page were major predictors of how much information people revealed about themselves.

The Cable Television Privacy Act: The Struggle to Define Protections for Cable Broadband Users • Mark Caramanica • Since the passage of the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, cable television operators have been required to protect cable subscriber privacy rights with respect to the accumulation and distribution of personally identifying information. As convergence has led to cable operators also increasingly operating as internet service providers, the law has struggled to determine what activities of cable modem subscribers are protected under or subject to the privacy protections found in the Cable Act.

Voice over Internet Protocol Regulations: How the FCC’s regulatory indecision permits discriminatory network practices • Andrew Carlson, Ohio University • This paper discusses the current regulatory environment surrounding the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, with a focus on reporting how FCC commissioners over the last six years have discussed the classification of this and other related technologies, including the regulation and classification of Internet infrastructure such as fiber optic and copper cable.

Net Neutrality: A Policy Analysis of Congressional Legislation and FCC Principles • Bryan Carr, Central Michigan University • This normative study of Congressional legislation and FCC statements intends to provide an overview of, and solution to, the Net Neutrality issue. The pro-Net Neutrality works of Wu, Lessing, and Zhu, as well as the critical works of Laxton and May are analyzed through the lens of Milton and Holmes’ marketplace of ideas.

A comparison of factors affecting purchase intention of real items and virtual items via the Internet • Jiyoung Cha, University of Florida • Expanding the Theory of Reasoned Action, this study compares determinants of intention to purchase “”real”“ and “”virtual”“ items via the Internet. The findings indicate that the expanded TRA model is successful in predicting purchase intention of real items, but poor for virtual items. The attitude toward online shopping, subjective norm, flow, and gender are important predictors for intention to purchase real items via the Internet. Subjective norm and gender are critical for virtual items.

Insatiable Desires to Online Network: Applying the Spectacle/Performance Paradigm to the Gratifications of Social-Networking Sites and Internet Addiction • Hsuan-Ting Chen, University of Texas at Austin • The objective of this study was to understand gratifications sought from social-networking sites and their relationship with Internet addiction. Results revealed that all gratifications are related to Internet addiction. Media Drenching and Performance & Narcissism, the main concept of the “diffused audience,” are new gratifications found for social-networking sites and strong predictors of Internet addiction.

News Cues and Most Popular News Exploring How Online Users Pay Attention to Mainstream News Sites • Ying-Ying Chen • This study builds the constructs of three kinds (four types) of gated news to explore how online users pay attention to three online mainstream news sites by defining online users from marketing and democrat perspectives. Editors’ news cues and people-gated news cues are examined in explaining online users’ most popular news attention. The results show that editors’ news cues and most popular news cues significantly explain online users’ news attention.

How Much are You into Your Mobile Phone?: Scale Development for Mobile Phone User’s Attachment to Device • Seoyoon Choi, University of South Carolina • Due to their ubiquity and personalization, mobile phones have been recognized as effective tools of marketing communications and mobile commerce. Understanding the ethos of mobile phone users is a critical issue to marketers who use mobile phones as an advertising medium and marketing tool. The purpose of this study was to substantiate relationships between mobile phone users and their devices and to develop measurement scales for users’ attachment to their devices.

How Experts Perceive the Digitalization of Broadcasting in Korea • Chung Joo Chung, State University of New York at Buffalo; Jang Hyun Kim, University of Hawaii at Manoa; Hong Gyu Choi, National Internet Development Agency of Korea • In Korea, researchers from the government, telecommunication companies, universities, and research institutions have exerted a significant role in policy-making. This paper categorizes and assesses the perceptions of twenty-two researchers from universities and public research institutions, whose areas are directly linked to digital cable television policy, technology, and industry. The respondents were selected because they are not working for company interests but frequently influence Korean digital broadcast industry and policy.

Interactive Efforts from Abroad: Perceptions of Interactivity and Uses of Interactive Features among South Korean Journalists • Deborah Chung, University of Kentucky; Dong-Hyun Byun, Sogang University; Joon-Cheol Kim, Sogang University • In-depth interviews with 23 professional journalists from major South Korean news organizations gauged their perceptions of interactivity and adoption of interpersonal interactive features, specifically blogs, forums and user comments. Using Chung’s (2007) continuum of interactive approaches, the analysis reveals that innovators work hard to find ways to make technology provide meaningful feedback opportunities for news audiences to further improve journalistic goals. Cautious traditionalists are more concerned with the quality of information communicated through online news.

Is the Internet a Lonely medium?: Taking Uses and gratification approach • Jae Eun Chung, University of Southern California • This paper examines social impacts of the Internet use. The central question of this paper is whether the Internet is a medium that enhances interpersonal relationships or a medium that isolates and dissocializes its users. By taking uses and gratification approach, this paper develops an argument that different uses of the Internet affect the way it impacts people’s social relationship.

The mediating role of identification on racial representations in video games • Vincent Cicchirillo, The Ohio State University; Matthew Eastin, University of Texas at Austin; Osei Appiah, The Ohio State University • The following study examines the mediating influence of ethnic identification of participant race on presence in video games. Furthermore, it examines the role of character (avatar) and opponent race on participant’s levels of presence through SEM techniques. Overall, the results suggest that Black participants have higher levels of ethnic identification than White participants. These results in turn influenced presence. The results suggest that Ethnic identification does mediate the relationship between Participant race and presence.

A Concept Explication of Digital Social Capital • Donna Davis • Media technologies have been blamed for the decline in what is known as ”social capital,” or the collective value of all social networks [who people know] and the inclinations that arise from these networks to do things for each other [norms of reciprocity]. This paper offers an explication of digital social capital, providing a contradictory approach to these claims. The paper identifies how new digital media technologies can actually both create and strengthen social capital.

News in the Interstices: The niches of mobile media in space and time • John Dimmick, Ohio State U; John Feaster, Ohio State U; Gregory Hoplamazian, The Ohio State University • Access to news and other mass mediated content has become a fundamental part of modern society. In the past decade, the introduction of mobile channels has provided steadily more opportunities for individuals to access such content. According to the theory of the niche, when new media technologies are successfully introduced into a domain, available resources should become increasingly rare and displacement should occur unless the domain or resource base is altered.

Candidate Blog Strategies in the 2006 U.S. Senate Elections: Exploring Agenda Setting and Incumbent and Challenger Strategies • Kristin English, University of Georgia; John Tedesco, Virginia Tech • The 2006 Congressional elections included some of the closest elections in recent history. Party control was on the line in both houses of Congress. As a result, candidate message strategies were subject to intense scrutiny by media and voters alike since each election played a significant role in determining which party would control the Senate.

Who is viewing what online?: Distinguishing online video audience based on content viewed and forwarded • Trupti Guha, Cleveland State University • Online videos have been a central feature in discussions about the impact of user-driven Web 2.0 technologies. In the process of computer-mediated exchange, some of these video clips keep traveling from one person to another and are termed as “viral videos“. The continuous forwarding of these videos from one person to another begins the process of diffusion, growth and transmission of the video.

