Practical and Ethical Aspects of Advertising Internships: The Good, the Bad and the Awkward • alice kendrick, Southern Methodist University; Jami Fullerton, Oklahoma State University • In a nationwide survey of 1,045 advertising students, slightly more than half (53.4%; n=530) reported that they had held an internship outside of their academic studies. Females and seniors were more likely than other students to report having completed an internship, and internship students were more likely to have higher self-reported GPAs. Graduating seniors who had held an internship were significantly more likely to have received a job offer by the month of June, though their salary expectations and actual salary offers did not differ significantly from students who did not have internships. About 11 percent of internship students agreed that the company with which they interned engaged in some type of perceived unethical behavior, and 6.4% offered examples. Open-ended comments revealed that student concerns were likely to focus on what were perceived to be questionable business practices, personal misbehavior by company staff and intern exploitation. Implications for advertising educators and internship employers are discussed.

Internship Supervisors’ Evaluation of Communications Majors’ Internship Performance • Vicki Todd, Quinnipiac University; Grace Levine, AEJMC — Law and Policy Division • On-site internship supervisors evaluated communications majors regarding their internship work performance. Supervisors placed more emphasis on students’ personality traits than on job skills students performed during their internships. Supervisors evaluated public relations students more positively regarding the personal characteristics of time management; willingness to take on new tasks; and the ability to think critically, creatively, and independently. PR majors also ranked more positively based on the job skills of preparation of tasks/assignments and research skills.

Entering the Game at Half-time: Engaging Transfer Students in Internships and Co-Curricular Activities in Mass Communication Programs • Lauren Vicker, St. John Fisher College
With enrollment soaring at community colleges across the country, the number of transfer students is also increasing at many four-year mass communication programs. This study begins a look at this often-neglected population in terms of their engagement in activities that will help to build their professional resumes and portfolios. The research examines transfer students’ motivation to participate in internships and co-curricular activities through a survey of students and interviews with several transfer students. Results indicate that transfer students are participating in internships and co-curricular activities in numbers significantly lower than native students who come to college as freshmen. Transfer students’ main concern is fitting these activities in along with required courses and work time. Mass communication faculty need to pay more attention to ways of engaging transfer students in the full life of their academic programs.

<< 2010 Abstracts

Conflicting desires: An analysis of All My Children’s negotiation of lesbian representation in the early 2000s • Tara Kachgal, University of Wisconsin Superior • This paper analyzes the interplay between soap opera insiders and outsiders over the representation of Bianca Montgomery, U.S. daytime television’s first major lesbian character. Focusing on the three-year period following Bianca’s 2000-2001 coming out, the author charts a series of moves by program makers that initially excited but gradually frustrated and angered lesbian fans. A connection is subsequently drawn between the storyline’s seeming failure and the broader U.S. sociopolitical climate of the mid-2000s.

You Do Not Know Me: Sexual Identity, Consumption, and the Sign of The L-Word • Rebecca Kern, Manhattan College • This paper examines The L-Word as a media product logo and as a cultural sign with important significance. Through CBS’ and Showtime’s commodification of The L-Word, viewers of the show could express their membership as a fan. The cultural sign of The L-Word; however, is more than a logo for a show, the pink ‘L’ represents female sexual identity: lesbian and bisexual, making it possible for anyone to express inclusion in a marginalized sexual identity. It is within this that the lines of insider/outsider fan ‘ness’ and female sexual identity are blurred. These types of products serve a greater purpose of marking social acceptance and cultural shifts in sexual identity expression.

Breeding Masculinities: Bareback Pornography and the Fluid Phallus • Byron Lee, Temple University • Gay bareback pornography (films featuring men engaging in unprotected anal intercourse) has come under attack from multiple communities. This analysis instead examines the discourses of masculinity that are presented in Treasure Island Media films. I argue that bareback pornography presents queer forms of masculinity, rendering them visible and therefore desirable. In bareback pornography, the focus on ejaculate changes the nature of the cum shot, and positions the ejaculate, and not the penis, as the phallus.

Body Image and Race on Queerty.com • Joseph Schwartz, Northeastern University; Josh Grimm, Texas Tech University • In this study, we conducted a content analysis of 214 images of male models published on the gay-oriented blog Queerty.com from May, 2007 to March, 2010. Results showed that most models were White, in their twenties, and had low levels of body hair. Almost uniformly, models had low levels of body fat and high levels of muscularity. Additionally, models’ body types varied significantly by race. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Learning Lesbianism: Media’s Role in Shaping Adolescent Lesbian Identity • Valarie Schweisberger, Syracuse University • Lesbian media representation is scant at best, and for young gay women who come to terms with their sexuality during adolescence, media may have an influence on the formation of their sexual identity. This cross-sectional study of adolescent lesbians explores the role of traditional entertainment media in shaping the development of sexual identity. I conducted in-depth interviews with a convenience/purposive sample of 17 adolescent lesbians in Central New York, and inquired about their perceptions of entertainment media’s influence on their experiences of lesbianism. Results indicate that media have a largely educational influence on adolescent lesbian identity construction.

<< 2010 Abstracts

Research
Changing shades of green • Lee Ahern, Penn State; Denise Bortree, Penn State University; Alexandra Smith, Penn State University, College of Communications • The growth, and changing nature, of strategic green communications has become a key issue for environmental advocates and for communications researchers. This study, the first extensive longitudinal content analysis of green advertising of its kind, reveals layers of information relative to message types, message sponsors, frames and appeal levels. It also provides for the examination of these relationships over time. Implications for strategic environmental communications are discussed.

Brands Among Friends: An Examination of Brand Friending and Engagement on Facebook • Kelli Burns, USF • When Facebook allowed companies to create profiles in November 2007, about 100,000 corporate users created a free page during the first 24 hours (Zukowski 2008). This study surveyed 112 Facebook members to understand the variables related to friending and engaging with brands. Facebook brand fans differ significantly from non-Facebook fans on several key variables. Also, Facebook fans who exhibit more engagement behaviors with a Facebook brand can be differentiated from those with fewer engagement behaviors.

U.S. Advertising Agency Operating Efficiency • Yunjae Cheong, The University of Alabama; Kihan Kim, Seoul National University; Justin Combs, University of Alabama • This study uses Data Envelopment Analysis to evaluate the financial efficiency of a sample of 41 U.S. advertising agencies, based on their profits and expenditures in six key areas (i.e., payroll to employees, other payroll-related expenses, administrative expenses, space and facilities expenses, corporate expenses, and professional fees). The analyses reveals that, on average, 5% of an agency’s budget is wasted, incurring the greatest amount of waste in the administrative area. The tobit regression also indicates that professional fees contributed the most agency inefficiency overall.

Health and Nutrition- Related (HNR) Claims in Magazine Food Advertising: A Comparison of Benefit-Seeking and Risk-Avoidance Claims • Hojoon Choi, The University of Georgia; Kyunga Yoo, The University of Georgia; Wendy Macias, The University of Georgia; Nah Ray Han, The University of Georgia • This study employed content analysis to examine benefit-seeking or risk-avoiding use of health- and nutrition-related (HNR) claims in food advertisements of high circulation magazines published between 2007 and 2009. Overall, food marketers made substantial use of risk-avoidance claims in their ads, mainly employing nutrient content claim among three claim types of HNR claims. Moreover, risk-avoidance claims were especially found in the product categories which are perceived as relatively innutritious and less healthy. Our findings provide implications and suggestions with regards to food advertising and public health policy.

Celebrity Endorsers in Advertising: Effects of Negative Information Levels and Timing of Exposure to Negative News • Hojoon Choi, The University of Georgia; Leonard Reid, University of Georgia; Mariko Morimoto, University of Georgia • Using the frameworks of consumer contamination theory and associative learning theory, this experiment examined the moderating effects of level of negative celebrity information (major vs. minor criminal offense) and timing of exposure to negative information (recent vs. past news story about crime associated with endorser) on evaluations of (a) endorser, (b) ad, (c) brand, and (d) purchase intention in celebrity endorser advertising. Two hypotheses and one research question were addressed. The results supported H1: major criminal offense associated with the celebrity endorser had significantly more negative impact on perceived endorser expertise, attractiveness, and trustworthiness, and on attitudes toward advertising and brand, and purchase intension than minor offense. The results partially supported H2: time of exposure to news about endorser criminal offense (recent and past) only significantly impacted perceived trustworthiness. Mediation analysis found that endorser trustworthiness fully or partially mediated the relationship between the independent variables and dependent variables.

The Role of Affective Responses on Advertising Evaluations in a Sport Media Context • Michael Clayton, Christopher Newport University • This research contributes to the theoretical knowledge within the field of PIA (program-induced affect) and has practical implications for sports marketers and advertisers. An experiment was conducted to explore the ability of sports to create bipolar affect responses among highly identified fans of competing teams. The experiment supported previous research in sports marketing regarding the power of sports to create strong affective responses. The research failed to find support for the mood congruency theory which would suppose that positive affective responses created by sport media would lead to more positive advertising evaluations, while negative affective responses would lead to more negative advertising evaluations.

The Impact of Control Mechanism and Game Customization on Videogame Advertising Effects • Frank Dardis, Pennsylvania State University; Mike Schmierbach, Penn State University • Videogame research indicates that a player’s game customization and the control mechanism used can influence various cognitive, affective, and physiological aspects of the gaming experience. However, little research has tested these two factors in relation to advertising effects. Therefore, the current experimental investigation examined the impact of control mechanism and game customization on the effectiveness of in-game advertising. Interaction effects indicated that players using a traditional, hand-held controller remembered more ads in an auto-racing game than did those who used a steering wheel and foot pedals, but only when customization was not allowed. Additionally, controller type and customization led to differing attitudes toward in-game advertising in general. Marketing implications regarding technological videogame advancements are discussed.

Consumer Articulations as Electronic Word-of-Mouth: A Social Identity Perspective • Troy Elias, University of Florida; Osei Appiah, The Ohio State University • This study examines key factors that may play a critical role in determining consumer attitudes toward products and services based on online consumer feedback. The results indicate that positive online consumer feedback leads to significantly more desirable consumer attitudes than sites with no consumer feedback, or sites with overly negative consumer word-of-mouth (NWOM). The results also indicate Blacks tend to respond more favorably to services that are linked to their own racial ingroup, especially when those services have substantial positive consumer evaluations. Also, for a less familiar, less relevant service, word-of-mouth reviews played a more significant role for Blacks in their overall consumer attitudes. For Whites, the results demonstrate that the e-WOM (electronic word-of-mouth) effect is larger for negative WOM than for positive WOM. Implications for Social Identity Theory and the Distinctiveness Principle are discussed.

Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and the Study of Advertising, 2004-2009 • Gregory Hoplamazian, Ohio State; R. Lance Holbert, Ohio State • This study is an assessment of all works employing some aspect of SEM in three advertising ournals (Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, and International Journal of Advertising) between 2004-2009 (N=62). Focus is given to both measurement and structural models. Each model is assessed in terms of specification, estimation, and evaluation strategies. Summary judgments are offered concerning what the field does well and poorly in relation to its use of SEM.

Social Self-Esteem Responses to Race Representation in Advertising: Downward Social Comparison and White Guilt • Gregory Hoplamazian, Ohio State; Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, Ohio State • In this study advertising characters’ race (Black, White) and social status (high, low) are manipulated to investigate sociocognitive responses to race representations in advertising.
Results support the proposed social identity framework for Black participants with ethnic identity serving as a significant moderator. Conversely, Whites’ responses are in stark contrast to this framework, and warrant further investigation of attitudes toward specific racial groups. Impact of advertising character portrayal on viewers’ social identity and self-esteem are discussed.

