Does the Music Matter? Examining Differential Effects of Music Genre on Support for Ethnic Groups

Using data from a post-test only experiment with random assignment, this article examines whether differing music genres influence socially relevant decisions made by listeners. A sample of White college students was exposed to1 of 3 music genres during an ostensible waiting period, and was then asked to allocate funding to projects for different ethnic groups. Three music conditions—radical White power rock, mainstream rock, and Top 40 pop music—were examined to determine whether differential allocations to ethnic groups would emerge following music exposure. As expected, Top 40 pop music exposure led to equal allocations to the various ethnic groups. After listening to mainstream rock, participants allocated significantly higher budgets to White Americans compared to all other race groups. After listening to radical White power rock music, participants also allocated significantly higher budgets to White Americans, but changes in allocations to ethnic minority groups also emerged. Namely, African Americans and Arab Americans received particularly low funding from participants exposed to radical White power rock music.     

Trivializing the News? Affective Context Effects of Commercials on the Perception of Television News

This study examined whether affect induced by television commercials influences the perception of news programming. An experiment showed that viewers in positive moods generated by television commercials perceive news stories viewed both after and before watching the commercials as more entertaining, relaxing, realistic, and more credible than viewers exposed to neutral commercials do. Of interest, viewers in positive mood, as compared to neutral mood, perceived the topic presented in the news story as less important and serious.     

An Investigation of User Comments on Facebook Pages of Trinidad and Tobago’s Indian Music Format Radio Stations

Starting in the 1990s, the Caribbean two-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago witnessed the establishment of several Indian-music format radio stations, most of which now stream their content on the World Wide Web or otherwise make their content available beyond the range of their terrestrial radio transmitters. The convergence of traditional terrestrial radio with audio streaming technology combined with the spread of high speed broadband connections has expanded the audience of a typical radio station from a few kilometers to a globally dispersed set of listeners who often include those physically displaced from their native cultural programming. The present investigation examines the Facebook comments of domestic and foreign listeners to Indian-music format radio stations from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.     

Are Good Characters Better for Us? The Effect of Morality Salience on Entertainment Selection and Recovery Outcomes

Two experiments examined whether one’s moral self-perception affects the selection of content (Study 1) and whether exposure to different character types results in any recovery benefits (Study 2). Study 1 found that individuals were more likely to select films featuring good characters and morally ambiguous characters than films featuring bad characters regardless of their moral self-perceptions. Study 2 found that individuals whose vices were made salient relaxed and psychologically detached more after reading stories featuring good characters and MACs than after reading a bad character story, whereas those whose virtues were made salient experienced an equal level of recovery benefits regardless of character type. Findings thus indicate that morality salience does not affect selection of content featuring different character types, but it does affect the recovery outcomes one experiences after narrative exposure.     

Does Audience Participation on Facebook Influence the News Agenda? A Case Study of The Rachel Maddow Show

Social media have been theorized as being able to break the press' monopoly on agenda-setting, giving the public greater influence over which stories are covered in the news. This study uses a cross-lagged panel analysis to determine to what extent audience conversations on The Rachel Maddow Show's Facebook Page may have influenced the selection of issues covered in the TV broadcast. Results show a positive correlation between stories discussed on Facebook and the subsequent airing of similar stories on TV. The evidence also suggests that social media may enable many factors that influence both the media and the public agendas.     

Does Age Matter?: The Information-Seeking Behavior of Filipino Aquaculture Researchers

Findings of previous studies revealed that regardless of the objective, age does affect the information-seeking behavior of an individual. Likewise, this study found the same results. Although all of the younger Filipino aquaculture researchers preferred the Internet to begin their search process, it was found that they were more frequent library users, and more reliant on librarians than their older counterparts. Likewise, they preferred the combination of print and electronic formats when reading. Thus, they would print and save the retrieved electronic copy of information at least very often. The study is a valuable addition to the information-seeking behavior studies on Filipinos, and the first to tackle the effects of age on the information-seeking behavior of Filipino aquaculture researchers.     

The Effect of Newspaper Coverage of Influenza on the Rate of Physician Visits for Influenza 2002–2008

The effect that newspapers had on patients visiting physicians for influenza was examined for 2002 to 2008. The basis for this investigation rests on theories of media effects drawn from agenda setting, media hype, and the Social Amplification of Risk Framework. It was hypothesized that controlling for the rate of influenza, a positive relationship exists in which increases and decreases of newspaper attention to influenza precede increases and decreases in the percentage of patients visiting physicians for flu symptoms. The percentage of visits and the percentage of positive flu tests are taken from the Centers for Disease Control's flu report. Media attention was located through the Lexis/Nexis database as words per week in stories having flu in the headline in 32 newspapers. Time series analysis shows that controlling for autoregressive and seasonal effects, and the actual rate of disease present, news attention in the previous week accounts for a statistically significant portion of the increase and decrease in the number of individuals who go to their physician reporting influenza-like symptoms. Reverse causality was examined. It was shown that controlling for autoregressive and seasonal effects, patient visits did not predict news coverage, whereas the rate of the flu in the previous 3 weeks did.     