Instant Messenger Addiction among Teenagers: Shyness, Alienation, and Academic Performance Decrements • Hanyun Huang, School of Journalism and Communication, The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Chun Shu Chow, School of Journalism & Communication, The Chinese University of Hong Kong • Instant messenger (IM) is very popular among teenagers in China nowadays, and has become an important computer-mediated communication (CMC) for them. Some teenagers used IM frequently and spent lots of time on online chatting through IM. Griffiths (1996) proposed the concept of “”technological addiction”“ and previous research also supported that excessive use of technology can be considered problematic.

Greater Satisfaction through Consumption: A Critical Analysis of Narrativity and the Rhetorics Implicit in eBay.com • Phillip Hutchison, University of Kentucky • This paper explores the ways in which narrativity animates and synchronizes the rhetorics implicit in eBay.com. The essay argues that, at the core of its symbolic construction, eBay employs implicit and explicit narrative strategies to realize its basic motivation: to create a self-sustaining cycle of social action that moves from unsatisfied desire toward greater satisfaction through consumption. These strategies allow participant to perform eBay rituals coherently despite the website’s truncated structure and hybrid media forms.

Frame Analysis of Blogger News and Online Newspaper: The 2007 presidential election in South Korea • Jin Sook Im • This study served to expand the empirical boundaries of framing in that it showed how President Lee Myung-bak was framed in a news blogs and an online newspaper in terms of time, topic, tone and character and suggested clear differences between them. After the election, the online newspaper most often employed present, political topic, and neutral-tone frames, but the news blog dominantly used the future, domestic policy topic, and neutral and negative-tone frames.

Popularity of News Items on Digg.com: Toward a Definition of Newsworthiness for Social News Sites • Philip Johnson, Syracuse University; Si Yang • Our study examined the characteristics of news items and the titles and summaries of news items submitted by users to Digg.com, a social news site, using traditional notions of newsworthiness from previous gatekeeping studies— deviance, social significance, and comlexity. Social news sites invite users to become gatekeepers by submitting links to external content, providing descriptive titles and summarys, and allowing readers to vote and comment on those they like or dislike.

Revisiting Entertainment Theories from a Role-Play Perspective • Younbo Jung, Nanyang Technological University • The purposes of the current paper are (1) to review theories that explain our entertainment experience; and (2) to propose a new theoretical perspective of role enactment that may enhance our understandings of how we enjoy the entertainment product. Six entertainment theories of identification, sympathy, empathy, flow, transportation, and presence are categorized into three sections based on how each theory explains entertainment experience: feeling within, feeling for, and feeling overall.

The Truth on Image: An Examination of Effect of Image Shot on Perceived Emotional Information and Judgments of Deception • Sinuk Kang, University at Buffalo. The State University of New York; Daejoong Kim, University at Buffalo, The State of Univeristy of New York • This present study explored the effect of image shot on perceived emotional cues and judgments of deception. Using a high-stakes deception paradigm, it addressed the effect of image shot and perceived emotional cues when individuals were asked to make an assessment of whether the speaker is lying or telling the truth. The study approached these questions through two studies. Study 1 (pilot study) was designed to assess the baseline levels of judgment accuracy rate.

Abandoning Traditional Media?: Examining Factors Influencing the Displacement Effects of Online News • Daekyung Kim, Idaho State University; Thomas J. Johnson, Texas Tech University • This study examined time and functional displacement effects of online news on use of traditional news media, based on two theoretical approaches to media use and effects: media substitution and uses & gratifications theories. An online survey was conducted toe explore how and why politically Interested Internet user use and access online news media for political information and the consequent effect on changes in time spent with traditional news media since using online news.”

A Rediscovery of Web as a Medium of Political Alliance and Support • Jang Hyun Kim, University of Hawaii at Manoa; George Barnett, State University of New York at Buffalo; Han Woo Park; Yun Ho Shin, University of Tennessee at Knoxville • This study describes the structure of hyperlinks (inlinks and co-inlinks) and shared-issue networks among United States senators on the web. The web sites of politicians have been considered a medium of organizing, mobilizing, and agenda-setting, but extant literature lacks a systematic approach to interpret the Web of the senators: A new medium for political communication. This study classifies the role of political web sites into relational (hyperlinking) and topical (shared-issues) aspects.

Strength of Online Tie & Source Credibility • Hyunjung Kim; Chung Joo Chung, State University of New York at Buffalo; Michael Stefanone; Heasun Chun • The current study investigated how people perceive online friends and the referral message from online friends in terms of three sub-dimensions of source credibility (expertise, trustworthiness, likeability), and online social tie strength (strong/weak tie).

My Desired Self, Avatar: The Impact of Avatar Creation on the Persuasion • Youjeong Kim, Pennsylvania State University; S. Shyam Sundar, Penn State University • The current study aims to answer the following questions: 1) as the extension of identity, how do people customize their avatars? How does the avatar look like the user? Does it look like the user’s actual self or their desired self? Are there any perceptional differences between the actual avatar and the desired avatar? 2) If they are different, how do users perceive the desired avatar?

Why “digital divide” not “digital difference”?: Two conceptual conditions of the digital divide • Jin Woo Kim, Seoul National University • Aiming to extend the understanding of the digital divide, this research explores 1) the extent to which Internet use patterns are influenced by demographic variables, and 2) the degree that the difference in Internet use pattern in turn produces social capital. Arguing that those two associations are conceptual conditions of the digital divide, this paper discusses what kinds of Internet use patterns, in what sense, were found to dimensions of the digital divide.

Predicting DVR Use: Structural and Individual Determinants of Time-Shifting • Thomas Ksiazek, Northwestern University • This study analyzes DVR use by fitting regression models to test the predictive power of a number of determinants of time-shifting across 60 television networks. The analysis relies on a sample of 1216 individuals armed with Portable People MetersTM (Arbitron, Inc.) to measure patterns of time-shifting. The results indicate that network share and household size have the most predictive power, while other variables (dayparts, employment, and premium channel subscriptions) exhibit more limited influence.

Communication Technology: The Challenge and Opportunity of Online Technology • Jackie Layng • In the age of information, the use of new technologies in communication has virtually exploded. The last twenty years have moved college instructors from chalkboards to digital presentations to using the Internet in the classroom. In the haste to use technology in communication classrooms, steps may have been skipped and many students left behind in order to provide ease of access to digital learning.

Factors influencing Illegal download behavior of movie digital contents • Sun-hee Lee • In Korea movie industry foreign films are distributed online by illegal circulation even before the first official theater showing, and domestic films are on the Internet as soon as DVD/VHS come out in the market. The Korean movie industry has lost 937 million dollars from illegal circulation. Approximately 75 percents of Koreans has experienced illegal download of movie directly or indirectly.

Analog vs. Digital Instruction and Learning: Teaching within First and Second Life Environments • Paul Lester; Cynthia King, California State University Fullerton • Pre and post surveys were administered and analyzed regarding student knowledge of course content and attitudes concerned with the instruction for two groups of students for the same classóone taught completely in a traditional, face-to-face classroom setting and the other taught completely online with Blackboard and Second Life software products Both groups were taught by the same instructor.