Stereotyping Westerners: An Analysis of Gender and Occupational Roles of Western Models • Ying Huang, Southern Illinois University Carbondale; Dennis Lowry, Southern Illinois University • A content analysis of 638 advertisements and 246 individual Western models in 22 Chinese magazines was performed to examine the use of Western models regarding frequency, race, gender, product category and occupational status. Their occupational status was also compared with 240 models in U.S. magazine advertisements. Results showed Western models are dominantly female, white and in non-working roles, which suggests their roles are more limited compared with their roles in U.S. advertising.

Finding the Right Spot: The Effect of the Length of Preceding and Succeeding Ads on Television Advertising Effectiveness • Yongick Jeong, Louisiana State University; Yeuseung Kim, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • This study investigated the impact of the length of the immediately surrounding commercials on the effectiveness of a given ad with the consideration of sequential order relations between two consecutive ads. The results showed that advertising is more effective when a commercial is longer than immediately surrounding ads and that the impact of length of an immediately preceding commercial is stronger than that of a succeeding ad. Practical implication is discussed.

Influences of Culture, Country Origin and Product Category on the International Advertising Strategies of Multinational Corporations in North America, Europe and Asia • JING JIANG, Renmin University of China; Ran Wei, University of South Carolina • This study tests the standardization typology (e.g., global, glocal, local, and single case; Wei & Jiang, 2005) by examining Multinational Corporations’ (MNCs’) international advertising targeting culturally different markets. In doing so, the influences of product origin by region, product category, and cultural values were examined. Results of a content analysis of 210 selected ads before and during the 2008 Beijing Olympics show that MNCs are more likely to adopt the glocal strategy than any other strategies by standardizing the creative strategy but localizing the execution. Furthermore, results reveal that EU-based MNCs tend to pursue a highly standardized advertising approach (global strategy), whereas the North America-based MNCs seem to favor the glocal strategy and Asia-based MNCs tend to standardize their ads the least (local strategy). Finally, Western and non-Western cultural values are found to converge, indicating a trend of increasing similarity in international advertising. Product category was found to have an impact only on the level of standardization in execution in a cross-cultural context. Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.

Factors Influencing Consumer Acceptance of Mobile Advertising • Jong-Hyuok Jung, Syracuse University; Wei-Na Lee, The University of Texas at Austin; Yongjun Sung, The University of Texas at Austin • The primary objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive understanding of consumers’ acceptance of mobile advertising. Specifically, this research explored how the persuasive communication process works via mobile advertising. In order to accomplish this research objective, the relationships among various factors identified from earlier studies were tested. Based on previous literature regarding consumer attitudes, media use, and innovation adoption, a conceptual framework was developed to understand consumer acceptance of mobile advertising. For this reason, the current study employed an online survey with 514 online participants. The results suggest that consumers’ attitudes toward mobile advertising are closely related with all three factors used in this study (e.g., mobile device, message, consumer factors). Furthermore, consumers’ attitudes toward mobile advertising are strongly influenced by message factors (e.g. entertainment, credibility, irritation, message interactivity) and consumer factors (e.g. social influence, compatibility). Thus, careful considerations in message strategy and thoughtful consumer research are needed to increase the effectiveness of mobile advertising. Additionally, the sizable and significant impact of consumer attitude on behavioral intention further supports findings from previous research.

Framing Tactic, Framing Domain, and Source Credibility in DTC Hormone Replacement Therapy Advertising: An Integration of Prospect Theory and Language Expectancy Theory • Kenneth Eun Han Kim, Oklahoma state university • The present study attempts to explore the interactive effects among the gain-loss framing domain, the attribute-goal framing tactic, and message source credibility on the persuasive outcomes associated with DTC Hormone Replacement Therapy advertising. An experiment was designed with a 2 (framing tactic: attribute framing versus goal framing) _ 2 (framing domain: gain framing versus loss framing) _ 2 (source credibility: high versus low) between-subjects design, exploring the interactive effects of framing tactic and framing domain on the consumer’s attitude toward hormone replacement therapy and DTC ad-promoted behavior intentions. Women, aged 45-65 were recruited for the study samples. The data obtained indicate that loss framing is affected by the level of source credibility such that the loss framing impact decreases with a low credible source, while the gain framing impact is not affected as much as loss framing by source credibility. However, this study failed to find any significant interaction between gain-loss framing domain and attribute-goal framing tactic.

I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV: The effects of context and endorser credibility on advertising effectiveness • K. Maja Krakowiak, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs; Kelly Poniatowski, Elizabethtown College • As actors and actresses become increasingly comfortable with ad appearances, ads featuring celebrities have started to be shown during entertainment content starring them. This study examines how placing endorser ads in the context of content that also features the endorser affects responses to the ads. The findings of an experiment (N = 161) reveal that one-time viewing of entertainment content featuring an endorser does not affect responses to an ad featuring that endorser; however, frequent viewing of such content results in more favorable perceptions of the endorser’s credibility, which, in turn, leads to more favorable responses to the endorser ad. Implications of the findings for priming theories and advertising research are discussed.

The Effects of Spokes-Characters’ Personalities of Food Products on Source Credibility • Hobin Kyung, Korea Telecom; Ohyoon Kwon, The University of Texas at Austin; Yongjun Sung, The University of Texas at Austin • Personified spokes-characters can be created and controlled in ways in which advertisers want to establish and maintain the images and personalities of the food products. This research explores the relationships between spokes-characters’ personality dimensions and source credibility dimensions, including expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness. The overall findings suggest that different spokes-character personality dimensions influence the source credibility dimensions differently and that both sincerity and competence are the two most significant spokes-character personality dimensions to increase the levels of source expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness.

Brand Interactivity and Its Effects on the Outcomes of Advergame Play • Joonghwa Lee, University of Missouri; Hyojung Park, University of Missouri, School of Journalism; Kevin Wise, University of Missouri, School of Journalism • This study developed the concept of brand interactivity based on the characteristics and definitions of interactivity and applied it to advergames. A 2 (brand interactivity: present/absent) _ 2 (game: Mahjong/Bejeweled) within-subjects experiment was conducted to examine the effect of brand interactivity on attitude toward the advergame, attitude toward the brand, and purchase intention. Brand interactivity appeared to have a positive effect on brand attitude and purchase intention.

Product Placement in Mobile Phone Games: The Impact on Persuasion • Hui-Fei Lin, National Chiao Tung University • Various past researches have studied product placement, such as in television shows (Law & Braun, 2000). Some studies have begun to examine brand placement in computer or on-line games (Nelson, 2002; Nelson, Yaros, & Keum, 2006; Lee & Faber, 2007; Yang & Wang, 2008). However, the effectiveness of brand placement in other entertainment media, especially mobile phone games, from psychological aspects has received little attention. Furthermore, due to the increase of product placement in mobile phone games, it would be valuable to gain insights into the game players’ perceptions of the impact of product placement in mobile game on game players’ memory, attitudes towards product placements in games and their purchase intention. The purpose of this current research is to explore the effect of product placement on mobile phone games on persuasion. A 2 (Type of games: high level of attention x low level of attention) x 2 (Location of placement: focal vs. peripheral) x 2 (Type of brand: high familiarity brand vs. low familiarity brand) between-subjects design was conducted (N=324). As hypothesized, results showed that 1) gamers have a greater memory of brands when brands were embedded in the focal area of the game than when they were placed in the peripheral area of the game; 2) gamers have a better memory when high familiarity brands were embedded within the games than when low familiarity brands were placed; 3) Gamers who have more positive attitudes towards product placements are more likely to exhibit stronger purchase intentions.

From Eisenhower to Obama: Lexical Characteristics of Winning vs. Losing Presidential Campaign Commercials • Dennis Lowry, Southern Illinois University; Md. Naser, Southern Illinois University Carbondale • This is the first longitudinal study of 15 presidential campaigns using lexical analysis to isolate differences been winning and losing commercials. The corpus, which consisted of 1,227 commercials from Campaigns ’52 through ’08, was analyzed with Diction 5.0 lexical analysis software. Results indicated that there were striking lexical differences between the commercials of presidential winners versus losers. Winners were significantly higher on positive terms and other-directed references to groups, while losers were higher on self-related I/me/my words.

Individual Differences in the Perception of Product Placements: Field Dependence-Independence, Brand Recall, and Brand Liking • Jörg Matthes, University of Zurich; Christian Schemer, University of Zurich; Werner Wirth, University of Zurich • We argue that the cognitive style field dependence-independence predicts people’s ability to detect audiovisual product placements. In an experiment working with an authentic audiovisual stimulus, we varied the appearance of placements and tested the field dependence of our participants. Results demonstrate that field independent individuals show a higher placement recall but lower brand liking compared to field dependent individuals. The results speak to the importance of individual difference variables for product placement research.

A cross-national study of young consumers’ intentions to redeem mobile coupons • Alexander Muk, Texas State-San Marcos • The mobile phone is considered as an ideal advertising vehicle because of the growing number of mobile phone subscribers worldwide. Mobile coupons, in SMS format with discount codes, are sent directly via the cell phones to customers who have signed up for receiving them. While redeeming mobile coupons by cell phone users is increasing in Asian countries like Japan and Korea, American cell phone users are slow in adopting this new couponing tool. To gain a better understanding of the effectiveness of mobile couponing, a cross-national approach may help identify important factors that influence consumer perceptions of mobile coupons. The United States, Korea and Taiwan were selected for this study because of their different cultural characteristics as well as their tendencies in adopting wireless technologies. Congruent with research involving cross-cultural consumer behavior, this study found differences across countries in terms of cultural influences on consumers’ intentions to redeem mobile coupons. The findings showed that cultural values are important factors affecting consumer acceptance mobile coupons.

Are Responsible Drinking Campaigns Done Responsibly?: The Effectiveness of Alcohol Industry-Sponsored Advertising Campaigns • Sun-Young Park, University of Florida; Yeonsoo Kim, University of Florida; Cynthia Morton, University of Florida • The purpose of the present study is to provide a summary of the theoretical foundation associated with how industry-sponsored responsible drinking advertising campaigns work, providing a conceptual model that assesses the effectiveness of the campaigns. Based on the path-analysis, the study investigated consumers’ attributions of corporate altruistic motives, perceptions of corporate credibility, attitudes toward corporations, and attitudes toward responsible drinking ad campaigns sponsored by corporations, along with the pro-social effects (i.e., the intention to drink alcohol responsibly), and pro-corporate effects (i.e., the intention to drink alcohol) of the campaigns. In particular, the findings of the study support the idea that industry-sponsored messages externally discourage misuse or promote individual responsibility, but the messages are blended with favorable portrayals of product consumption. The findings revealed that the intention to drink alcohol is enhanced by responsible drinking ad campaigns sponsored by alcohol companies through creating positive company attitudes. Implications, limitations, and future research are suggested.