The Effect of Web Search Result Display on Users’ Perceptual Experience and Information Seeking Performance

ABSTRACT

Adding multiple sources of information in the display of Web search results may negatively affect users’ perceptual experience and information-seeking behavior. This claim was established by investigating the impact of different Web search compositions on users’ ability to extract specific information. In this article, we assumed that the quantity and order of different compositions (areas) in the Web search results page may contribute to individual’s ability to find information relevant to their search queries. An eye-tracking device was used to observe and compare the perceptual behavior of 14 users in an information-seeking task. The results showed that the use of different compositions in the display of Web results page significantly influenced users’ perceptual experience by reducing their attention to the organic results area. The quantity of these compositions was found to greatly increase the cognitive load of users when attempting to retrieve information from the organic area, which negatively affects their information-seeking performance. Our finding provides a rationale for further studies to consider the impact of quantity and order of Web page compositions on individuals’ perceptual attention and cognitive load in information-seeking task settings.     

“Cultumization?” The Impact of Cultural Priming on Customized Communication

This study examined the impact of cultural priming on the effects of customized communication. Two existing customization approaches (tailoring and targeting) were tested with 102 participants in an experiment. It was found that when participants were primed with individualistic meanings, they tended to generate a more favorable attitude toward tailored messages than targeted messages. In contrast, when participants were primed with collectivist meanings, they formed a more favorable attitude toward targeted messages than tailored ones. Based on the study findings, the conceptualization of customization needs to incorporate the cultural factor.     

“We Talk about Life”—KTCK,The Ticket,and the Influence of Guy Talk on Sports-Talk Radio

KTCK, “the Ticket,” in Dallas is a prime example of a sports-talk station whose format has evolved into “guy talk.” The station is the object of imitation in the sports-talk community, having reportedly earned $33 million in 2006. “The Ticket is a great radio station; there's no denying they do a wonderful job,” the program director of KILT-AM in Houston, Bill Van Rysdam says. Sports-talk stations across the country have learned that “guy talk” is the “ticket” for higher ratings and greater profits.     

How Can Music Majors Increase Their Success in the Market for Over-the-Air Downloads?—The Case of Germany

Music majors, who have been suffering from dwindling revenues in their core business, are placing extraordinary hopes on the new market of over-the-air (OTA) downloads. However, until now there has been no broad academic discussion about this market. In particular, two central questions have not yet been addressed: (a) Which factors influence the success of music majors in the OTA-download market?, and (b) How can music majors increase their success in this market? To answer these questions, this study used a holistic research approach, which combines an economical and a sociological perspective. This study first identified the drivers for the success in the OTA-download market and analyzed these factors in 1 large-scale survey (n = 1,780) in Germany and a series of expert interviews. Subsequently, a mathematical Excel-based tool was constructed and data optimization techniques from operations research were applied to derive the optimal mix of strategic measures that maximizes the success of music majors in the German OTA-download market. Finally, recommendations for implementing these strategic measures are presented. This explorative study provides a systematic understanding of the general factors driving success in any OTA-download market. Therefore, there is hope that it will be relevant for both German and international scholars and managers.     

Murder She Searched: The Effect of Violent Crime and News Coverage on Residents’ Information Needs

This study examines local web search data as a window into residents’ information needs surrounding the issue of urban crime. Media system dependency theory is used to explain the dynamic, interdependent relationships between changes in the local crime rate (i.e., the social system), news coverage of crime (i.e., the media system), and residents’ (i.e., the audience’s) online searches for crime-related information. It was hypothesized that crime rates and news coverage of crime would increase residents’ information needs, motivating residents to go online to search for crime-related information to cope with an increased sense of uncertainty. The responsiveness of local newspapers to residents’ dynamic information needs was also evaluated. In an initial study in Minneapolis, Minnesota, violent crime and newspaper coverage of crime did predict online searches for crime-related information. But news coverage did not predict searches for crime-related information in a follow-up study in St. Louis, Missouri. Coverage in neither city’s newspapers was responsive to changes in aggregate crime-related online searches. Reasons for differences between the two cities are discussed, as are theoretical implications for future efforts to assess what local residents’ information needs are and to evaluate whether they are being met.     