“It’s Not Who You Know, but Who You Add:” Exploring Self-Disclosure and Friending on Facebook • Anthony M. Limperos, Pennsylvania State University; Julia K. Woolley, Pennsylvania State University; Daniel J. Tamul, Pennsylvania State University; S. Shyam Sundar, Penn State University • This research experimentally explored the relationship between (1) friend adding, (2) gender of the Facebook profile owner, and (3) self-disclosure (low, medium, high) on levels of interpersonal liking, homophily, and behavioral intent. Results indicated that friend adding and self-disclosure led to greater feelings of interpersonal liking and homophily between participants and profile owners. Male participants had greater behavioral intent toward male profiles with moderate amounts of disclosure and female profiles with high levels of disclosure.

Does Offline Life Matter? An Analysis of U.S. Adolescent Instant Message (IM) Use • Amy Shirong Lu, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, UNC-Chapel Hill • Two alternative views, displacement and stimulation, have been offered as competing hypotheses to describe the function of adolescent online interpersonal communication. A survey of a nationally representative sample of U.S. adolescent Instant Message (IM) users was analyzed, and the results supported the stimulation perspective. This relationship was mediated by a social motivation for using IM, especially for females. Among males, more time spent on IM predicted use of more content devices, such as webcams.

Bottoms Up!: The Internet Considered within the Media Systems Dependency Framework • Wendy Maxian, Texas Tech University • The role of the Internet within media systems dependency (MSD) is explored in terms of the Internet’s ability to disseminate information bottom-up. Specifically, bloggers and non-bloggers perceptions of the Internet and MSD ecosystem are examined. Bloggers do perceive the Internet to have a bigger impact on their daily life and activities, and they also have more goals within the ecosystem as a whole. Implications and future directions for researchers are also discussed.

Web persistence, continuity and change on pro-white sites • Michael McCluskey, Ohio State University • Despite the ability of Web sites to change quickly, little attention has been paid to how Web content changes over time. Examination of pro-white Web sites (n=163) showed 33% disappeared after one year. Text content about group dynamics and ideology from sample (n=28) was more likely to remain on the site one year later, while examples of what group opposed disappeared more often. Discussion highlights trends that are applicable to other activist groups’ Web sites.

The Strength of Weak Ties: Assessing the Democratic Potential of the Moderate Blogosphere • Sharon Meraz • This study examined the democratic potential of the moderate blogosphere through comparing its linking practices with that of left leaning and right-leaning blog networks. Selecting 18 of the top political blogs (6 moderate, 6 left-leaning and 6 right leaning), hyperlink analysis of 3,1 72 links was conducted through three separate issue time periods in 2007. As hypothesized, moderate bloggers were significantly less likely (f(3, 20)=.965, p>.05) to link in a partisan manner when compared with their partisan blog counterparts.

Legitimizing Wikipedia: How U.S. National Newspaper Frame and Use the Online Encyclopedia in Their Coverage • Marcus Messner, Virginia Commonwealth University; Jeff South, Virginia Commonwealth University • Within only a few years, the collaborative online encyclopedia Wikipedia has become one of the most popular websites in the world. At the same time, Wikipedia has become the subject of much controversy because of inaccuracies and hoaxes found in some of its entries. Journalists, therefore, have remained skeptical about the reliability and accuracy of Wikipedia’s information, despite the fact that research has consistently shown an overall high level of accuracy compared to traditional encyclopedia.

Choosing the Right Media for Mobilization: Understanding Issue Advocacy Groups’ Media Choice Strategies • Seong-Jae Min; Young Mie Kim • At the heart of the current pluralistic democratic system lie issue advocacy groups that mobilize citizens on specific public issues. This study explores issue advocacy groups’ media choice strategies to communicate with the public. 209 issue advocacy groups in North America were telephone surveyed to find out their media usage and gratifications obtained from the media use.

Webmasters Reveal the Rules: Do Restrictions Compromise Legislators’ Online Communication with Constituents • Amber Narro, Southeastern Louisiana University • In a nationwide study of state legislative websites, Narro, Mayo and Miller (2006) found the communication tools (i.e., weblogs, electronic newsletters, online polling) state legislators offer vary more from state-to-state than legislator-to-legislator. Taking their information into account, this paper addresses restrictions put on legislators’ homepages. The author interviewed webmasters in 44 states and found allowing legislators freedom to manipulate their sites encourages them to utilize their homepages for active communication.

Still Minding the Gate? Journalists on Whether the Rise of the Internet Imperils Their Gatekeeper Role • Shawn Neidorf, University of Illinois at Chicago • Drawing on a 2007 survey of 585 American journalists, this project looks at their attitudes about the rise of the Internet and how such attitudes might affect journalists’ beliefs about the endurance—or end—of their traditional gatekeeper role. The study finds that regardless of personal characteristics, professional background or attitudes about whether or not technological changes brought by the Internet are good for journalism, the belief that traditional journalists are gatekeepers endures.

Wireless Cities: Local Governments’ Involvement in the Shaping of Wi-Fi Networks • Namkee Park, University of Oklahoma • This study examines the role of local government and its impacts on municipal Wi-Fi networks’ implementation from the perspectives of path dependency and social shaping of technology. By employing a case study method, the study investigates the ways in which municipal networks in four cities have been constructed and operated. It uncovers that the local government’s role in the shaping of the networks still matters even in the era of deregulation in communication technologies.

Gendered Faces in MySpace: Self-inflicted Face-ism in Online Profile Photos • Zengjun Peng, St Cloud State University; Mei Hong Cher, St Cloud State University; Chin-yu Chang, St Cloud State University; Haowen Hsiao; Xiaomi Li • This study tested gender differences in facial prominence in the profiles photos posted on MySpace.com. Applying face-ism theory in social psychology, which was used mainly to examine gender bias in media visual representation, we measured the head-body ratios of 4,156 photos posted on the profile pages.

A qualitative approach to understanding how we help one another • Jack Powers • The advent of computer-mediated communication has fundamentally changed the context for how some people seek help and help others. This qualitative study is based on Dervin’s (1983) idea of cognitive motion from her Sense-Making approach to help us arrive at a framework as to how people behave in helping and being helped situations. The results suggest that web site designers may be able to improve the effectiveness of their sites by adopting some of the recommendations.

Uses and Gratifications among Korean Cyworld Social Network Users • Marilyn Roberts, University of Florida; Eun Soo Rhee, University of Florida; Chunsik Lee, University of Florida; Jinsoo Kim • The purpose of this exploratory study is to gain new insights about social network users’ communication behaviors, media usage and lifestyles. The research examines Korean Cyworld social network users. Uses and gratification theory is used as a major theoretical framework. Kim (2005) suggested four classifications of Cyworld users, which formed the basis of the study’s focus.

User-Generated Content: How Social Networking Translates to Social Capital • Cindy Royal, Texas State University at San Marcos • The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of user-generated content on social networking sites on the creation of social capital. Social networking sites rely on content created by the millions of users who develop profiles, communicate with friends, meet people, participate in communities, post comments to Web logs, and create multimedia.

Communicating about Self and Others within an Online Support Group for Breast Cancer Patients • Bret Shaw, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Jeong Yeob Han; Hawkins Robert, University of Wisconsin Madison; Fiona McTavish, University of Wisconsin-Madison; David Gustafson, University of Wisconsin-Madison • Research suggests communicating too much about one’s self within an online support group may amplify breast cancer patients’ focus on their own problems and exacerbate negative emotions while focusing on others may have the opposite effects. This study explored how pronoun usage within an online support group was associated with subsequent mental health outcomes.