Does Planning Make Perfect in India? How Advertising Practitioners Perceive Account Planning • Padmini Patwardhan, Winthrop University; Hemant Patwardhan, Winthrop University; Falguni Vasavada-Oza, Mudra Institute of Communication • This study examined acceptance of account planning among advertising practitioners in India, an emerging global advertising hotspot. Three research questions were proposed to investigate planning’s growth across agencies, individual perceptions about planning, as well as coercive, mimetic and normative pressures in its development. A cross sectional survey of practitioners from all key agency areas was conducted for a 30% (n = 154) response rate. Results indicate that (1) planning practice is growing in India with a majority of respondents indicating that their agencies use it at least in a basic way (2) planning perceptions are highly positive and (3) environmental (external) pressures are believed to impact planning development through not all are seen as equally important. Future research directions are proposed.

What Makes A Super Bowl Ad Super?: Five-Act Dramatic Form Impacts Super Bowl Ad Ratings. • Keith Quesenberry, Temple University; Michael Coolsen, Shippensburg University • A content analysis for dramatic form was performed on 62 Super Bowl XLIV commercials. Results demonstrated strong support for the hypothesis that average consumer favorability ratings for Super Bowl commercials is significantly higher for commercials that follow a full five-act dramatic form compared to commercials that do not. Additionally, significant cumulative effects on consumer favorability ratings were demonstrated with increasing numbers of acts and development of those acts. This could have significant implications for marketers.

Affect, Motivational Orientation and the Effectiveness of Positively vs. Negatively Framed Health Advertisements: The Mediated Moderation Effect of Mood Sela Sar, Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication; George Anghelcev, Penn State University • This study examined the impact of mood on motivational orientation and its interaction with positive and negative frame. The results showed that ad message framed to be congruent with mood led participants to have more positive attitudes and stronger intentions to perform the health behaviors. Discussion focused on the integration of mood, motivational orientation strategy and framing into models of health persuasion.

The Influence of Sexy and Humorous Content on Motivated Cognitive Processing of Televsion Advertisements • Curtis B. Matthews, Texas Tech University; Johnny Sparks, Texas Tech University; Scott Parrott, The University of Alabama • The goal of this within-subjects experiment was to examine how sexy and humorous content during 24 television advertisements influenced motivated cognitive processing of incidental and brand information. Self-reported arousal, used to indicate appetitive activation, increased with sexy content. Audio recognition sensitivity, used to indicate thoroughness of encoding, was greater for humor than nonhumorous and for sexy than nonsexy advertisements. Cued recall, used to indicate thoroughness of storage, was found to be higher for sexy than nonsexy advertisements. Cued recall was greater for incidental information in humorous advertisements. However, brand information processing suffered in humorous ads. Sexy content improved brand recall.

Exploring Social Game Play With Advertising: Brand Attitudes in an Online Community • Sara Steffes Hansen, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh • This study explores attitudes related to brands experienced in social games. Exploratory regression analysis of survey data considered player attitudes of all brands and well-liked brands in game interactions. All brands negatively related to knowledge of advertiser tactics and telepresence departure, and positively connected to brand consciousness and exciting game personality. Well-liked brands connected negatively to telepresence departure and positively to arrival. Play frequency and ads aiding realism positively related to both brand categories.

Perceived Diversity in Advertising Agencies and the 4 Ps of Creativity • Jorge Villegas, University of Illinois at Springfield; Thomas Vogel, Emerson College • Diversity in advertising agencies has been a highly discussed issue, yet the impact of diversity on an ad agency’s creativity has not been addressed. This paper explores the relationships between the 4P framework – person, place, process and product – of creativity and diversity in advertising agencies. The results show that perceptions of diversity have a positive effect on creativity and interact with the process and product elements of the 4p framework.

A Comparative Study of American and Chinese Young Consumers’ Acceptance of Mobile Advertising: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach • Hongwei Yang, Appalachian State University; Liuning Zhou, Center for the Digital Future, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California; Hui Liu, Department of Communication, Beijing International Studies University • A web survey of American college students was conducted in April 2009 and a paper survey was administered to college students of four Chinese public universities in May and June, 2009 to test a model of mobile advertising developed by Finnish Scholars, Merisavo and associates, in 2007 in which five factors (utility, context, control, sacrifice and trust) predict consumer acceptance of mobile advertising. A structural equation modeling was employed to fit the model to two sets of survey data. Generally, the model has achieved an acceptable fit in the United States with significant standardized regression coefficients on context, sacrifice and trust. However, utility and perceived control are not important predictors of US college students’ acceptance of mobile advertising. Overall, the model performed reasonably well in China with significant standardized regression coefficients on utility, control, sacrifice and trust. Context seems not to be an important factor while control is a negative predictor. Accordingly, the model cannot be directly transplanted to the United States and China and future research is needed to develop a comprehensive model of American and Chinese consumers’ acceptance of mobile advertising. Implications for global, American and Chinese marketers are discussed.

More Effective Message Styles for Communicating with Young Adults • Hyunjae (Jay) Yu, School of Communication, Sogang University; Hoyoung (Anthony) Ahn, University of Tennessee; Yongick Jeong, Louisiana State University • Young adults, between the ages of about 18 and 24, are the group of people who are most often exposed to situations involving diverse health risk behaviors. They are able to drink and use drugs under far less parental supervision than earlier age groups. Reports have shown that frequent involvements to several types of health risk behaviors (e.g., drunk driving, bar fighting, smoking, substance use) can seriously damage young adults physically and psychologically. However, despite the high rate of health risk behaviors among young adults, there have not been enough discussions about how we can produce more effective anti-health risk behavior messages that target young adults. This exploratory study provides some useful insights into this issue by testing the possible effects of three frameworks: gain/loss framing, different information sources, and negative/positive mood. The results reveal that the young adults in this study find more appeal in anti-health risk behavior messages conveyed by a traditional Public Service Announcement (PSA) rather than by a report in a television news program. The results also reveal that people pay more attention to messages that use negative moods (e.g., Öthere are many people losing a lot of precious things because of their health risk behaviorsÖ) instead of positive moods (e.g., Öthere are many people gaining a lot of precious things by avoiding health risk behaviors Ö). An interaction effect between information sources and mood was also detected.

Teaching
Accuracy of Self-Perceived Creativity: Are We as Creative as We Think We Are? • Jody Mattern, Minnesota State University Moorhead; Jeffrey Child, Kent State University, School of Communication Studies; Shannon Vanhorn, Valley City State University; Katherine Gronewald, North Dakota State University • This study examined the accuracy of self-perceptions of creativity. College students (n = 849) took online tests that first examined their self-perceptions of creativity, and then measured actual creative output. The Gough Personality Scale was used to measure self-perceptions of creativity, then two measure of creativity—one of convergent thinking (Mednick’s Remote Associates Test) and one of divergent thinking (Guilford’s Alternative Uses Task)—were used to compute creative output. Results of the tests (n = 519) support a significant and positive correlation between the self-assessment and the overall creativity task score, r = .203, p < .001. Thus, participants with a higher self -perceived creativity personality assessment were also ultimately more creative, leading to a discussion about the role of advertising education in creative output.

Preparing young creatives for an interactive world: How possible is it? • Brett Robbs, School of Journalism, University of Colorado, Boulder • Has the growing importance of interactive affected the skills full-service advertising agencies seek in young creatives? If so, what impact should that have on the curriculum? This study uses depth interviews with working professionals to explore such questions. Findings indicate that while agencies want students to have some knowledge of interactive, they continue to emphasize skills creative courses are already designed to develop. Adding interactive to that mix, while not without challenges, should be possible.

Informal Learning Using New Technologies • Adam Wagler, University of Nebraska-Lincoln • Informal education has been well researched for many decades with learning moments occurring at a variety of times. This paper looks at applications of informal teaching methods used in a college classroom. Experiences during the Omaha Science Media Project, a grant project developing high school curriculum using media tools to learn about science, are also analyzed and applied to extend learning outside of the classroom. The paper looks at a new media design course’s use of video blogs and other forms of social media. This encourages students to become the experts by exploring additional topics related to the course. The result was active participation in class as well as the use of new technologies like Google Wave, Delicious and more to promote collaboration and informal learning.

PF & R
Making the connection: Creative women talk about empathy, creativity and gender • Sheri Broyles, University of North Texas; Jean Grow, Marquette University • Senior creative women were asked what three words come to mind when they think of creative men/women, what men do that women can learn from and vice versa as well as what part empathy plays in the creative process. Thematic categories identified male traits of bonding, competitive, humor and strong while empathetic and insightful were female traits. Smart and talented were balanced for men/women. The role of empathy and its relation to creativity is discussed.

Content Analysis of Male Domesticity and Fatherhood in American Television Commercials • Wanhsiu Tsai, University of Miami • This study examines how American commercials represent men as spouses and parents in the family context. A content analysis of prime-time commercials across different networks and cable channels was conducted. Findings indicate that men are rarely shown in domestic settings and are much less likely than women to be shown performing domestic chores and childcare activities. Specifically, in advertising’s portrayal of domestic settings, men are frequently depicted only in background and marginal roles. When men are shown as nurturant fathers, their involvement with children is limited to playing with children.

Having Your Beer and Drinking It Too: Strategic Ambiguity and Self-Regulatory Compliance in Beer Commercials • Lara Zwarun, University of Missouri St Louis • This study explores audience responses to beer commercials that use strategic ambiguity to creatively circumvent self-regulatory advertising guidelines in order to communicate about drinking. A quasi-experiment reveals that some viewers of these ads report seeing the behaviors that are discouraged by the guidelines, and in many cases, believe such behavior is being promoted. The more likely participants were to believe they had seen people combining drinking with potentially dangerous activities, the greater their agreement that the ads were promoting the alcohol expectancies that predict drinking. However, when faced with imagery of drunkenness, people were unclear if drinking was being glamorized or presented responsibly, and were less likely to believe positive alcohol expectancies were being promoted. Findings suggest that strategic ambiguity can allow beer advertisers to appear responsible while diminishing the threat of risky drinking in some ads. However, in the case of commercials with less glamorous portrayals of alcohol consumption, strategic ambiguity may compromise marketing objectives.

Special Topics
Sex (and Semiotics) sells: Decoding Gender, Power and Persuasion in Text-less magazine ads • Yelisabel Scott, University of Oklahoma, Meta Carstarphen, University of Oklahoma; • This study looks at advertising imagery through a visual rhetorical lens in the way suggested by Scott (1994); in other words, advertising imagery is looked at as a sophisticated form of visual rhetoric with invention, arrangement, and delivery characteristics capable of communicating a complex argument even with the absence of linguistics, but also with style and memory characteristics as well. In the visual rhetoric context, Scott (1994) positions certain characteristics of advertising visuals within the first canons mentioned above, but seems to ignore the other two. Even though the goal was to select a total of ten (10) ads (five from the magazines targeted toward men and five from the magazines targeted toward women) with the intention of making it a fair and even split, an interesting pattern emerged. When considering gender, there were far more text-less qualifying ads for women than for men, raising questions about advertising text-less argument construction and audience assumptions.

Bringing Clarity and Direction to Advertising ROI: A New Conceptual Model for Practical Application • Don Dickinson, Portland State University • The first premise of this paper is that the return on investment for advertising should not evaluated solely or even primarily on the basis of sales. Rather, as a communications tool, advertising should be evaluated on its ability to move people through a series of intermediate steps on a continuum that ranges from ignorance of a product category on one end to brand advocacy on the other. In so doing, such an approach reflects fundamental changes in knowledge, attitude and behavior. The second premise is advertising ROI should be easier.The model begins with a taxonomy that organizes AROI into four broad areas which encompass 14 different categories of outcomes. This taxonomy is the first of three breakthroughs in this paper. The 14 outcome categories encompass 40+ specific metrics, any small number of which could be chosen for an on-going marcom program or specific campaign. The taxonomy is followed by a comprehensive table that answers the above four questions for each outcome and metric. This comprehensive table is the second breakthrough. The third breakthrough is an example of how this new AROI analysis would be presented in an annual AROI Report.

