Effects of imagery‐eliciting on recognition and recall for radio commercials

This experiment suggests that recognition and recall are better for radio commercials with imagery‐eliciting copy than for commercials without imagery‐eliciting copy.     

Effects of emotion and product involvement on the experience of repeated commercial viewing

The intensity of the viewing experience people have while watching television was expected to enhance recall of commercials and also to render commercials less vulnerable to negative attitude change over multiple exposures. The effects of two variables, commercial induced emotion and product involvement, were tested in an experiment where people watched one hour of programming and embedded commercials on four consecutive days. Testing occurred after the fourth session; ads were repeated from two to 12 times during this time period. Broadly stated, findings indicate that emotional appeals and product involvement have favorable effects on brand name recall, attitudes, and purchase intention. Results are discussed with regard to their managerial and social implications.     

Contrasts in presidential campaign commercials of 1976

This study examines the 1976 primary and general election television commercials of Jimmy Carter and Jerry Ford. Based principally on interviews with the creators of the advertising and on repeated viewings of the numerous commercials acquired by Professor L. Patrick Devlin, the study investigates what was shown and why. In the concluding section, analytic and evaluative observations are made.     

Effects of music on source evaluations

Dr. Simpkins is an assistant professor in the department of advertising at Michigan State University, while Mr. Smith is a media analyst at Campbell‐Ewald, Inc. in Detroit. The research that follows offers some useful advice to producers of commercials and other material using a musical background.     

New scheme of communication: an exploratory study of interactivity and multimedia use in Chinese j-blogs and the implications

Major cultural values in Chinese and Indian TV commercials were identified in this content analysis. Commercials in both countries were found emphasizing modernity over tradition as a dominant value. Chinese commercials used more traditional values while Indian commercials reflected a more Western value orientation. Foreign brands used modernity more frequently than domestic brands. Foreign brands of Eastern origin used modernity even more often than those of Western origin. Product category emerged as the most important variable affecting cultural values in both countries' commercials. While contributing to international advertising research, this study provides implications for international advertising practice.     

Books on broadcasting in the library of congress: Programming and audience research

Because advertising is the bread‐and‐butter of broadcasting in the United States, any attempt to limit the number and length of commercials is, bound to meet with strong opposition. One such unsuccessful attempt was made by the FCC only four years ago, but already memories of the events and maneuverings that swirled around this proposal are fading. Lawrence D. Longley investigated this topic in connection with his doctoral dissertation on “The Politics of Broadcasting” which is nearing completion at Vanderbilt University. Mr. Longley is instructor in the Department of Government at Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin.     

Competition for Viewers and Advertisers in a TV Oligopoly

Abstract

This study considers a model of a TV oligopoly where TV channels transmit advertising and viewers dislike such commercials. It is shown that advertisers make a lower profit the larger the number of TV channels. If TV channels are sufficiently close substitutes, there will be underprovision of advertising relative to social optimum. This study also finds that the more viewers dislike ads, the more likely it is that welfare is increasing in the number of advertising-financed TV channels. A publicly owned TV channel can partly correct market distortions, in some cases, by having a larger amount of advertising than private TV channels. It may even have advertising in cases where advertising is wasteful per se.     

Using mass media in the presidential primaries: Effects on candidate issue knowledge and confidence in judging candidate viability

The role of mass media in the presidential primaries has not been examined in the same fashion as in the presidential general elections, congressional elections, and gubernatorial elections. This study is based on a survey (face‐to‐face interviews) of 392 adults randomly selected from a city with a population of 444,000 during the 1996 presidential primaries. The results of the hierarchical multiple regression analyses show that television news programs increase learning about candidate issue policies. People's confidence in judging which candidate has a better chance to win the party's nomination is influenced by reading of newspaper campaign stories, viewing of the campaign commercials, and their attention to the campaign news on TV. This study enriches our understanding of media effects in the presidential primaries.     

The “Easter egg” syllabus: Using hidden content to engage online and blended classroom learners*

Course: Online or mediated communication courses.

Objectives: The purpose of this activity is to provide students with a more engaging way of immersing themselves in the course material through an interactive “Easter egg” syllabus. An Easter egg is an “undocumented function hidden in software?…?[they are] secret ‘goodies’?…?used in video games, movies, TV commercials, DVDs, CDs, CD-ROMs and every so often in hardware” (PC Magazine [n.d.]. Definition of Easter Egg. Retrieved from https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/42295/easter-egg). An Easter egg syllabus is guided by this mediated tradition through its inclusion of hidden embeddable audio and video clips to enhance student understanding of the structure of the class and its overall content, as well as adding a game-like component to student learning. By using the syllabus, students can take a more active role in their own learning and make connections between course concepts and the illustrations found in the Easter egg syllabus.     

Negative video as structure: Emotion,attention, capacity,and memory

This paper uses a limited capacity information processing theory of television viewing to investigate the effects of graphic negative video at four levels of processing (attention, capacity, encoding, and retrieval) and on two dimensions of emotional experience (arousal and valence). Results indicate that the presence of negative video in news stories increases attention, increases the amount of capacity required to process the message, increases the ability to retrieve the story, facilitates recognition of information presented during the negative video and inhibits recognition for information presented before the negative video. Results also indicate that the introduction of negative video increases the self‐reported negative emotional impact of the story — making it more arousing and more negative.     

