A conceptual framework for understanding the content of advertising: Its application to the specific case of Chinese television commercials

The conceptual framework for explaining advertising content formulated in this paper begins with environmental factors such as culture and economic system, and ends with the ads themselves—with advertising industry factors, such as practices and views/values of its actors, and consumer factors, such as experience making up the middle two layers. An empirical application of this model, through variables derived from it, to Chinese television commercials suggests post‐hoc substantiation for the most part. Future studies could pose and test a priori hypotheses (for other countries, media, and variables) leading to the refinement, clarification, and elaboration of the model.     

Parasocial relationships with disliked television characters,depressive symptoms,and loneliness among older adults

ABSTRACT

This study considered how older adults’ parasocial relationships with disliked television characters predict depressive symptoms and loneliness, as well as how attachment styles and real-life romantic relationship quality moderate these associations. Adults aged 55 and older reported on their most disliked television character and romantic relationship functioning in a self-administered survey, and hierarchical multiple regressions were used to test the data. Results revealed that older adults with low attachment avoidance and low-quality romantic relationships demonstrated the largest increases in their depressive symptoms and loneliness as their antagonistic parasocial relationships increased in intensity. Applied implications of these findings are considered, such as alternative outlets to which older adults with low attachment avoidance and low-quality romantic relationships might turn (e.g. community volunteering, relationships with children, grandchildren, and friends) if their romantic and parasocial relationships are not conducive to fostering mental well-being.     

Public Library Services to Underrepresented Groups: Poor & Unemployed,Emphasizing Danville,Virginia

This study attempts to fill a void in library public services research on initiatives to serve the poor and unemployed in the current climate of budgetary constraints. This study seeks to determine perceptions of librarians and library managers regarding the needs of, and need for services to, poor and unemployed library patrons. Following a review of the literature, the article compares funding for services to the poor and unemployed in Michigan and Virginia. The state of Virginia lags behind other states in offering special programs for the poor and unemployed. This study concludes by describing programs developed by the Danville Public Library in an attempt to offer creative and imaginative services for the poor and the unemployed in the Danville Community.     

Product global reach,advertising standardization,and cultural values: an analysis of 2008 Beijing Olympic TV commercials

This study examined the influence of the global reach of the product, multinational vs. domestic, on the degree of standardization of and the use of advertising values in 2008 Beijing Olympic commercials telecasted in China. This study is the first to examine systematically advertising standardization and values within one country in a mega-sporting event context. Overall, the study revealed that multinational product advertisements are more likely to be standardized, and more likely to portray Western-oriented values in their advertisements compared to domestic product advertisements. These findings indicate the importance of considering the global reach of the product in advertising to meet the expectations of the customers, especially during international sporting events such as Olympic Games.     

Daytime television talk shows: Guests,content and interactions

Strident controversy over the often‐bizarre subject matter of daytime television talk shows motivated this content analysis of 11 shows with the highest Nielsen ratings in 1994–95. A sample of 10 episodes of each of the shows was videotaped and subjected to a systematic analysis of the shows’ guests, topics of discussion and interactions. Results indicate that this genre of program indulges in overrepresentation of female, youthful and African American guests. The most prevalent major topic of discussion was parenting on nearly half the episodes. In general, these talk shows center around family issues, sexual activity and dating.     

The television text: spectatorship,ideology, and the organization of consent

–The problem with popular polarizations in television reception research is that either quantitative or qualitative methodologies considered separately fails to render a complete understanding. Television viewing is both individual and collective. Thus this paper proposes an analytical framework synthesized from alternate approaches not conventionally petitioned in reception research, among them Gramsci's consent theory, which identifies a logical and justifiable space for both considerations, a means of accounting for the ebbs and flows of both individual and collective forces continuously at work in culture and in television reception.     

Imagery of women in television drama: 1974

Taking up a somewhat differing point of view in this dialogue which began on page 259 is Dr. Seggar, a member of the sociology faculty at Brigham Young University in Provo, and a previous Journal contributor.     

Formal features in children's science television: Sound effects,visual pace,and topic shifts

This study analyzes the auditory, visual, and information‐presentation pace of children's science television programs. These half‐hour programs averaged more than 19 sound effects per minute, 14 visual changes (cuts, wipes, and fades/dissolves) per minute, and more than 27 topic shifts per program. These results indicate that the current crop of programs presents content at a pace that may reduce their effectiveness.     

Competition,conduct, and ratings in local television news: Applying the industrial organization model

This study explores how competition and competition intensity affect the amount of time devoted to local television news and the number of employees assigned to news activities. It also studies how the amount of time devoted to news and staff size affect newscast ratings. The author concludes that competition and its intensity did affect the amount of news presented locally and newscast ratings in the market examined.     