Viral Advertising: A Conceptualization • Petya Eckler, U of Iowa; Shelly Rodgers, University of Missouri School of Journalism • Much confusion exists over what viral advertising is and how it differs from viral marketing, electronic word-of-mouth, and user-generated content, to name a few. A comprehensive definition of viral advertising is provided to develop a deeper understanding and to advance research in the viral arena. We discuss features that are unique to viral advertising and their importance to our conceptualization. We then present a timeline on the history of viral advertising, discussing key changes and developments. After briefly summarizing existing scholarship on viral advertising, we offer suggestions for future work in the field.

A Comparison of Online Streaming Video and Television in Terms of Advertising Perceptions and Attitudes • Kelty Logan, University of Colorado at Boulder • While it is readily apparent to advertisers that online access of episodic television is becoming increasingly popular, there is little information regarding how use of the new medium differs from traditional television viewership. The research employed online interviews among young adult viewers of online streaming television and traditional television to determine if young adult consumers (aged 18-34) regard advertising viewed within online streaming television programming differently than they regard advertising viewed within traditional, non-recorded television programming. Results indicate that viewers are less tolerant of advertising viewed in the context of online streaming video content than traditional television advertising.

Perceptions of Internet Advertising: A Q Sort Analysis • Ashley Stevens, BYU; David Mecham, BYU; Lincoln Hubbard, BYU; Tom Robinson, Brigham Young University; Mark Popovich, Ball State University • Differences in attitudes toward four types of Internet advertising were measured to aid in further understanding of the effectiveness of Internet advertising, as well as the perceived effectiveness of specific types of Internet advertising. Social judgment theory provides a theoretical framework to aid in understanding how different types of Internet advertisements are perceived. Q-Methodology sorts of 48 statements concerning Internet advertising were used to probe viewpoints toward four types of Internet advertising: interstitial (pop-up), banner, sponsored-search, and video advertisements. Results indicate that interstitial advertisements and banner advertisements were perceived as intrusive and annoying, while video advertisements were tolerated to facilitate online television viewing.

An Exploratory Study on Factors Affecting American Young Consumers’ Mobile Viral Behavior • Hongwei Yang, Appalachian State University; Liuning Zhou, Center for the Digital Future, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California • A web survey of 407 American college students was conducted in April 2009 to examine to what extent young consumers’ demographic, psychographic and behavioral characteristics influence their frequency of forwarding mobile viral content. We found that age, opinion leadership, belief in mobile advertising utility, belief in the usefulness of contextual mobile advertising, acceptance of mobile advertising, cell phone calling, and text messaging were positively related to American young consumers’ frequency of forwarding mobile messages. A backward multiple regression was employed to extract the following significant predictors: age, opinion leadership, belief in the usefulness of contextual mobile advertising, cell phone calling and text messaging. Implications for mobile marketers are discussed.

Online Media Tracking and Evaluation: A Conceptual/Instructional Model • Aimei Yang, University of Oklahoma; Fred K. Beard, University of Oklahoma • Given the current trend of growth in online advertising and public relations, it is imperative to prepare students for the opportunities and challenges presented by the Web 2.0 environment. However, an extensive review of the literature revealed no established framework around which students can readily comprehend the various uses of online media and the increasingly varied and sophisticated means for evaluating them. This paper addresses this gap in the pedagogical literature by presenting a conceptual and instructional model of online media use and evaluation. This model first matches four Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) disciplines and goals with the most effective online media tools, and further models the appropriate evaluation measures that fit with the communication goals and types of online media.

Predicting Attitudes toward Email and Postal Direct Advertising by Consumers’ Innovativeness • Kenneth C. C. Yang, The University Of Texas At El Paso; Caroline Staub Garland Garland, The University Of Texas At El Paso • This study employed a self-administered survey method to collect empirical data. This study employed a random sampling method to select a sample of 400 from a database of 1806 supporters of a National Public Radio station housed at a large public university in the Southwest. A total of 106 responses were received within the 21-day period. Several linear regression models were run and showed that consumers’ innovativeness variables significantly predicted their attitudes toward email direct mail advertising in the regression model (F=5.86, p<0.01). β coefficients further demonstrated that the more technologies and online activities consumers adopt, the more positive their attitudes toward email advertising will be. Results also showed that consumers’ innovativeness (measured by their online activities) negatively predict their attitudes toward postal direct mail advertising. β coefficient demonstrated that the more online activities consumers undertook, the less favorable their attitudes toward postal direct mail advertising were. Similar results were found for consumers’ preference of postal direct mail advertising (F=3.76, p<0.05). Online activities also negatively predicted consumers’ preference of direct mail postal advertising as shown by β coefficient in the regression model. Furthermore, hierarchical regression model further demonstrated that consumers’ innovativeness (as measured by their online activities) continued to be a statistically significant predictor, rather than their demographics (such as gender, income, education, etc). Implications for diffusion of innovation theory and advertising effectiveness research were discussed.

How Much Do People Remember the Disclaimers in TV Ads? • Hyunjae (Jay) Yu, School of Communication, Sogang University • TV advertising disclaimers contain important information for consumers so they are not misled about advertising content and the characteristics of the products advertised. Therefore, disclaimers are very important not only for consumers, but also for preventing advertisers from running into potential legal problems regarding the content of their ads. However, despite disclaimers’ significance, the research on advertising disclaimers is not extensive. This exploratory study investigates how much young adult consumers (18-25 year old college students) recognize and recall disclaimers in advertisements for two different products (beer and car commercials). In addition, this study also examines if there is any relationship between the participants’ personal consumer characteristics (i.e., the level of impulsiveness in buying behavior and materialistic orientation level) and their recognition/recall of advertising disclaimers. The results show that many participants in this study barely recognized/recalled the disclaimers from either advertisement; the level of recognition (recall) did not seem to be significantly influenced by the people’s personal consumer characteristics.

What personal characteristics impact the attitude toward TV advertising? -The case of baby-boomer consumers- • Hyunjae (Jay) Yu, School of Communication, Sogang University; Hoyoung (Anthony) Ahn, University of Tennessee • The research investigating the relationships between people’s personal characteristics and their attitude toward advertising could produce important implications for developing more persuasive advertising to target audience. Even though related studies have been conducted by many researchers, the research dealing with older consumers and their attitude toward advertising has been very limited, mainly because it has been generally believed that most sales are relied upon younger consumers. However, the importance of older consumers in companies’ marketing has increased recently because of their improved health and financial ability, prompting new research interest. This study investigates the possible relationships between the baby boomers’ attitude toward advertising and three personal characteristics (i.e., age perceptions, social comparison orientation, and materialistic tendency) that have been considered for a long time factors influencing people’s perceptions about advertising. The results show that many boomers strongly believe they are younger than their actual ages and have high social comparison orientations. And those personal characteristics significantly influenced their attitudes toward the TV advertisements they were exposed to.

Student
The Impact of Economic Crisis on Financial Services Advertising Appeals • Hongmin Ahn, University of Texas at Austin; Young-A Song, University of Texas at Austin • While many scholars and researchers have contributed to the sizeable literature on the interaction between advertising and a society, few have examined economic circumstance as a meaningful force shaping advertising. This study provides the empirical evidence that changes in economic status, the recession in particular, serve as substantial moments wherein advertising appeals have been significantly transformed. The data of 1,488 ads placed in two popular magazines show that the patterns of appeals have turned to direct assertive styles in the wake of the economic crisis of 2008-2009. At the same time, however, ads during this recession period have used a far wider variety of strategic and tactical appeals than those in pre-recession era.

The Politics of Memory: Strategic Recollections of the Past as Oppositional Pitfalls for Election 2008 • Michelle Amazeen, Temple University • This paper explores the use of cultural memory in the political advertising campaigns of the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Both candidates effectively used seemingly positive memory themes to portray his opponent negatively. Despite Obama’s attempts to avoid racial issues, McCain’s Convention Night ad put him in the framework of the Civil Rights movement anyway. The mainstream media’s uncritical consideration of the ad, which invoked Martin Luther King Jr.’s memory in representing Obama’s achievements, suggests not only an uncontested version of racial achievements in America, but also the power granted to political ads in narrating a naturalized version of public memory.

Promoting the Promoters Online: How Ad Agencies Use Corporate Websites to Promote Their Services • Barbara Chambers, Texas Tech University; Curtis B. Matthews, Texas Tech University • Smaller advertising agencies have not typically been the focus of academic research, but they often face obstacles to promoting their own services. The Web provides an interactive environment for promoting expertise. This study used content analysis to examine 79 mid-sized agency websites to determine the prevalence of features such as text, feedback, multi-media, navigation, new media, and brand loyalty. Agencies with more resources had more interactive websites and used more social media for agency promotion.

Targeting Kids Online: Content Analysis of Viral Advertising Featured in Food and Beverage Brands’ Web Sites • Yoon Cho, University of Oregon • As the number of children accessing Internet continues to grow, food and beverage advertisers targeting children are focusing their marketing efforts online. Among these online marketing efforts, viral advertising featured in their Web sites become major interactive advertising tools. Viral advertising relies on entertaining content and interactive features to grab consumers’ attention and uses the Internet to influence consumers to pass along the content to others (Porter and Golan 2006). Through content analysis, this study investigates the types of viral advertising featured in food and beverage brands’ Web sites, examines the level of interactivity of viral advertising, and what types of food and beverage products are featured in viral advertising and sees which product categories have the highest and lowest level of interactivity. The findings will lay the groundwork for empirical studies exploring the effect of viral advertising on children’s attitudes, and possibly, consumption habit of food and beverage products.

Content Analysis of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising for Stigmatized Illnesses: Does It Provide Fair and Balanced Information? • Hannah Kang, University of Florida • This study evaluated the content of DTC print ads for stigmatized illnesses from 1998 to 2008 by using the FDA’s fair- balance disclosure provision and methods of the previous studies. DTC ads for eight stigmatized illnesses in Time magazine were analyzed. Results showed 13.5 percent of the ads offered the same amount of benefit and risk information and met the fair balance requirements of FDA in terms of the amount of benefit and risk information.

To Click or Not To Click?: The Factors Influencing Clicking of Ads on Facebook • Yoojung Kim, The University of Texas at Austin; Mihyun Kang, The University of Texas at Austin; Dong Hoo Kim, The University of Texas at Austin; William Reeves, University of Texas at Austin; Jang Ho Moon, The University of Texas at Austin • This paper explores various factors influencing the clicking of ads in Facebook: the perceived informativeness, entertainment, and irritation, Facebook usage intensity, the number of joined Facebook Pages. The results of logistic regression showed that people are more likely to click ads on Facebook if they perceive ads as more informative and less irritating. In addition, there was a positive relationship between Facebook usage intensity and number of Facebook Pages and clicking of ads on Facebook.