Examining use of the Internet and traditional media in Chinese college students • Linsen Su; Kenneth Fleming, University of Missouri-Columbia • This study uses the uses and gratifications theory to examine the relationship between Internet use and traditional media use using data from college students in four universities in People’s Republic of China. The study shows that frequent Internet users also used television, radio, newspaper, and magazines more than less frequent Internet users. Each medium has its own functions, and Chinese college students used different media for different purposes to gain corresponding gratifications.

Media Use and Frame Susceptibility in Comparison: The Case of Blog Readers and Frame Effects • Aaron Veenstra, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Kjerstin Thorson; Stephanie Edgerly, University of Wisconsin – Madison; Rachel Vallens, UW – Madison • Recent research suggests that political blog readers react to some news frames differently than those who don’t read political blogs (Authors, forthcoming), but is unable to explain this difference based on individual characteristics. In this study, we move the focus from individual characteristics to characteristics of the medium.

The Impacts of Internet Knowledge on College Students’ Intention to Continuously Use the Internet • Lu Wei, University of Rhode Island; Mingxin Zhang, Wuhan University • The role of knowledge in the process of Internet use deserves more scholarly attention. Based on a survey of college students in China, this research establishes Internet knowledge as a reliable and valid construct, distinguishes it from Internet experience and self-efficacy beliefs, and demonstrates its significant effect on behavioral intention to continuously use the Internet.

Latest News on the Web: Content Change and News Topic and Type • Jin Xu • The research examines content change in CNN.com’s latest news and how it is different regarding news topics and news types. Real-time updates to 228 randomly selected stories from June to August, 2007 were content analyzed. The findings suggest that timely content is a distinct hallmark of the latest news at CNN.com, that the updates may provide “”substantial background information,”“ and that users’ interest in disruptive and episode-oriented news coverage are catered to by content change.

Toward a Integrated Model For Engagement and Understanding of Complex News Online • Ronald Yaros • The content is not new but the challenge is. How can journalists effectively communicate complex issues – such as stem cells, nanotechnology and climate change online – so that more citizens will engage in important debates such as these? Unlike other media, the Web prompts users to scan and select content from a virtually endless collection of hypertext links, graphics photos, animation and ads.

Values vs. Costs: Predicting Podcast Adoption among Non-adopters • Lily Zeng, Arkansas State University; Xigen Li, City University of Hong Kong • An increasing array of podcasting content is being produced, ranging from news and entertainment to education and hobby. Some college students are joining early podcast adopters as their professors employ podcasting in the educational experience, particularly in online courses. Although podcasting might be an effective and low-cost means of address individual learning styles and enhance academic performance, it is not widely adopted and well supported in most educational institutions.

Exploring the Impact of State Surveillance on Individuals’ Political Expression in Chinese Cyberspace • Yushu Zhou, Murrow School of Communication, Washington State University • Drawing on Focucault’s insights concerning panoptic surveillance and the individuation-deindividuation theory, this study examined how Chinese Internet surveillance mechanism impacts individuals’ online political expression via a national survey (N=3010) in China. The results showed that the perceptions of government’s surveillance and potential threats of surveillance significantly impacted individuals’ online political expression.

<< 2008 Abstracts

Advertising Division

Research Papers
Tiptoe or tackle? How product placement prominence and exposure frequency moderate the mere exposure effect • Jorg Matthes, University of Zurich, Werner Wirth, University of Zurich and Christian Schemer, University of Zurich • According to the mere exposure effect (Zajonc 1968), the mere unreinforced presentation of product placements can increase brand liking. In an experiment, we manipulated placement prominence and placement frequency for an externally and internally valid stimulus. As results indicate, a mere exposure effect can only be observed for frequently presented subtle placements, but not for prominent placements. The reason is that prominent placements lead to high placement recall which impedes positive attitudinal effects.

Reducing Stigma through Direct-to-Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising: A Content Analysis of Television Commercials • Jennifer Ball, University of Texas, Angie Lang, University of Texas and Wei-Na Lee, University of Texas • Due to its prevalence, direct-to-consumer (DTC) pharmaceutical advertising may contribute to improving the acceptance of stigmatized health conditions. This study explores the potential of these ads to reduce the stigma of disparaged health conditions. A content analysis was conducted on DTC television commercials assessing the inclusion of elements reflective of stigma reduction methods. The study yielded mixed results for anti-stigma factors in terms of offering enough educational information and stereotype disconfirmation and encouraging perspective-taking.

Cell phone usage and advertising acceptance among college students: A four-year analysis • Michael Hanley, Ball State University and Michael Becker, Golden Gate University • This study employs five online surveys conducted over a four-year period to investigate college student cell phone usage, and exposure to and acceptance of mobile advertising. Surveys were conducted between November 2005 and February 2008. Results showed that incentives are a key motivating factor for cell phone advertising acceptance; students are receiving more cell phone ads, but annoyance has not shown a corresponding increase; consumption of mobile content has shown little growth.

Consumer Responses to Cause-Related Marketing Campaigns: A Cross-Cultural Perspective on the Role • Xiaoli Nan, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Yan Wang, Beijing University of Technology • This research examines the effects of brand/cause fit in cause-related marketing (CRM) on consumer responses in a cross-cultural context. An experiment found that brand/cause fit was positively associated with perception of altruistic sponsor motives, but unrelated to perception of self-serving sponsor motives. These results were found for both American and Chinese consumers.

Is there a need for speed? Fast banner ads are arousing and increase product trial • Brittany R.L. Duff, University of Minnesota, Sela Sar, Iowa State University and Joel Geske, Iowa State University • Findings in research on banner ad animation have generally indicated that animation leads to arousal but have often had conflicting findings for dependent variables related to the banner ad itself. We conducted two experiments and showed that not only is self-reported and physiological arousal higher for faster animation ads, but also that those who saw the faster ad are more likely to try and pay more for a product in a subsequently seen print ad.

Changing impacts of direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising information sources and specific drug requests • Annisa Lee, City University of Hong Kong • This study tracks trends and changes in four information sources for direct-to-consumer drug advertising since the inception of an approach proposed in the Guidance for Industry about Consumer-directed Broadcast Advertisements. These guidelines aimed at fulfilling the adequate provision requirement (21 CFR 202.1(e)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act issued by the Food and Drug Administration) regarding patients’ asking doctors about specific drugs.

Investigating the structure of consumer imagery processing: A hierarchical personality approach • Joseph Mahan, University of Maryland and Stephen McDaniel, University of Maryland • Consumer use of imagery to process advertising messages has received much attention in the literature (e.g., Thompson and Hamilton 2006) yet little is known about its underlying structure. The current study adopts a hierarchical personality approach (cf. Mowen and Spears 1999) in examining the influence of certain traits on an individual’s processing style. Results suggest that variance in processing style is accounted for by interplay among personality traits (e.g., Openness to Experience and fantasy-proneness).