The television generation's relation to the mass media in Germany: Accounting for the impact of private television

This study extends earlier research on the television generation's media‐related behavior. Those who have grown up with TV are often said to be (therefore) more devoted to TV and less inclined to read than people born earlier. To provide evidence, data on TV and newspaper use and on attachment to both media in Germany, 1970–1995, were cohort‐analyzed, controlling for the age‐specific effect of the introduction of private TV in the mid‐eighties. While younger birth cohorts are less interested in the newspaper, the TV generation is not more devoted to TV than most of the preceding cohorts.     

Research in radio,television, and film by graduate students in speech

Speech graduate students perform varied types of research in the radio‐television‐film field. An analysis of the nature of this research suggests some important conclusions.     

Sex in primetime television: An analysis of content trends,context categories,and sampling considerations

This study provides a replication and extension of previous content analyses of sex in primetime television, following a five‐year period of increased consumer activism directed through advertiser influence on programming content. It also addressed the issue of sample size in analyses designed to track such trends. Results indicated distinct differences from trends reported in previous studies, with a substantial decrease in the quantity as well as changes in the quality of sexual behavior and references between the 1988–89 and 1993–94 television seasons. Although a minimum of one intact or constructed week of programming has been considered essential for such studies, comparative analyses of full and half‐sample data provided evidence that overall trends can be accurately mapped using a reasonably selected stratified subsample of a constructed week of programming.     

Antisocial behaviors in television entertainment: Trends and profiles

This study replicates the content analysis of antisocial acts on entertainment programming conducted by Greenberg and his colleagues in the mid 1970s. Our purpose is to determine if the frequency of antisocial behavior has changed. We found an overall rate of 42.1 antisocial acts per hour which is very similar to Greenberg's rate of 40.8 acts per hour. However, we found that the rate of verbal aggression had increased, especially on situation comedies and action/adventures programs.     

Discursive texts,reflexive audiences: Global trends in television news texts and audience reception

This study examines the process of media globalization at the level of meaning generation (by television news texts) and interpretation (by audiences) based on the analysis of news‐texts and focus groups from four countries. It is suggested that the narrative of television news is discursive: it provides a specific vision of cultural “others”. At the audience level there is the emergence of a global culture of critical media consumption. This reflexive mode is born of a familiarity with the narrative conventions of the genre and the institutional imperatives of the media industries.     

Information production, transfer, and delivery: Mass information work and television Journalists’ dilemma in Nigeria

Nigeria developed a national policy for information technology (IT), which is a general policy for the development of IT (or more broadly, information and communication technologies (ICTs)) in Nigeria. It was formulated by the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology and published in March 2001. The policy represents the perceptions of the Federal Government of Nigeria of what ICTs are, what they do and can do, how they can be developed and applied, and the time frame within which to achieve ICT capability in Nigeria. This paper analyzes the Nigerian national information policy for IT and the process of its formulation within this context. It concludes that many of the specific questions raised in the discussion were not considered in the policy formulation process under discussion. The questions, or at least most of them, raised in this discussion remain valid and continue to beg for answers, irrespective of any success or failure that may be attributed to the existence or operation of the policy.     

The incidence of sex discrimination,sexual content,and hostility in television humor

Feminist groups have contended that women are portrayed more often as the butt of humor on prime‐time television than are men, citing this as an example of sex discrimination. The present study was conducted to investigate the accuracy of this charge. Other aims of the study were to assess the frequency of sexual and hostile humor on television and to determine whether the Family Viewing Hour contains less hostile and sexual humorous content than other times. To fulfill these goals coders recorded and classified humorous incidents sampled from the prime‐time (8–11 p.m.) viewing hours on the three major commercial networks in October, 1977. The results indicated that in absolute terms males were more often the object of humorous disparagement than were females. However, males appeared more frequently in principal roles on television and thus were more available as targets of disparagement. When the frequency with which males and females appear was taken into account, males disparaged females significantly more than females disparaged males. Thus, there is some support for the charge of sex discrimination. Other findings indicate that hostile humor is no more common than nonhostile humor; and nonsexual humor is more frequent than sexual humor. Finally, the survey indicated that sexual and hostile humor was as common during the Family Viewing Hour as during adult viewing hours.     

Deregulation of television broadcast in India: Cultural and informational impacts

Satellite broadcasting in India can be seen as a metaphor for an integrated national agenda, but the newly deregulated marketplace appears to be setting new agendas for satellite broadcasting by government‐controlled Doordarshan. This qualitative analysis argues that moving to total free market may lead to too little development communication. On the other hand, controlled information may lead to cultural domination ('internal media imperialism') over either one of, or both, rural and urban societies. Diffusion of information may work for rural areas, while urban audiences can afford to spend more time on mass entertainers. There is a need to redefine ‘modernization’ in a non‐global context, and that definition should lead a government towards developmental media policy goals. Further, media policies should be bifurcated to address different developmental goals.     

Marital status in television drama: A case of reduced options

Married and single male and female prime‐time televison characters are presented very stereotypically and traditionally while formerly married female characters are presented less traditionally but somewhat more negatively.