Consequences of Agenda-Setting: The Impact of Agenda-Setting Effects of Political Advertising on Candidate Favorability, Voting Intention, and Voter Turnout • Yonghwan Kim, University of Texas at Austin • This study examines the consequences of agenda-setting effects of political advertising for attitudinal and behavioral outcomes—candidate preference, voting intention for candidates and voter turnout. The current study, beyond the main focus of agenda-setting research on news media such as newspaper and television news, attempts to contribute to the growing research on consequences of agenda-setting by investigating how salience in individuals’ minds shaped by exposure to political ads influences their attitude toward candidates, vote choice, and voter turnout through use of an experimental design. The direct impacts of perceived salience of candidates’ personal attributes were found to predict individuals’ candidate preference and voting choice. In addition, the results showed interaction effects of the political ads tone and the perceived issue salience on the likelihood of voter turnout.

The Effects of Advertorials on Consumers’ Perceptions of Their Relationship with the Corporation: The Roles of Media Credibility and Advertorial Types • Daewook Kim, University of Florida; Jun Heo, University of Florida • This study aims to examine how corporate social responsibility advertorials influence consumers’ perceived relationship with corporations. Two independent variables were used for the study: level of media credibility (high/low) and types of advertorial (labeled/unlabeled). The research findings suggest that media credibility has significantly positive impacts on perceived relationship with corporations, whereas types of advertorial show an insignificant influence. Theoretical background and practical implications are provided.

The Effects of Divided Attention on Implicit and Explicit Memory for Radio Advertisements • Kelli Lyons, Texas Tech University • Studies have established a dissociation between implicit or subconscious memory and explicit or conscious memory. Most often the dissociation is observed when time between study and testing phases in increased or when a secondary task is completed during the study phase. Many studies have suggested that explicit memory is highly influenced by divided attention, while implicit memory is not affected to the same degree. These studies do not suggest that implicit memory does not require attention. In fact, they found that more frequent responses to a secondary task do have a negative effect on implicit memory. However, these studies have most often used simple stimuli such as individual words. The current study tests memory for words from radio advertisements in divided and full conditions. The results did show an affect of attention on explicit memory, but they were not consistent with previous literature for implicit memory, with the current study finding evidence to suggest that implicit memory was affected by attention. However, more importantly, this study revealed that secondary tasks interact in a different way with mediated messages than they do simple stimuli.

The Effects of Message Framing and Behavioral Norms in Responsible Drinking PSAs: The Role of Deviance-Regulation Theory • Sun-Young Park, University of Florida; Jaejin Lee, University of Florida; Hyunsang Son, University of Florida; Eun Go, University of Florida • Given the potential importance of message strategies in binge drinking interventions among college students, the current research investigates the effects of message framing and behavioral norms (i.e., rules about appropriate behavior) and their interaction effects on attitudinal and behavioral responses to responsible drinking. For this study, a 2 x 2 (message frames: gain or loss; behavioral norm: healthy or unhealthy) between-subjects randomized experimental study was conducted to examine the effects on message persuasiveness, ad attitudes and responsible drinking intentions. The results revealed that messages stressing the benefits of performing the requested behavior (i.e., gain-framed) and positive behavioral norms (i.e., healthy norms) yielded more favorable outcomes. More importantly, significant interaction effects suggest that the condition of the loss-framed messages and the unhealthy norm was least effective among four conditions in the experimental design. This study lays the theoretical groundwork for the role of message framing and behavioral norms in enhancing the effects of responsible-drinking campaigns. Also, the study provides useful insights into the potential utilizations of health messages about responsible alcohol use in PSAs. Implications, limitations, and future research are suggested.

An Analysis of NARB Panel Decisions Before 1994 • Jessica Powviriya, University of Arkansas Journalism Department • This study examined 71 of the 139 (or 51 percent) of the NARB cases which were decided through 1994. The study analyzed case decisions for whether ads were substantiated, the medium used and comparison advertising. Results suggest that the household products and services group was the most frequent category of concern in the NARB casework, accounting for most of the cases involving substantiation and comparative advertising.

Celebrity-Associated Promotions: Celebrity Endorsed Advertising vs. Celebrity Product Placement
William Reeves, University of Texas at Austin • This study investigates celebrity product placement, an exciting new advertising technique. In particular, this study examines the effects of celebrity product placements effect on celebrity credibility, attitude towards the brand, and purchase intent, and specifically in comparison to celebrity endorsement. Results of the experimental study reported in this paper show that celebrity product placement has amore positive effect on celebrity credibility, attitude towards the brand and purchase intent than the traditional celebrity-associated practice, celebrity endorsement.

Self-Concept Portrayed in Advertising and Consumer Perceptions on Luxury Fashion Brands • Mark Yi-Cheon Yim, The University of Texas at Austin • The objective of this study is to reveal the current direction of advertising for luxury fashion brands (LFB) by comparing the consistency between self-concept portrayed in magazine advertisements and consumer perceptions on LFB. To achieve the goal, a content analysis and a survey (n = 730) were conducted. Additionally, how other consumer characteristics (i.e., brand consciousness and culture) operate in forming attitudes toward LFB was investigated. The results suggest that females are overrepresented in advertisements for LFB, considering the readership’s gender composition. Although females are generally more favorable to LFB, both genders high in brand consciousness are favorable to LFB.

<< 2010 Abstracts

Making the Case for Critical Media Literacy: Goals and functions in undergraduate education • Seth Ashley, University of Missouri-Columbia • Media literacy is the province of a vast array of educational goals and a diverse field of study. This theoretical paper examines and seeks consensus among existing understandings of media literacy and aims to advance the definition, establish clear goals for media literacy and justify its inclusion in general liberal arts education. The paper emphasizes the role of critical media literacy education in preserving quality journalism and democratic self-governance.

The Success of Opting Out? Political Information in the Changing Media Environment • Leticia Bode, University of Wisconsin – Madison • As technology develops, the sources from which people may obtain political information continue to increase. This paper represents a first step in understanding the implications of the increasing prevalence and use of alternative information flows online. By examining the systematic differences between purposive information seeking (Google News) and possible sources of incidental exposure to political information (Twitter). We address important differences between the two, but verify the ability to be incidentally exposed to political information.

Wait, Who Said That? The Role of Source Cue Placement in Argument Evaluation • D. Jasun Carr, UW-Madison; Emily Vraga, University of Wisconsin-Madison • The 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act mandates that campaign advertisements identify their origin. This requirement provides an opportunity to examine a real-world impact of source cue placement on the persuasive process. Utilizing a 2 x 2 (cue placement by consonant vs. dissonant ad exposure) experiment to explore the effects of cue placement on the persuasive impact of an advertisement, we find that cue placement matters more when individuals are not motivated to process the ad.

I Want to Help Others: Empathy and Distance effects on Compassion, Attitudes, and Behavioral Intentions • Sheetal Chhotu-Patel, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • An experimental study examined the self’s compassion, attitude, and prosocial behavioral intentions in response to a news story about a suffering other. The results showed that the interplay between empathy in relation to a suffering other in a news story and the geographical distance of the other were inconsistent to a certain degree with previous theoretical findings. Theoretical and applied implications and recommendations for future research on emotion and social cause messaging are discussed.

A New Area of Video Game Research? The Pro-Social Effects of Playing Violent Video Games Cooperatively • J.J. De Simone, University of Wisconsin – Madison • Given their prevalence in American culture, violent video games’ negative effects are a heavily studied phenomenon in the social scientific literature. However, many studies analyze the issue on the individual level, hence ignoring the potential pro-social effects of playing violent games cooperatively with another person. This research review discusses the relevant literature, analyzes problems with the current state of the research, and posits future directions for study of the pro-social effects of collaborative play of violent video games.

Directing the Dialogue: The Relationship Between YouTube Videos and the Comments They spur • Stephanie Edgerly, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Emily Vraga, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Timothy Fung, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Kajsa Dalrymple, University of Wisconsin – Madison; Timothy Macafee, University of Wisconsin-Madison • This study performs a content analysis of YouTube videos and comments about the Proposition 8 campaign in California. Specifically, we examine how a video’s focus and tone are related to comment features. We find consistent support for the flow of information from topics mentioned in the video to topics addressed in commentary, as well as uptake of an uncivil tone from the video to the comments. Implications are discussed for promoting quality online information exchanges.

The Writing on the Wall: A Content Analysis of College Students’ Facebook Groups for the 2008 Presidential Election • Kevin W. Bowers, University of Florida; Juliana Fernandes, University of Florida; Magda Giurcanu, University of Florida; Jeffrey C. Neely, University of Florida • This study looks at student Facebook groups supporting one of the 2008 presidential candidates from largest land-grant universities in seven battleground states. The findings reveal that students are using Facebook to facilitate political involvement. Pro-Obama groups demonstrated higher site activity than pro-McCain groups. Discussions related to the political civic process, policy issues, campaign information, and praise for the supporting candidate overpass topics related to social interactions across all groups during both Primary and General Election seasons.

Birds of a Feather Flock Together – Homophily in Online Social Networking Sites such as Facebook • Mia Fischer, College of Charleston • Facebook recently registered its 400 millionth user. Positioning itself as a leader of interactive, participant-based online Web 2.0 media, Facebook promises to change how we communicate even more fundamentally, in part by digitally mapping and linking peripatetic people across space and time. As socio-demographic boundaries are torn down, it may seem as if Facebook runs counter to 50 years of sociological research regarding what is known as homophily, the tendency of individuals to associate only with like-minded people of similar age and ethnicity. This study investigated how the concept of homophily, taken out of its traditional interpersonal context, is evident in relationships on Facebook. Quantitative methods in form of an online survey among a purposive sample of 447 Facebook users were employed. Participants clearly depicted signs of inbreeding homophily regarding age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, educational level, occupation and income; all factors typically segmenting our society. Despite participants’ strong belief in Facebook’s ability to globally connect people with different socio-demographic backgrounds, exclusively pre-existing offline relationships were fostered. Aware of their account privacy settings, users rigorously restricted profile access to outsiders, such as professors, strangers and parents. This can be seen as an attempt to maintain Facebook’s original college niche community status, further rising issues of identity construction in online environments. If Web 2.0’s interactive media disseminating user generated content really provides potential for social and political change, an analysis of homophilious factors on Facebook is a first indicator to infer about the factual possibilities of such desired changes.

A Theory of Planned Behavior Study of the HPV Vaccine: a comparative analysis of college students’ intention to get the vaccine in the United States and South Korea • Eun Go, University of Florida • This study explored factors that can affect the behavioral intention to get the HPV vaccine of American and Korean female college students using the TPB. Results indicated that both American and Korean female college students’ attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control regarding the HPV vaccine were significantly associated with the intention to be vaccinated. Involvement was also positively related to both attitude and behavioral intention to get the HPV vaccine for both sets of respondents. Furthermore, subjective knowledge could predict behavioral intention with greater accuracy than perceived behavioral control could.

News Framing of Swine Flu in Time of Global Economic Recession: A Comparison of Newspaper Coverage in the United States and China • Miao Guo, University of Florida; Fangfang Gao, University of Florida • This study examined the news coverage of swine flu (H1N1) by newspapers in the United States and China in terms of prominence, news source selection, and frames. The results showed that there were no significant differences in the volume of front-page coverage of swine flu between the U.S. and Chinese newspapers, indicating that the number of cases of swine flu in these two countries had little to do with the volume of news coverage. However, the patterns of source selection and the presence of economic consequences, health severity, human interest, international action, and conflict news frames varied depending on the newspaper’s country of origin and newspaper type. Social context, culture, media structure, and different focuses of media outlets were utilized as the influential factors that contribute to the differences.