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.     

Commercial Humor Enhancement of Program Enjoyment: Gender and Program Appeal As Mitigating Factors

Previous research has shown that if commercials showcase higher levels of humor, they can enhance the viewer's enjoyment of the program in which the commercials are contained. The theory of excitation transfer has been used to explain this phenomenon. This experimental research suggests some modifications to its application in this setting, suggesting that there must be an adequate level of TV program appeal initially for the appeal to be enhanced by commercials. In this study, men's enjoyment of a sitcom was enhanced when high humor commercials were included in the program.     

Mineralogical changes arising from the use of aqueous sodium carbonate solutions for the treatment of archaeological copper objects

Abstract

Mineralogical changes which occur during the reaction of copper(II) chloride with carbonate in aqueous solution have been investigated, and compared with those involving copper(I) chloride, nantokite, CuCI, and copper artifacts coated with malachite, CU₂CO₃(OH)₂ The reactions observed and the products obtained are seen to have implications with respect to the use of aqueous sodium carbonate solutions to stabilize archaeological copper objects. The frequent observation of the mineralogically rare species chalconatronite, Na₂Cu(CO₃)₂·3H₂O, on the surface of treated objects is readily explained by known reaction chemistry. Its formation can be minimized by washing the object after treatment.     

Does Background Music Really Help Radio Commercials? The Effect of Involvement on Ad Recall

This study tested the effects of background music on the recall of radio commercials. Free and aided recall were significantly higher for subjects who heard the commercials containing no background music in the talk program compared to that of subjects hearing the commercials containing no background music in the music program. Furthermore, involvement level appears to be a factor in influencing recall. The involvement level with the music program was low compared to the involvement level with the talk program and this seems to have a mitigating effect on the recall of the commercials.     

Escaping the Zoo! Exploring Personal World Views and Other “Natural” Aspects of Culture

Courses: Intercultural Communication, Communication and Diversity

Objectives: This activity is designed to help students better understand the concept of world views in everyday life. It also provides an understanding of how world views may be connected to values, norms, and ethnocentrism in very personal and direct ways. Finally, it helps students to understand the cultural nature of what is often seen as simply a natural fact of life.     

An Opportunity,Not a Crisis: How Google Is Changing the Individual and the Information Profession

ABSTRACT

This article explores some of the key impacts that Google and new technologies such as Web 2.0 have had on the way people see information and information professionals and presents the argument that much of what is typically seen as negative about Google is, in fact, positive.     

The influence of irritating commercials on radio listening habits

This study tracks station‐switching behavior in a controlled setting and combines results from in‐depth personal interviews to assess reaction to radio commercials, particularly those commercials that cause irritation. Attitude toward the ad models were used to predict how listeners would react to exposure to irritating commercials. Results showed participants changed stations an average of once every minute and a half during the experiment. These changes took place two to three times more often during commercials than during music segments. The overall finding was that high levels of station changing occurred during all commercials, not just irritating ones. This research was made possible in part by a grant from the National Association of Broadcasters.     

Race Representation in Child-Targeted Television Commercials

This study examined the visibility, status, and roles assigned to major U.S. racial groups in commercials broadcast during children's programming on 8 stations over 1 weekday and 1 weekend day (N = 1,487). Although the proportion of Whites and African Americans surpassed their actual percentages, Asians, Latinos, and Native Americans were dramatically underrepresented. The visibility of racial minorities was further diminished by their segregation into commercials for a limited group of products. When commercials showed racial minorities, they tended to cast them in stereotypical, lower prestige roles. Commercials privileged Whites by showing them in every type of commercial and role. Whites were the only characters in high-status roles and, in comparison to racial minorities, were significantly more likely to be spokespeople, initiators of action, and problem solvers. This asymmetry reveals that modest improvements in the demographics of child-targeted commercials are insignificant when weighed against the racial bias evident in the depiction of social power.     

Gender portrayal in Hong Kong and Korean children's TV commercials: A cross‐cultural comparison

This study examined gender portrayal in a sample of 345 television commercials broadcast during children's programmes in Hong Kong and Korea using content analysis. Literature suggests that Hong Kong culture differs from Korean culture on the dimension of Masculinity/Femininity proposed by Hofstede. The differences between the two countries provide a valid test of theory, and suggest hypotheses about the gender portrayal in children's advertising. The results of the study showed, contrary to expectations from Hofstede's framework, that the gender portrayal of central characters and the level of gender stereotyping in Hong Kong commercials was similar to those of Korean commercials. Possible explanations include the emerging homogeneous youth market using a standardized advertising strategy, and the rising concern for women's rights in Korea.     

Know-It-All Librarians

Summary

Librarians are depicted as know-it-alls by some and as know-nothings by others. Similarly, they are seen as both utterly powerless and preternaturally powerful. This essay offers examples of these contradictory images, examines their implications, and proposes a more realistic view of librarians and their relation to knowledge and power.