Motivations for Providing eWOM: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of U.S. and Korean College Students • Sung Mi Han, Michigan State University and Mira Lee, Michigan State University • This study investigated consumers’ underlying motivations to engage in electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) communication through online opinion platforms and their relationships with eWOM behavior. The study also examined cross-cultural differences in motivations for providing eWOM between American consumers and Korean consumers. The analyses identified five factors that motivate consumers to provide eWOM: social interaction benefits/self-enhancement, helping the company, vengeance upon the company, concern for others, and economic incentive.

Applying the selectivity model to cause-related marketing campaigns: Does gender influence consumers’ responses? • Alexandra Vilela, Towson University and Michelle Nelson, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign • The Selectivity Model is used to examine sex differences in cognitions and attitudes toward companies and causes after cause-related marketing (CRM) message and at a delay. In line with theory, women demonstrated more favorable attitudes than men did after the CRM message prime, but these effects faded over time. No sex differences in message elaboration were found; however, women’s attitudes were made up of multiple factors (including thoughts), whereas men relied on singular cues.

Responsible Regulation? The DISCUS Code’s role in priming positive attitudes toward alcohol • Stacey Hurst, Washington State University and Jessica Fitts, Washington State University • An industry-produced Code of Responsible Practices outlines responsible advertising tactics for members of the Distilled Spirits Council, yet also helps citizens decide if an advertisement is in violation. According to priming theory, the framing of a document can make particular perspectives more salient and can influence opinion formation. This study tested whether the Code influenced perceptions of the industry and its advertising practices.

Evaluation, Use, and Usefulness of Interpersonal, Advertising, and Mediated Sources of Prescription Drug Information among Anglo- and Hispanic-Americans • Denise DeLorme, University of Central Florida, Jisu Huh, University of Minnesota and Leonard Reid, University of Georgia • This telephone survey determined and compared how Anglos and Hispanics evaluate and use interpersonal, advertising, and mediated prescription drug information sources. The findings reveal: Hispanics rely on doctors, Internet sources, and DTC advertising, while Anglos most frequently use Internet sources and health professionals; Anglos are more likely to use health-related websites; Hispanics rely on TV and DTC TV advertising more than Anglos.

Writing the Headlines: Influencing News Content through Marketplace Advocacy • Barbara Miller, Elon University • Previous research has identified interactions between political advertising and news content (Roberts & McCombs, 1994) and political Web sites and the public’s agenda (Ku et al., 2003). Previous research has also suggested that issue advertising has the potential to raise public awareness of certain issues by providing information to the media at reduced cost or effort, thereby influencing the media’s agenda, and ultimately influencing the public’s agenda (Gandy, 1982).

Measuring Player Perceptions of Advertising in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games • Lance Porter, Louisiana State University and Ben Lewis, Louisiana State University • In an experiment involving 100 participants aged 18-24, we conducted a study to measure effects of advertising in a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) on perceived interactivity and other aspects of gameplay experience. Results from a post-test questionnaire suggested that while advertising in MMORPGs can trigger high awareness rates, in-game advertising can also reduce a game’s perceived sense of realism and annoy players if not coordinated with the game environment.

Who is she wearing? A study of brand appearances in top-rated television shows • Cara DiSisto, Elon University • New technologies allow consumers to record their favorite shows or view them online, bypassing traditional television commercials. This study examined the extent and nature of product placements in television given these changes. A content analysis of top-rated television shows in 2007 found that while there seems to be a decrease in overall volume of brand appearances, the nature of the brand appearances seems to be much more in line with what practitioners have suggested is important to the success of a placement.

Perceptions of Mississippi Golf Coast Residents toward the Insurance Industry before and after Hurricane Katrina • Patricia Mark, University of South Alabama • This paper examines perceptions of Mississippi Gulf Coast residents toward the property and casualty insurance industry before and after Hurricane Katrina. It seeks to determine: 1) What perceptions Mississippi Gulf Coast residents held toward the property casualty insurance industry prior to Hurricane Katrina, 2) What perceptions Mississippi Gulf Coast residents held toward the property casualty insurance industry after Hurricane Katrina.

Possible Gap in the Advertising Classroom; Different Perceptions of Advertising Creativity between Advertising Professors and Advertising Major Students • Hyunjae (Jay) Yu, Louisiana State University and Mariko Morimoto, University of Georgia • Many scholars and practitioners agree that advertising creativity is one of the most significant parts in advertising, but, at the same time, they also admit that the topic has not been addressed enough. Individuals’ subjective perceptions about advertising creativity could be one of the reasons explaining the lack of the academic studies dealing with advertising creativity due to the difficulty in conducting the research.

Detecting pod position effects in the context of multi-segment programming: Implications from four Super Bowl broadcasts • Yongick Jeong, Louisiana State University and Hai Tran, University of North Carolina • Using ads placed in four Super Bowl broadcasts, this study investigated the impacts of pod positions on advertising effectiveness in a multi-segmented television program. The results support general primacy effects. The brands advertised during earlier quarters are significantly better recognized than those appeared in later quarters. However, advertising liking was not related to pod positions. This study also determined the pod position effects on brands recognition and advertising liking in the entire program.

Mothers’ perceptions about the usage of animated characters in TV food advertising targeting children • Hyunjae (Jay) Yu, Louisiana State University and Karen Whitehill King, University of Georgia • As TV food advertising has been considered one of the important factors in increasing the rate of childhood obesity, discussions about the content of this advertising have been more popular than ever. Among them, animated characters in TV food are an important topic because they prompt children to nag their parents to buy the food products they see on TV.

Understanding Consumer Attitudes toward Luxury Brands: A Cross-Cultural Study • Mark Yi-Cheon Yim, University of Texas and Yeo Jung Kim, University of Texas • This study investigates the relationship between the attitudes toward luxury brands and cultural typology based on U.S. and Korean college students. The study results suggest that rather than the dimension of Individualism-Collectivism, the dimension of Horizontality–Verticality was a valid predictor of attitude toward luxury brands. More specifically, vertical cultural orientations have positive effects on attitude toward luxury brands, whereas horizontal cultural orientations have negative effects. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed at the end.

Portrayals of the Elderly in Advertising: Do Hong Kong Ads Reflect Respect? • John Schweitzer, Bradley University and Daniel Ng, University of Oklahoma • This exploratory research was undertaken to investigate the portrayal of the elderly in Chinese advertising. The results of the investigation showed that the elderly are underrepresented in terms of their population numbers, but, on the whole, they were depicted in a favourable light. The research suggests several new areas for research to more fully understand the portrayal of the elderly in advertising.

Advertising disclosures and corporate social responsibility • Alex Wang, University of Connecticut • Although research into product disclosures has been conducted, little examines consumers’ attitudes toward disclosures in print ads. Research on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices and the Social Contract Theory (SCT) suggests that consumers may put a relatively high value on corporations that use disclosures in their print ads responsibly.

The effects of salient risk-reducing advertisements on consumer attitudes and purchase intentions • Roger Rudolph, St. Cloud State University and Roya Akhavan-Majid, St. Cloud State University • The concept of perceived risk in consumer decision-making constitutes an important area in advertising research. The present experiment was designed specifically to identify and reduce salient components of risk for two purchase conditions and measure the impact of the risk-reducing advertisements on, a) advertising believability, b) attitudes toward brand, and c) consumer purchase intentions.