Three Decades of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs • Wan Jung, Univ. of Florida; Jihye Kim, Univ. of Florida; Eun Soo Rhee, Univ. of Florida • The current study content-analyzes topics, trends, authorships, and patterns found in studies on Direct-To-Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising (DTCA) published in 97 U.S. journals between 1981 and 2009. Two hundred thirty nine papers were analyzed in this study. The results demonstrate a definite pattern of increase in DTCA research, the existence of a wide variety of individual and organizational contributors, and a need for better methodological rigorousness in DTCA research.

A convergence journalism course design grounded by education-psychological research of knowledge types and transfer • Adam Kuban, University of Utah • Current convergence journalism research rarely offers transparent examples of what faculty should consider in their attempts to become more convergence-focused. Three instructors at a public university in the Intermountain West applied education-psychological theories related to knowledge transfer and how people learn to the content created for a new convergence journalism course. The resultant course design—grounded in theory—could serve as a template for journalism educators who wish to develop their own course.

Understanding Web Identity: Approaches to the Study of Identity and Self-Expression in Cyberspace • Mark Lashley, University of Georgia • This paper examines the body of literature on social media and online social networking as they relate to expression of individual identity. The paper argues that, while many theoretical approaches have been taken to the study of identity in online spaces, the work of Goffman and the theory of Impression Management provide the most useful and versatile framework for ongoing inquiry in this area.

Canonical Correlation Analysis of Online Video Advertising Viewing Motivations and Access Characteristics • Joonghwa Lee, University of Missouri; Hyunmin Lee, University of Missouri-Columbia • This study investigates consumers’ motivations for watching online video advertising, and the relationship between the motivations and access characteristics of viewers. Findings revealed five different motivations for viewing online video advertising—social interaction, relaxation, information, escapism-pass time, and entertainment. Canonical correlation analysis revealed that the desire to fulfill viewing motivations are positively correlated with frequencies to actively access Web sites, and frequencies to visit different types of Web sites. Implications and future research are discussed.

Star Wars Revisited: An Analysis of Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric On The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) • Ji Hoon Lee, University of Florida • This study analyzes President Ronald Reagan’s discourse advocating the Strategic Defense Initiative by focusing on the use of language, motivational appeals and speaker’s character and addresses how he rhetorically justified the apparent change in American foreign policy. The study also illustrates how he was able to deal with such sensitive issue as nuclear weapon and come out with highly persuasive speeches for the public during the times of the Cold War.

Internet Service Providers and Defamation: The United States and the United Kingdom Compared • Ahran Park, university of Oregon • This paper compares ISP liability for online defamation in the United States and the United Kingdom. Because American and English defamation laws have the same root, ISP liability for defamation in England would deserve attention from U.S. lawyers and scholars. In addition, English libel law has more reason to compare for online research in that the CDA of the United States and the Defamation Act of the United Kingdom were the first attempts anywhere in the world to legislate ISP liability at the same year in 1996. Thus, this comparative research will be helpful to online speakers and ISPs who have similar common law background but eventually fall under different online defamation laws.

Celebrity Endorsements and Nonprofit Charitable Organizations: The Role of Celebrity Altruistic Motive and Identification • Sun-Young Park, University of Florida; Moonhee Cho, University of Florida • The not-for-profit charitable organizations are undergoing a significant burst of enthusiasm over the potential uses of celebrity endorsers. The current study aims to investigate the effects of attributions of a celebrity’s motive and identification with a celebrity who supports a charity on publics’ attitudinal and behavioral responses. Specifically, the findings of this study attest to source effects on consequential responses, including the perceptions of and attitudes toward the celebrity’s credibility, the celebrity’s endorsement, the nonprofit organization, and intentions to donate money and volunteer time to the charitable organization. This study lays the theoretical groundwork about the factors that influence the effects of celebrity endorsement and provides nonprofit charitable organizations with useful managerial implications of using a celebrity to endorse a socially worthy cause. Overall, the findings suggest that to maximize celebrity endorsement effectiveness, nonprofit practitioners should keep in mind the importance of attributions of celebrity motive as well as celebrity identification. Implications, limitations, and future research are suggested.

Does market matter? Proximity, placement, graphics, and topic in News Recommendation Engines on newspaper Websites • Ed Simpson, Ohio University • The Internet inherently has been seen as a worldwide medium, offering equal access across the globe to information to anyone with the proper equipment and connections. Yet, newspapers inherently serve a local general market, based primarily on geography. Key questions arise about whether traditional elements of news definitions and play remain applicable in the digital environment. In other words, when it comes to newspaper Websites, does market matter? In order to begin addressing these questions, which are important for understanding industry trends and theoretical implications involving Internet usage, this study focused on self-selected items in News Recommendation Engines on eight national and regional newspaper Websites. This content analysis examined 1,248 items contained in NREs. The primary entry point into the study, guided by the theory of uses and gratifications, was to seek whether significant differences in self-selection items could be detected across markets. This study found such differences. The most prominent findings included wide variances in the origin of items self-selected as well as the type of item appearing. The findings suggest, overall, that traditional news values, such as proximity, timeliness, and impact, do affect self-selection patterns, and that findings of self-selection patterns on national Web sites such as New York Times and Yahoo! News, do not necessarily reflect what is happening on newspaper Web sites in general.

The impact of technology-enabled learning: A comparison of ideal versus real. • Lakshmi N Tirumala, Texas Tech University; Catherine Team, Texas Tech University • The current study examined the differences between traditional classroom learning versus technology mediated learning (video podcasting). A 3-minute instructional video was delivered through a podcast with the same topic taught in a traditional classroom by the same instructor. This study used a between-subjects design with one independent variable and multiple dependent variables. The sample size consisted of 72 students from a large southwestern university who participated in the study. The study found no significant difference in students’ evaluations of the instructor between the video podcast condition and the conventional classroom condition. On the other hand, the student perceptions toward the classroom condition were found to be significantly positive compared to the student perceptions toward the video podcast condition.

Unusual Pathways to Issue Engagement: How Dispositional Cynicism Conditions Incivility Effects on Television Political Talk Shows • Ming Wang, University of Wisconsin-Madison; porismita borah, University of Wisconsin-Madison; David Wise, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Keith Zukas, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Bryan McLaughlin, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Michael Mirer, University of Wisconsin • In this study, we attempt to explicate the effects of televised political talk shows on viewer issue engagement and how they are conditioned by dispositional cynicism and skepticism. Using an experiment manipulating guest tone and host style on a talk show, this study finds that strong cynics were more likely to engage than weak cynics when both guests were civil. We offer a revisionist account of how talk shows and cynicism impact the public.

<< 2010 Abstracts

How (and why) Can Tragic Drama be Enjoyable? Cognitive, Affective, Physiological, and Motivational Accounts • Dohyun Ahn, University of Alabama • The hedonic principle governs human behaviors including media selection. However, the enjoyment of tragic drama poses a challenge to the hedonic principle. Two questions arise from this challenge: (1) why do people, particularly lonely individuals, select tragic content, and (2) why is the intensity of sadness positively associated with the degree of enjoyment of such negatively valenced content? This review suggests that feeling sad for others can be enjoyable, because (1) cognitively, it feels nice to feel bad for others’ pain, instead of being insensitive, (2) affectively, feeling sad for others enables individuals to feel the sense of social connection, (3) physiologically, the vagus nerve regulates the fight-or-flight system so that individuals can care for others, and (4) motivationally, the mu-opioid system rewards individuals for feeling sad for others.

Who lives, who dies, and why? Doctors, diseases, and mortality in TV medical dramas • Julie Andsager, University of Iowa; Rauf Arif, School of Journalism & Mass Comm., University of Iowa; James Carviou, The University of Iowa; Kyle Moody, University of Iowa; Erin O’Gara, University of Iowa • We examined contemporary, primetime TV medical dramas to ascertain implicit messages about the nature of disease, patients, and doctor-patient relationships. Cultivation and social identity theories undergirded the study. Forty randomly selected episodes of ER, Grey’s Anatomy, House, and Private Practice indicated that male doctors outnumbered female doctors. Female patients presented significantly different diseases/conditions than males. White doctors and minority doctors dealt with different types of cases. The diversity suggested in medical dramas is not straightforward.

Deconstructing Dust: Postmodern Superhero Extraordinaire or a Stereotype in Disguise? • Arthur Bamford, University of Denver • In 2002, a young Afghani woman and devout Muslim called ‘Dust’ joined the ranks of one of Marvel Comics’ most popular teams: the X-Men. This paper discusses the findings of a pilot study conducted with two interpretive communities: one comprised of comic book fans, and another of Muslim students, and considers whether or not Dust ought to be considered a vanguard, positive portrayal of an Arab, Muslim young woman in a medium that has historically vilified, marginalized, and/or ignored each of those three distinctions. In addition, this research considers comic books as what Baym (2005) has called discursively integrated texts, and explores how efficacious real-world social and political commentary is when it is interwoven into comic book narratives.

In with the Tweens: Appeal of Disney’s High School Musical Among College Students • Kelly Barrows, Syracuse University • This study examines the appeals of Disney’s High School Musical franchise for non-target audiences. When the original movie was released, current undergraduate students were beyond the targeted tween market. Using the lens of uses and gratifications, focus groups of self-fans explored enjoyment of the movies. The results show that in addition to emotional appeals of an escapist movie, the movies are able to provide viewers with a form of conversational capital to use with friends.

Watch What Happens: How People Watch and Talk About Reality Television • Kelly Barrows, Syracuse University; Simone Becque, Syracuse University • The purpose of this study was to explore how people watch and talk about reality television. Previous research reveals that motivations for watching reality television differ from those for serialized television. In a survey, college students indicated which reality shows they watched and answered follow-up questions regarding the shows. The 274 responses indicate reality television is typically watched in a group setting and that men and women watch different types of reality television.

Who Is the Loser?: A Critical Analysis of Contestant and Trainer Communication about Weight Loss on The Biggest Loser • Kim Bissell, University of Alabama; Lauren Reichart-Smith, Auburn University • This study used textual analysis to examine The Biggest Loser contestant comments during the weigh-in portion of the reality television show to determine how contestants framed their weight loss throughout the season. The overarching themes that emerged from the analysis of 13 episodes were themes of disappointment, expectations, game-play, positivity, and not being able to see the forest for the trees. While the reality-based show does offer viewers a glimpse into the world of morbidly obese individuals trying to make a positive change in their own lives, the commentary from the contestants during the vignettes largely represents weight loss as unachievable and disappointing because regardless of how much effort is exerted, disappointment on the scale will result. These messages communicated to viewers may not serve as motivation to lose weight but rather serve as a roadblock or detriment to even begin trying. Findings are related to entertainment theory and the ways in which reality programming is created to maintain ratings and viewers. These and other findings are discussed.

Prevalence and Portrayal of Sexual Content in Adolescent Novels • Mark Callister, Brigham Young University; Sarah M. Coyne, Brigham Young University; Lesa A. Stern, Westmont College; Malinda Miller, Brigham Young University; Laura Stockdale, Brigham Young University; Brian Wells, Brigham Young University • Most media research on sexual content focuses on TV, film, advertisements, and magazines. The popularity of novels and their potential role in adolescents’ sex education heightens the importance in examining what messages such literature provides young readers. Results show that novels are replete with sex-related material, but impoverished as a source dealing with issues of abstinence, safe sex practices, and potential health risks and consequences. Implications for lack of a rating system are discussed.