Is a Picture Worth a Thousand Words? The Effect of Race-Related Visual and Verbal Exemplars on Attitudes and Support for Social Policies

The present study experimentally assesses the relative influence of visual and verbal exemplars on news readers’ judgments regarding use of emergency room health care services by undocumented immigrants and uninsured U.S. citizens. Assumptions from exemplification theory and theories of information processing guided the investigation. A series of two studies found that pictures and personal stories have comparable effects on perceptions of and attitudes about the issue. Furthermore, conflicting personal stories and pictures embedded in the same news item nullify each other's effect.     

Advise with Permission?: The Effects of Advice Solicitation on Advice Outcomes

Two studies examine reactions to permitted (offered and permission granted), volunteered (given without offer or assent), and imposed advice (offered and given even though declined). In Study 1, participants’ ratings of advice quality and implementation intention were higher for volunteered and permitted than imposed advice. Only for a task that was highly personal did recipients have a significantly higher intention to use permitted than volunteered advice. Study 2 replicated results from Study 1 with a nonstudent sample. In addition, Study 2 found stronger differences between volunteered and permitted advice, with permitted advice rated more positively. Study 2 also examined the effect of using you pronouns, which have been linked to confrontation and criticism, when giving advice, but found no consistent effects on advice outcomes.     

Does Watching Television Actually Make One Nicer? The Use of Conflict Management Message Styles

A telephone survey of 122 respondents was conducted to examine whether exposure to television predicted the use of certain conflict management message styles. Television exposure was not a significant predictor of using a “self-oriented” or “issue-oriented” approach. However, it was a significant predictor of using an “other-oriented” approach to conflict management. Viewers with greater exposure to television were more likely to report using positive message responses when dealing with conflict than their lighter-viewing counterparts.     

One “Nation,” Under Stephen? The Effects of The Colbert Report on American Youth

This study examines the effect of The Colbert Report, Comedy Central's mock conservative talk show, on young adults. By fashioning his character as a hyperbolic ideologue, Colbert is mocking personalities such as Bill O'Reilly. However, this study finds that when young adults are exposed to The Colbert Report's humor, they are not led to be more critical of the far right. Instead, the opposite happens, and there is an increased affinity for President Bush, Republicans in Congress, and Republican policies. Ironically, Colbert's attempts to poke fun at conservative commentators may be helping those same commentators spread their message.     

Open or Closed — This Is the Question: The Influence of Question Format on the Cultivation Effect

This study uses open ended and multiple choice questionnaires to examine the influence of question format on the cultivation effect. Student respondents (N=517) were requested to estimate the prevalence of criminality, single parent families, and sexual activity among teens in the society. The given estimates were compared to real world figures and to TV world values that were obtained from a content analysis of one week of prime-time network programming (63 hours from 3 different channels). The results confirm to cultivation predictions by pointing at differences between heavy viewers and light viewers, so that heavy viewers give extremer estimates, but the findings also indicate that the impact of the question format is greater than the effect of cultivation, and that the amount of viewing and the question format interact so that cultivation is more visible in open ended questionnaires.     

The Google Art Project: A New Generation of Museums on the Web?

Abstract On February 1, 2011, Google launched its much‐heralded Art Project in partnership with 17 museums from Europe and the U.S. Despite the limited content and a long wish‐list of enhancements, the Google Art Project offers a glimpse of innovative new ways for museums to use and be used on the Web, collaboratively.     

Does an image facilitate the sharing of negative news on social media? An experimental investigation

Negative news on social media is always disseminated promptly and widely which leads to negative economic and social outcomes that render a practical research agenda necessary to understand user sharing decisions. Moreover, news posted on social media usually includes images, but little is known about the role of such images in shaping user decisions to share negative news. To fill this gap, the humans' affective–cognitive model of information processing (HACIP) was developed to explore the effects of images on the sharing of negative news and to investigate the contingent role of images in the sharing decision. To test the model and hypotheses, a scenario-based online experiment was conducted, which yielded 285 valid responses. Analysis results indicate that images in negative news induce users' negative emotion and arousal, which influence their sharing decision. Further, the presence of images strengthens the effect of negative emotion and weakens the effect of information uniqueness. Thus, this study contributes to the literature by identifying the distinct role of images in information processing and by proposing a brand-new framework to explore user sharing of negative news.     

But Does It Work?: The Influence of Presumed Goal Attainment Effectiveness on Willingness to Use Legalistic and Restorative Responses to Offensive Behavior

Although victim-offender conferences (VOCs) ostensibly enable victims to pursue justice goals not achieved through conventional trials, not all victims wish to participate in them. The purpose of this study was to examine how victims’ presumptions regarding the effectiveness of VOCs and trials in accomplishing justice goals influence their willingness to participate in a VOC and their preference for a case to be managed solely by the courts. Study results indicated that participants believed VOCs and trials to be effective at accomplishing different goals and that such influenced how they wanted cases to be managed. This influence was moderated by desires for particular justice goals. These findings have implications for restorative justice researchers and practitioners interested in victims’ motivations to participate in a VOC.