Instructional interactivity: Measuring the effects of combining the produce and process of interactivity • Jesse Hoggard, Louisiana State University and Lance Porter, Louisiana State University • Using a between subjects, experimental design among 421 subjects, this study explicated and defined a new type of interactivity—instructive interactivity, where actors in the online advertisement instruct the user on how to interact. Results show that instructive interactivity can drive consumer engagement, through positive effects on attitude towards the ad, click-through, and intent to purchase. Brand advertisers can use instructive interactivity to literally tell consumers what to do: purchase products.

Consumer responses to stereoscopic 3-D as an advertising tool: An exploratory study • Mark Yi-Cheon Yim, University of Texas-Austin and Terry Daugherty, University of Texas-Austin • Since the emergence of auto-stereoscopic display technology, much literature has predicted its applications to outdoor advertising. However, there have been no efforts to evaluate its usability for advertising. As a seminal study, this research investigated the average consumers’ responses to this new technology which displays objects with the appearance of the true depth, and conducted an experiment to see the effectiveness of this new 3-D technology, compared to 2-D advertising.

The role of reviewers’ avatar on consumers’ processing of online product reviews • Mira Lee, Michigan State University. Mikyoung Kim and Wei Ping, Michigan State University • Drawing from attribution theory, this study demonstrates that the reviewer’s avatar facial expression moderates the effect of the valence of a consumer-generated product review on consumers’ causal attributions. In addition, this study reveals a three-way interaction effect of the valence of the product review, the reviewer’s avatar facial expression, and the consumers’ skepticism toward online consumer-generated product reviews on the strength of attitude toward the brand. Implications for researchers are also discussed.

Corporate reputation and ad-induced emotion: The effects of forewarning, affect intensity, and prior brand attitude • Sang Yeal Lee, West Virginia University • A between-subjects experiment was conducted to understand the role of forewarning of persuasive intent, affect intensity and prior attitude. Results indicated that forewarning of persuasive intent had negative attitudinal effects on the dependent variables regardless of experimental conditions. Forewarning of persuasive intent had negative attitudinal effects even among participants who had positive attitudes toward the company, and those who had high affect intensity.

Does the Exposure to Repeated Brand Information Inhibit Recognition of Non-repeated Brands? • Hyun-Seung Jin, Jatin Srivastava • The purpose of this study is to examine whether repeated exposure to some brand visuals inhibits or impairs the recognition of other non-repeated brand visuals in the context of the list-strength paradigm. Two experiments were conducted. The results of Experiment 1 suggest that different types of recognition tests play a significant role as a moderating variable. No significant inhibitive effect was found when recognition test items were distinctively different from the items that were pre-exposed.

The effects of body esteem on consumer attitudes toward diet product advertising – the mediating role of Social Comparison • Hyunjae (Jay) Yu, Louisiana State and Tae Hyun Baek, Georgia • There have been several studies dealing with the relationships between the perceptions of self and an individual’s attitudes toward advertising for diverse products. However, specific research about diet products, which have recently seen a dramatic increase in sales, has been scarce.

Teaching Papers
The National Student Advertising Competition: Chapter Advisers Describe Structure, Resources and Issues • Jami Fullerton, Oklahoma State University, Alice Kendrick, Southern Methodist University and Connie Frazier, American Advertising Federation • It has been almost ten years since a survey has been published of advertising program participation in the American Advertising Federation (AAF) National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC). The current study reports results from a nationwide survey of AAF student chapter advisers. NSAC is considered by the vast majority of advisers to be a valuable experience for students, one that often leads directly to advertising employment, and one that is the closest to “real world” activities.

Curriculum Convergence from the Employer’s Perspective: An Analysis of Required Entry-Level Job Skills for Advertising, IMC, and Interactive Marketing Graduates • Dennis Lowry and Lei Xie, Southern Illinois University Carbondale • This paper reviews methodological flaws in some past studies of required employment skills for entry-level advertising and marketing jobs, and then develops a new deductive approach (using QDA Miner and WordStat software) to analyze 645 entry-level employment ads. The purpose of the study was to look for skills that transcend convergence in advertising, marketing, and the media, and to isolate skills that employers require regardless of the advertising/marketing major.

Determining the Level and Nature of Curricular Integration in Programs of Journalism and Mass Communication • Andrew Lingwall, Clarion University • This study explores the level and nature of curricular integration in university programs of journalism and mass communication according to the principles of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC). It also explores respondents’ perceptions about the value of such an integrated curriculum.

The Influence of Thai culture on Group-based Learning in the Advertising Campaigns Class • Chawanuan Kananukul, Burapha University and Margaret Morrison, University of Tennessee • Group-based learning is normally utilized in the advertising campaigns course because it is believed that it can provide students with opportunities for enhancing their learning through practical application and better prepare them for careers in the advertising industry. While group-based learning in campaigns classes is common in the U.S., accounts of how it works in other cultures and the role that cultural values might play in its success are rare.

PF&R Papers
The Mid-Career Vanishing Act: A Qualitative Examination of Why So Few Women Become Creative Directors • Karen Mallia, University of South Carolina • Few women reach the top levels of advertising agency creative departments, though relatively equal numbers of women and men enter the field as copywriters and art directors. This study examines why creative women have been unable to achieve the success women have seen in other agency arenas. Through 17 depth interviews, the study identifies numerous factors underlying the dearth of women creative directors, some of those factors unique to advertising or agency creative positions.

Representation of African Americans in Super Bowl Commercials, 1989-2006: An Analysis of Primary and Secondary Characters • Kenneth Campbell, University of South Carolina, Phillip Jeter, Middle Tennessee State University and Ernest Wiggins, University of South Carolina • A content analysis of Super Bowls from 1989 to 2006 finds that African Americans in primary roles are represented at a rate somewhat below their proportion in the U.S. population. They are more likely to be relegated to background roles over primary roles, and associated with less prestigious products much more frequently than higher-end products. It raises questions about the cultural messages communicated concerning African Americans.

Assimilating the Queers: Representations of Gay Men, Lesbians, Bisexual, and Transgender People in Out-of-Closet Advertising • Wanhsiu Tsa, University of Miami • This paper investigates how mainstream advertising in the U.S. represents gay men, lesbians, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people. The objective is to explore how the identity categories of sexuality, gender, race, and class are enacted in advertising. The new gay dream consumer stereotype has partly replaced the previously stigmatized image. Gayness has been redefined via consumption ideologies and GLBT representations are sexualized and commodified to assimilate the sexual and gender minorities into the mainstream.

INSPI(RED) or (RED)ICU(LESS)? The Assessment of the (PRODUCT) RED Campaign • Kwangmi Kim, Towson University and Lauren Ambrogio, Towson University • Recently, we are witnessing a new, expanding CRM campaign, called (PRODUCT) RED campaign. While presenting a new business model within the CRM, this campaign has drawn various attention and concerns from non-profit organizations as well as from the marketing industry and the media.