Reading the Brandfan: Using Twilight to Explore Brands and Fandom • Barbara Chambers, Texas Tech University • This article examines the crossover appeal of the Twilight brand and fandom in females of different ages through original focus group research. It also provides an overview of the Twilight brand and promotion, history of fandom, vampire texts and romance genres. Parallels are made with Radway’s (1984) Reading the Romance. The paper concludes with future recommendations on brands and fandom through a new concept known as Brandfans .

Shining a Bright Light: An Analysis of Race and Identity in Online Messages • Naeemah Clark, Elon University; Amanda Gallagher, Elon University; Lori Boyer, Texas Tech In February 2010, Joanna Douglas, a writer for Yahoo’s Shine.com website, posted an article critiquing the lack of diversity in Vanity Fair magazine’s 2010 Hollywood issue. In response to Douglas’s story, Shine’s readers contributed more than 18,000 messages to the Shine site. Most of these messages included critiques of the state of race in the magazine industry, Hollywood, and America. This study is a textual analysis of these messages. The results indicate that while some of Shine’s readers think discussions of race and diversity are passé, most agreed that racism exists in the form of the entertainment industry’s marginalization of people of color and in a perceived double standard that permits racial/ethnic minorities to have media content that caters only to them. Furthermore, an analysis of the discourse appearing on Shine reveals that many of those who are posting highlight their own identities to take a stand when it comes to the issue of race. Personal confessions and words such as I, you, and they are used when the writers are positioning themselves in their messages and discussions with other Shine readers.
Keywords: Online messages, race, confessions, and identity

Cartoon Planet: The Cross-cultural Acceptance of Japanese Animation • Anne Cooper-Chen, Ohio U. • Japanese animation, the un-Disney, represents a major challenge to U.S. global entertainment dominance. Through interviews, survey research and content/ratings analysis, this study verifies the validity of cultural proximity (Straubhaar), given the enthusiastic acceptance of anime in Asia. It discovered two facets of between-nation cultural differences (Hofstede): 1) Japan’s domestic (Sazae-san) vs. overseas audiences’ favorite anime and 2) overseas audiences’ differing favorites (Doraemon in Asia, but not in the West). Ironically, overseas exports may save the domestic industry.

Changing Gender Stereotypes in Disney Films: A Content Analysis of Animated and Live-Action Movies • Bruce Finklea, University of Alabama • Disney has long been criticized for its gender portrayals in feature-length animated films. Being one of the most-watched entertainment providers for children, a great deal of research has been conducted into what Disney is actually portraying on the screen. This paper examines gender stereotypes in recent animated and live action Disney films. Results of the content analysis revealed that, while many traditional stereotypes are still being seen, there are some significant shifts in gender portrayals.

Soap Dish: An Exploratory Examination of Daytime Soap Opera Message Boards • Maria Fontenot, Texas Tech University • Employing both quantitative and qualitative methods, this exploratory study investigates motives for visiting, reading, and posting on soap opera message boards, and analyzes content from such message boards from the uses and gratifications perspective. Results revealed that entertainment and information seeking as the most popular motives for visiting soap opera websites, and reading and posting on such boards. Results also uncovered that nearly half of the threads analyzed fell into the information seeking category.

Moving out of the spotlight?: An analysis of Playboy Centerfolds’ career goals and ambitions, 1977-2001 • Amanda Gallagher, Elon University; James Gallagher, Triangle Business Journal • This qualitative study analyzes the career goals and aspirations of the iconic Playboy centerfolds from 1977 to 2001. These statements were gathered from the centerfold profile/data sheets provided each month in the centerfold section of the magazine. In total, 268 centerfold section issues were analyzed. Findings indicate that while many centerfolds embraced careers in entertainment and a desire to be serve in domestic roles in the early years of this analysis (1970s), these desires were not as prevalent in later decades (especially the late 1990s and early 2000s). As time progressed, centerfolds appeared to become more independent-minded and career-oriented, focusing less on their traditional, expected careers in entertainment and domestic roles, and, instead, focusing more on professional oriented careers. These changes reflect nationwide trends and call into question the changing role of the centerfold.

Reality Does Bite: Generation X Enters Adulthood • Timothy R Gleason, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh • Generational tensions appear in Singles and Reality Bites, two 1990’s films concerned with the Generation X label and entry into adulthood. Using the perspective of social representation and the context of American Studies, this paper identifies themes. In brief, characters try to pursue their art, or they just try being true to themselves in the face of sad economic realities. Additionally, these films address the problem of parenthood, or more accurately, the lack of parenting.

How the West was Family Friendly: Disney’s Westerns and Generation X in the 1970’s • Timothy R Gleason, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh • Disney’s Westerns The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975) and Hot Lead and Cold Feet (1978) are as much slapstick as shoot-out, and they are as much social commentary as popcorn entertainment. Underlying the Disneyesque goofiness of these latter Westerns however, is a focus on establishing families at a time when the family structure was in crisis. These films reinforce Disney’s view that children need two loving parents to properly raise children.

People Watching: Genre Repertoires and Multichannel TV Environments • Chad Harriss, Alfred U.; Maria Fontenot, Texas Tech University • Locating and identifying contemporary television audiences is challenging. This essay builds on scientific and critical/cultural theories in hopes of doing that. The researchers employ a hybrid methodology (Q-methodology) to attempt to accomplish two goals. First, we hope to determine if Carrie Heeter’s concept of channel repertoires can be extended to focus on television genres. Second, we hope that this extension will provide some insight into whether audiences can be defined by their genre repertoires.

Fictional Minds and Symbolic Interaction: How the Act of Communication Facilitates Understanding between Characters • Megan Hill, The Ohio State University • Despite widespread growth in the study of narrative in the past decade, the study of communication within these analyses has largely focused on audience effects. This essay moves beyond the effects tradition by focusing attention on the act of communication between characters in the novel. Alan Palmer’s forthcoming research on social minds in the novel is considered in light of principles of symbolic interactionism. Possibilities for future interaction between narrative and communication are discussed.

Personally, I feel sorry for her A Focus Group Analysis of Journalistic Coverage of Celebrity Health • Amanda Hinnant, U. of Missouri; Elizabeth Hendrickson, University of Tennessee • This study assesses how magazine readers in a focus group setting say they negotiate celebrity health stories cognitively, affectively, and behaviorally. We use both symbolic convergence theory and play theory to examine ways in which celebrity health news might perform a functional role in society. This research illustrates how celebrity health coverage serves to patrol the boundaries of acceptable health behavior through readers’ interpretation of moral codes and their application to personal health.

Times Change, But Trailers Don’t: Violent and Sexual Content in a Decade of Movie Trailers Adrienne Holz Ivory, Virginia Tech; Julie E. Leventhal, Virginia Tech; James D. Ivory, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University • Movie trailers are viewed widely, and they have been found to influence viewers’ media choices and anticipated experiences. This study expanded prior research on movie trailers by examining violent and sexual content in all available trailers for the top 50 movies from each of the years 1998-2007 (n = 498). Violent and sexual content were present in the majority of the sample’s trailers, but the prevalence of neither type of content varied consistently over time.

Late-Night Talk Shows:Why People Watch and What They Seek to Gain • jin kim, university of iowa; Julie Kocsis, Hope College • This paper will examine the historical importance of the late-night talk show genre in the development of American television culture and why people watch for what purposes. Our main argument is that the popularity of the genre originates in broadcasting strategy (joint of interpersonal and mass mode of communication) and audiences’ imagination (in their para-social relationship with media celebrity). Based on para-social interaction theory and uses and gratification theory, we identified four major reasons for the popularity of late-night talk show: entertainment, education, habitual media use and emotional attachment. Further theoretical implications and future research agenda will be discussed in the conclusion.

The Mediating Role of Identification and Perceived Persuasive Intent in Overcoming the Resistance to Persuasive Narrative Messages • Kitae Kim, SUNY at Buffalo; Shin-Il Moon, The State University of New York at Buffalo; Thomas Feeley, The State University of New York at Buffalo • Theories on narrative message processing, such as Extended Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion (Slater & Rouner, 2002) and Entertainment Overcoming Resistance Model (Moyer-Gusé, 2008), suggest that a narrative message is persuasive because the transportation into the narrative world reduces the resistance to the message such as counterargument and psychological reactance This study proposes and testes the mediating role of identification with a character in a narrative and perceived persuasive intent in the relationship between transportation and two forms of the resistance to the narrative messages (e.g., counterargument and psychological reactance), using a written narrative message regarding bone marrow donation. Results show that identification mediated the relationship while perceived persuasive intent did not. The implications and limitations of this study are discussed.

The Family Osbourne: A Narrative of Domesticity Tames and Enriches the Godfather of Heavy Metal • Jacqueline Lambiase, Texas Christian University • Ozzy Osbourne, sometimes called the godfather of metal, has never been shelved in the where are they now? category because of his family’s willingness to share its straight and true narrative. This rhetorical project analyzes the storytelling acumen of Ozzy and his wife, Sharon, his longest running collaborator. With their children, they have written 10 memoirs in less than a decade, ensuring mainstream success. After decades, Ozzy still occupies a masculinized heavy-metal space, joined now by a matriarchal space of entertainment projects rooted in domesticity and storytelling.

Goffman in The Real World: Processes of Performance and Characterization Across Three Reality Television Series • Mark Lashley, University of Georgia • This paper looks at three reality television series (The Real World, Starting Over and The Osbournes) through the lens of Goffman’s Presentation of Self in Everyday Life and Propp’s Morphology of the Folktale. Techniques of casting and performance of reality television participants are examined. It is argued that reality television comprises a performative sphere of action where archetypes are continually reproduced, through institutionalized casting techniques and participant performance.

Multimedia in the Website: How do the U.S. Professional Sports Team Websites Adopt and Use Media Technologies? • Yang-Hwan Lee, Sungkyunkwan University; Sung-Chul Ihm, Sungkyunkwan University • Internet and new media technologies plays an important role in establishing the relationship between consumers-marketers. This study investigates what kind of media technology the professional sport team Website adopt and how those media technologies are used as a marketing communication tool. The results showed that Website and its technologies can be useful to sell and promote products and to communicate with customers. In the U.S., therefore, many sports teams are interested in the Website as a pipeline of marketing communication, but it seems not to be a matter of primary concern for some professional sports teams.

Power and Violence in Angry Aryan Song lyrics: Exploring the Recruitment Strategies of the White Power Movement • Andrew Selepak, University of Florida; Belio Martinez, University of Florida • This paper uses a qualitative interpretive framework to analyze song lyrics by the skinhead band the Angry Aryans. It also explores the legitimacy of skinheads as a social movement and the role of power in asserting their status as an oppressed group. Social movements are typically viewed as positive constructs advancing the rights of oppressed people. However, racist extremist groups also portray themselves as grassroots social movements. Results indicate the Angry Aryans perceive ethnic minorities and homosexuals as inferior and subhuman and along with non-skinhead whites a threat to white superiority and survival in the United States. The song lyrics are used as a communication strategy to recruit, intimidate and promote violence. The concept of power and notions from social movement theory support the view of skinheads as a legitimate social movement. However, this study does not suggest that skinheads embody noble aspirations, only that they possess similar dynamics to progressive efforts that seek a common good.

Awe and disgust: American Idol press coverage • Amanda McClain, Temple University • This paper contains discourse analyses of the 2002 and 2008 American Idol news coverage. It finds that both analyses focused on economics, power, and contestants; other topics include Simon Cowell and authenticity versus artificiality. However, while the 2002 coverage included themes of awe and derision, these were absent in the 2008 coverage. American Idol is now so ingrained into American culture, that contempt for it may be tantamount to contempt for American ideals.

Alcoholic content: a textual analysis of Rock of Love • Tim Hogarth, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University; Mike McComb, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University; Kareema Pinckney, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University; Sandra Smith, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University • Although there have been studies about reality television, there is a lack of research on the affects of alcohol within competitive dating reality shows. We conducted a textual analysis of Rock of Love with Bret Michaels examining the role alcohol plays within the narrative structure of the program. We determined that alcohol is presented as a positive influence on the participants and a connective thread within the major story arcs of the program.

Quick Measures of Transportation • Daniel G. McDonald, Ohio State University; Jonathan J. Anderegg, Ohio State University; Erin M. Schumaker, Ohio State University; Andrea Quenette, Ohio State University • This study provides an overview of the development of six subscales designed to measure the concept of transportation. The subscales measure multiple dimensions of transportation, but do so in a way that provides a more efficient and more exact measure than is currently available. We examine the reliability of the measures and their validity in several different ways, finding them as powerful as current measures but more sensitive to content variation.

How moviemakers frame the media: An analysis of the portrayal of journalism in popular Vietnam-era cinema • Alexa Milan, Elon University • This research project, guided by framing theory, explores how journalism as a profession and the media were portrayed in film during a time in which journalism was arguably transforming its role in society – the Vietnam War. Rather than studying films focused primarily on journalism, a content analysis of the most popular films was conducted and the presence of the media in everyday life situations coded. The top five highest grossing films from 1968-1977 were included in the sample. These films were in production during the war, and their images reached up to 120 million Americans. The 50 films studied contained 460 representations of media that paint an overall picture of how media was portrayed to audiences in this era. Variables studied included what type of media was present (i.e. newspapers, television), whether it was in the foreground or background of the scene, whether its use moved the action forward, and the reporter’s demographic information. Some key findings include that 53.3% of the media frames were of newspapers, characters responded to the media 32.6% of the time, the media moved the plot forward 45.4% of the time, 30.2% of television portrayals were framed as sensationalistic, and more Black and female journalists appeared in the last four years of the sample. This research is significant because by making the deliberate choice to utilize media in their movies, filmmakers are revealing the media’s importance. Framing theory argues that unconsciously, these portrayals drive public opinion about the media and its role in everyday life.

How to Make a Bully: Examining the Impact of Violent Entertainment on Adolescents • Patrice Oppliger, Boston University; Denis Wu, Boston University • This study explores the connection between different genres of violent media and adolescents’ attitudes toward fighting and bullying behavior. We tested the impact of masculinity on bullying using Bem’s Sex Role Inventory (BSRI). Parental attitude toward violence is also incorporated in the regression models. Results showed that scoring high on the BSRI dominance factor predicted adolescent attitudes and bullying behavior. Individual genres of violent media were predictive of attitudes bullying depending on the gender of the participant.

Uses and Gratifications Structural Model of Videogame Play • Emil Bakke, Ohio University; L. Meghan Peirce, Ohio University • This study deductively tests the structure of a uses and gratifications model where audience background characteristics, viewing motivations, exposure and attitudinal factors are considered in how one constructs their reality. Specifically, it examines how users’ locus of control predicts entertainment, companionship and pass time motivations. It then looks at how these motivations predict users’ perceived reality. Results suggest a significant negative relationship between users’ locus of control and the motivations of entertainment, companionship and pass time. Users who hold an external locus of control proved more motivated to play video games. Videogame play as a source of entertainment is a negative predictor of casual gaming. Individuals who were motivated by companionship were significantly likely to be classified as hardcore and casual gamers; and no significant relationships were found by individuals motivated by pass time. The more exposure a user held with the media, the more likely they were to construct their own world based on video game content. By understanding this relationship as a complete structural model, a deeper understanding will be gained of how users construct their reality based on video game play.

Girl power: A content analysis of gender portrayals on popular children’s cable networks • Jack Powers, Ithaca College • A two-week sample of after-school television programs (3-6 p.m.) for The Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network was constructed to represent popular after-school cable programming for children. In a systematic content analysis, the frequencies and character attributes of the male and female characters were documented with particular attention paid to how females were presented. This study’s findings update the current state of gender depictions on cable television programs geared toward children, depictions that may influence child viewers. The results suggest that girls are presented more favorably than boys across several variables, but that boy characters still far outnumber girl characters.

Bollywood and the Indian Premier League (IPL): The Political Economy of Bollywood’s New Blockbuster • Azmat Rasul, Florida State University; Jennifer Proffitt, Florida State University New forms of cricket have been introduced for the last four decades to maintain the interest of the audience in the game and, in recent years, to make the game more media-friendly. In India, an innovatively formatted tournament, the Indian Premier League (IPL), was started in 2008. The IPL magnetized cricket fans and corporate sponsors when Bollywood superstars not only promoted but also purchased teams in the league. The interlocking of industry and showbiz carries heuristic value and stipulates the need to examine this phenomenon from a political economic perspective. As such, we argue that the IPL-Bollywood alliance is a new synergistic mechanism that is attracting the attention of global entertainment corporations.

More of the Same from Television Doctors: A Content Analysis of Their Portrayal, Interactions, and Ethical Behavior • Tom Robinson, Brigham Young University; Jessica Danowski, Brigham Young University; Kenny Trent, BYU • The medical drama has been part of television programming since its infancy. Each week on early television medical dramas, doctors were asked, under unbeatable odds to perform a miracle and more often than not – they did. With an almost uncanny ability to dominate and control the lives, these doctors exceeded the abilities of a natural man to a point where they seem almost omnipotent. Then in the 1994-95 television season, ER was introduced to the television audience and although many of ER’s doctors often performed under unbeatable odds, and showed skills well beyond normal doctors, these doctors contained character flaws that presented them as fallible, human-like beings. Views are now seeing doctors who made mistakes, make bad decisions, and who have patients who died. The purpose of this research is to look at the evolution of the medical show and the TV doctor, and determine their role in influencing mass audiences today. Through a content analysis of 10 medical dramas, 55 doctors were coded and the results show that most are male, Caucasian, middle-aged, and attractive. These doctors do make mistakes and many have personality flaws, but most are shown beating medical odds, breaking restrictive rules, dealing with patients’ families, fighting hospital administrators, and still having time to cure their patients.

The Man Without Fear at a Time of Great Fear: A review of Countercultural Themes in the First 100 Issues of the Comic Book, Daredevil. • Bill Schulte, Ohio University • This study reviewed the first 100 issues of Marvel Comic’s Daredevil: The Man Without Fear for countercultural themes prevalent the 1960s and 1970s. This comic book was examined for three countercultural themes: youth interacting with establishment and moving away from 1950s style and values, racial issues and civil rights in the face of a world becoming more integrated, and commentary on the Vietnam War. The study follows the book from its wholesome 1950s style roots, through the free but often pessimistic years between 1964 and 1973. The Marvel comic book, Daredevil, was a previously unexplored medium for creating meaning and engaging countercultural social issues.

No Future No Longer: Pop-Punk and the Second-Wave Legacy • Alexandra Smith, Penn State University, College of Communications • To date, there has been very little academic research focused on the political potential of today‟s pop-punk musical genre. This paper seeks to address that lack by analyzing the music of the pop-punk band NOFX. Drawing on past scholarship examining the political nature of first-wave punk music, an intertextual lyrical analysis of several NOFX songs, the members‟ activist tendencies, and the band itself reveals that the music does contain activist messages and uses intertextual methods to effectively create its own model listener.

Critic-Adored, Award-Ignored: Roots and Consequences of Emmy Gone Wire-less • Todd Sodano, St. John Fisher College • The Emmy Award is an overused yet undervalued piece in countless conversations about television. Fans, viewers, and critics lament the broken system that rewards the same talent year after year but ignores cutting-edge, diverse television. This article examines paid journalistic TV critics’ commentaries about the Emmy and why HBO’s The Wire, a critic-adored, award-ignored series, was overlooked by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, a group whose mission includes the promotion of diversity. Furthermore, this essay looks at what the consequences are of this oversight in today’s era of niche market programming.

Motivated Cognitive Processing of Risky and Sexy Video Game Content • Sarah Miesse, The University of Alabama; Johnny Sparks, Texas Tech University; Harsha Gangadharbatla, University of Oregon; Curtis B. Matthews, Texas Tech University • The current study examined the influence of risky and sexy content on motivated cognitive processing of video game content. Participants viewed video clips from the games Fable II and Grand Theft Auto. Negative emotional experiences increased with risky and sexy content. Positive emotional experiences were associated with nonrisky and nonsexy clips. The guiding theoretical perspective predicted that resources allocated to encoding would be greater for positive (nonsexy and nonrisky) than negative (sexy and risky) content because both elicited a low level of arousal. As predicted, recognition sensitivity was greater for nonrisky and nonsexy video game content. Although the findings supported the theoretical predictions, the results do not necessarily correspond with conventional expectations.

The Lady Is (Still) a Tramp: Prime-Time Portrayals of Women Who Love Sex • Jan Whitt, University of Colorado • Expressing their sexuality while being ridiculed by others unites several controversial television characters, including Blanche Devereaux (Rue McClanahan) of The Golden Girls, Jackie Harris (Laurie Metcalf) of Roseanne, Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall) of Sex and the City, and Paige Matheson and Edie Britt (both played by Nicollette Sheridan) of Knot’s Landing and Desperate Housewives, respectively. Because this study does not focus upon lesbians or women of color, it underscores the manner with which straight white women are caricatured when they disrupt suburbia (Knot’s Landing The Golden Girls, Roseanne, and Desperate Housewives) or an urban community (Sex and the City). The Lady Is (Still) a Tramp suggests that women who subvert unwritten heterosexual codes of conduct must be punished; in fact, their conniving and sometimes narcissistic behavior is the object of humor at the same time that it allows other characters (and viewers of the television program) to bask in moral superiority. It also argues that women who love sex are often the ones who are most unruly by society’s standards; furthermore, although they may be objects of ridicule, they often use wit to retaliate against those who judge them.

An examination of college sports fans’ perceptions of scandal coverage in the media • Molly Yanity, Ohio University; Ashley Furrow, Ohio Universtiy • This study examines which factors motivate how and where college football and men’s basketball fans get their news on scandals, or negative off-field incidents that involve misconduct by coaches and/or players. The main factors examined in this study are trust, bias and characteristics of coverage as distinguished between local and national coverage. This research is important because it could ultimately help to determine how those motivating factors influence what local media outlets cover, and how they cover – or do not cover – controversial topics and scandals in the sports arena.

Using Sense of Control and Sense of others to Explicate User Experiences and Impact of Online Games • Gunwoo Yoon, Graduate School of culture Technology, KAIST; Seoungho Ryu, Department of Visual Culture, Kangwon National University, Korea • This study examines how the sense of control and sense of others influence idiosyncratic experiences and the impact of violent online games. All participants were assigned to one of the four game conditions according to involvement (watching vs. playing) and social interaction (alone vs. together). The participants’ feelings of presence and aggression were measured after the experiment. Results indicated that networked game playing conditions and social interaction entail users to feel more presence and aggression.

<< 2010 Abstracts