Special Topics Papers
Starting the Buzz: Assessing the Practice of Buzz Marketing • Amy Struthers, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Hailey Abbott, University of Nebraska-Lincoln • This study questions whether Buzz marketing is a practical tool for a health campaign targeting teenagers; and if so, how does one test the concept with teenagers, craft a campaign around “Buzz,” and finally implement the campaign into high schools. To begin, literature regarding health promotion, the teenage demographic and the concept of Buzz marketing is summarized, followed by a review of how the concept of Buzz marketing tested with teenagers.

Measuring the Immeasurable; Testing the 4-D Model of Advertising Creativity • Mark Stuhlfaut, University of Kentucky and Chan Yoo, University of Kentucky • A proposed model of advertising creativity with 19 characteristics that were organized into four dimensions was tested for validity, reliability and predictability. Confirmatory factor analysis and a structural equation modeling supported the four-dimensional structure after the removal of four characteristics. Regression analysis showed support for the ability of the model to predict high and low levels of creativity exhibited by four advertisements in the alcoholic beverage product category.

Consumers as Avatars: An Ethnographic Exploration of Brand and Object Meanings in an Online Virtual World • Sara Hansen, University of Wisconsin – Madison • Advertisers increasingly reach consumers as avatars in online virtual worlds or social videogames. This virtual ethnography pilot study in MTV’s Virtual Laguna Beach / The Hills studies meanings of brands and objects regarding player identity expression and social roles, world structure and social interaction within the theories of symbolic interactionism and self-presentation. Findings show players using brands and objects as forms of currency or capital, with uses for shifting power, with interactive structural influence.

Toward a more Efficient Brainstorming: The Optimal Number of Wild Thoughts to Successful Ideas in an Advertising Exercise • Michael Maynard, Temple University and Margo Berman, Florida International University • This study explores the assumption that the more unfiltered ideas generated, the more likely an increase in the odds for a successful, workable idea. Focus is placed, instead, on the minimal number of ideas necessary for success. The classroom-based experiment finds that for a 15-minute solo brainstorming session, the optimal minimum number of wild thoughts a student must generate to produce a successful idea is between 4 and 6.

Bowled over with violent humor: An analysis of the top-scoring Super Bowl ads from 1989 to 2008 • Bonnie Drewniany, University of South Carolina • This longitudinal study looks at the highest-rated Super Bowl commercials over a 20-year period, 1989-2008, to determine if the use of violent and aggressive humor in the “best” Super Bowl ads has increased over time. Half of the humorous Super Bowl commercials that made it to the USA Today “Top 10” list and 36.6% of the humorous Super Bowl commercials that earned top ratings in the Advertising Age Ad Review used violence and/or aggression.

Truth, Art and Advertising: The Creative Perspective • Lee Earle, Roosevelt University • Creativity is at the heart of the advertising industry and scholars have written extensively on the subject. But, in reviewing the literature, one word is never mentioned, a word award-winning agency creatives feel is essential, a word as simple as truth. In this essay, the concept of truth will be explored from the perspective of the arts and advertising. This discourse will help illustrate how truth, whether about a product or human life, is essential to creating engaging communication.

Growing up in Smoke: The Early Years of the Tobacco and Hollywood Alliance • Laleah Fernandez, Michigan State University • In the years leading up to 1950s, tobacco marketers used a number of tactics to align their product with the glamour of Hollywood including celebrity use and endorsement, advertising in entertainment magazines and sponsoring top-rated radio and televisions programs. By the time information surrounding the health consequences of smoking became widely known, tobacco companies had already established deep networks and connections among the highest executives and rising stars within the entertainment industry.

Human Flourishing Theory in Advertising: Case Studies • Craig Davis, Ohio University and Timothy Brotherton, Saginaw Valley State University • This manuscript examines the subject of human flourishing and its use in current advertisements. Human flourishing deals with the concept of a deeper happiness based upon living the good life. It was first developed by Aristotle over 2000 years ago. What Aristotle called “eudaimonia” has continued to be examined and discussed by philosophers, psychologists, and economists to this day.

Theoretical Approaches and New Variable Assessments in Sport Sponsorship Marketing • Thomas Mueller, University of Florida • Event sponsorship has become one of the fastest growing sectors of U.S. marketing. Sponsorship can amplify the impact of traditional advertising; ad copy can tout the sponsorship affiliation, and the same media can be displayed at sport events. More definition is demanded of those who market sport as a viable advertising tool, and new variables that contribute to the overall measurement of sponsorship value will be required to move the industry forward.

Student Papers
“Politics by Other Means:” Testing the Relationship between Socially Conscious Consumption and Political Participation • Lucy Atkinson, University of Wisconsin • Affluence, materialism and consumer culture are often criticized for the deleterious effects they are assumed to have on social life and community connectedness. The rising trend of socially conscious consumption, such as buying organic or fair-trade products, offers a challenge to this negative view of consumer behavior. However, little research exists testing the relationship between mass media messages emphasizing specific consumer orientations and civic and political outcomes.

A Tale of Two Social Contexts: Race-Specific Testimonials on Commercial Web Sites and their Effects on Numeric Majority and Numeric Minority Consumer Attitudes • Troy Elias, Ohio State University • This study examines the effects of race-specific testimonials on both Black and White consumers, and on Black majority consumers and Black minority consumers. In this study, Black and White product endorsers in high, moderate, and low level vividly presented ads are evaluated as predictors of consumer product and web attitudes. Findings show that Black Internet surfers respond more favorably to testimonial ads that utilize Black character testimonials than they do to testimonials that use White characters.

Asian Medical Tourism Web Sites: How They Use Credibility Characteristics to Attract American Consumers • Leslie Cermak, Karen Paul, University of Oklahoma, Ibrahima Ndoye, University of Oklahoma and Sarabdeep Kochhar, University of Oklahoma • Medical tourism is an expanding trend that appeals to Americans searching for alternatives to health insurance costs. This study analyzed the content of these Web sites to determine how they try to create perceptions of credibility as medical experts while also creating awareness of their service through branding strategies. The study found that medical tourism Web sites are formatted to target American consumers and create perceptions of trust and expertise.

Bottled Fantasies: College Students’ Interpretation of Alcohol Advertising and its Effects • Yanjun Zhao • This study, under the MIP theoretical framework, provides empirical data on how alcohol advertising influences college students, as well as how anti-alcohol messages might change college students’ interpretation of alcohol advertising. An experiment showed that the logic-based anti-alcohol messages had an impact while the emotion-based ones did not.

Brands as Social In-Groups: Applying Optimal Distinctiveness Theory to Consumer Brands • Wendy Maxian, Texas Tech University • Optimal distinctiveness theory is applied to brands. Brands are conceptualized as social groups which must foster a balance between individuation among members and assimilation within the group, as well as differentiating themselves from other similar groups. Results suggest that individuals do not perceive brands as a means of individuation, but that brand differentiation and perceptions of brand inclusion are crucial to brand loyalty and a positive brand attitude.

Culture and Persuasion: Exploring Chinese Consumers’ Attitudinal and Perceptual Reactions toward Culturally Oriented Online Advertising • Gennadi Gevorgyan, Louisiana State University • With framing and communication accommodation theories as its primary conceptual framework, this paper explores the role of culture in online marketing communication. By examining the attitudinal and perceptual effects of culturally oriented online ads, we aim to develop and test a framework that advertisers and marketers can apply to reach out to ethnically diverse consumers whose buying power has been increasing at an unprecedented rate.

Differences in Consumers’ Perceptions and Acceptance of Product Placement in Films and Movies • Glynnis Johnson, University of Texas • The goal of the study was to explore African-Americans’ perceptions and acceptance of products for placement in films and movies and to compare the perceptions to those of Anglo-Americans. A mixed between and repeated measure ANOVA was run to test four hypotheses dealing with race, gender and product differences. The results indicated that there are differences in the perceptions and acceptance of products for placement in films and movies.

Gain-Loss Framing in DTC Prescription Drug Advertising and the Moderating Impact of Product Knowledge • Kenneth Kim, University of Florida and Jinseong Park • A 2 (gain versus loss framing) X 2 (high versus low product knowledge) experimental study was conducted to investigate the framing effect of direct to consumer (DTC) prescription drug advertising on the persuasion process. Specifically, the study attempted to explore the moderating role of product knowledge in the framing–persuasion relationship. One-hundred-fourteen female college students participated in the experiment. The results show a significant moderating impact of the product knowledge on the processing of the framed DTC drug advertising.

Global Youths’ Attitudes toward Global Brands: Implications for Global Advertising Strategy • Szu-Chi Huang, University of Texas and Shu-Chuan Chu, University of Texas • This study investigates the relationships between the college-educated global youth’s attitude toward global brands and the macro factors of global media and reference groups in two culturally different countries, China and the United States. We draw upon the uses and gratifications theory and reference group theory to examine the motivations of global media usage, the role of exposure to global media, and the influences of reference groups in shaping young consumers’ attitudes toward global brands across cultures.

Influence of Sporting Event Attendance on Sponsorship Recall, Perceived Value and Support for Participating Advertisers • Glenda Alvarado, Texas Tech University • Sponsorship is an important revenue source for athletic departments and it is necessary for those departments to verify that advertisers are noticed and appreciated. This study surveyed donors to a collegiate athletic program (N = 771) to determine the recognition, and value, of sponsorships at sporting events. Frequent attendance resulted in the ability to recall more sponsors, perceive value in sponsorship support, and show inclination to purchase products from advertising contributors to the athletic program.

Sexual Orientation: A Peripheral Cue in Advertising? • Adrienne Holz Ivory, Virginia Tech • Although advertising featuring gay male and lesbian models can be an effective means of targeting the significant gay and lesbian market, few empirical studies examine how consumers respond to gay-themed advertisements. To address the absence of message-processing research dealing with heterosexual responses to gay-themed advertising, this paper examines how sexual orientation of model couples featured in magazine advertisements affects heterosexual viewers’ responses using the elaboration-likelihood model as a guiding framework.

The effect of Internet use motivations and opinion leader characteristics on eWOM behaviors • Soyoen Cho, University of Minnesota • This study attempts to explore the effect of Internet use motivations and opinion leadership factors on eWOM behaviors. A survey was conducted using a college student sample. The results demonstrated that product category knowledge was the most significant predictor of product category eWOM behaviors, regardless of the content characteristic – either information or entertainment eWOM. Also, social interaction motivation for using the Internet was found to be significant in predicting eWOM behaviors in general.

The Effects of Value-based Advertising on Brand Associations in a Durable Goods Category • Michael Clayton, University of Florida and Jun Heo, University of Florida • The authors investigate how value-based messaging affects brand associations, including brand image, brand attitudes, and consumer quality perceptions, within a durable goods category. The present research proposes that value-messaging will be detrimental to brand association measures, compared to non-value based messaging within a durable goods category. A 2 x 2 factorial design was employed with cognitive involvement (high/low) and advertising message (brand/value) as the experimental factors.

The Interpretation of the Messages in an Advergame: The Effects on Brand Personality Perception • Dohyun Ahn, University of Alabama • This study explored whether advergames represented persuasive messages, and discussed how the messages were interpreted. One hundred seventy one participants played an anti-advergame that censured the business practices of a fast food company. The results indicated that the interactive feature of advergame represented messages, and that messages were interpreted being consistent with the expression of the game. However, the direction of the interpretation did not always coincide with the intention of the game designer.

Themes, Appeals and Genre Differences of Non-Alcoholic Beverage Advertisements in Teen-Oriented Magazines from 1999-2001 • Yvonnes Yi-Chun Chen, Washington State University • The food industry’s marketing strategies have garnered numerous criticisms nowadays. This is partially due to the industry’s unethical advertising practices and strong appeals attractive to teens. Indeed, using a three-year longitudinal content analysis of non-alcoholic beverage advertising published in teen magazines, this study found that advertisers strategically design appeals that are developmentally appropriate and heavily gender-stereotyped.

Zipping as Ad avoidance: Intrusiveness and Ad effectiveness of the Simultaneous Presentation Advertising as an alternative ad format in DVR environment • Yoonjae Nam, State University of New York at Buffalo, Sungjoon Lee, State University of New York at Buffalo and Kyounghee Kwon, State University of New York at Buffalo • The study explored the ad effectiveness of the Simultaneous Presentation Advertising (SPA), an alternative ad strategy to restrain to zipping behavior in DVR environment. Results revealed that SPA is more effective than spot ad in terms of lessening zipping and increasing recall. The result also showed that the increased recall was significantly related with reduced zipping rather than the ad format itself. However, SPA produced more negative outcomes when perceived intrusiveness and product image were tested.

<< 2008 Abstracts

Small Programs Interest Group

Does Size Really Matter? Small Programs and the Shift to Convergence • Robert Bergland, Missouri Western State University; Cliff Brockman, Wartburg College; Matthew Fowler, Missouri Western State University; Spencer Albers, Wartburg College • Small programs are wrestling with how to incorporate convergence in their curricula with limited resources. To discover the amount of convergence in small programs we examined 97 journalism and mass communication programs with fewer than 100 majors. We found that smaller programs are somewhat less likely than the often larger ACEJMC-accredited schools to have majors, minors, tracks and required convergent courses, but not as much as one might expect.

GIFTed Teaching: An analysis of 228 Great Ideas for Teaching (GIFT) awards in journalism education • David Cuillier, University of Arizona; Carol Schwalbe, Arizona State University • A content analysis of all 228 Great Ideas for Teaching (GIFT) awards presented 2000 through 2008 at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication conference found that the most effective teaching exercises were submitted by women, were intended for skills courses, were ideal for small classes, and incorporated teams. Relatively few ideas incorporated technology or elements of diversity. Other findings and implications for journalism education are discussed.

The Effect of Audio Recording on Reportorial Accuracy: Implications for Teaching Beginning Reporters • Cody Winchester, Baylor University; Amanda Sturgill, Baylor University; Julie Freeman, Baylor University • The contemporary changes in the media industry in general and newspapers in particular make it important to consider how educators are training future journalists to use technologies available to them. Our experiment takes a fresh look at an older technology, looking at the influence of using an audio recording on accuracy in a speech story for beginning journalists.

<< 2009 Abstracts