The Effects of Programme Context on Memory for Humorous Television Commercials

This study investigated the effects of programme context on memory for humorous television advertisements in South Korean participants. Humorous and nonhumorous Korean advertisements were embedded within two programme contexts: humorous and nonhumorous. When the programme ratings of humour, enjoyment and involvement were higher, unaided recall was poorer. In addition, unaided recall of the advertisements was better when they were embedded within a nonhumorous programme. However, there was no significant programme‐advertisement interaction effect. Overall, both free and cued recall were higher for humorous advertisements than for the nonhumorous advertisements. The findings are discussed in terms of cultural differences and changes in television programmes and advertising over time.Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Teacher Gender and Nonverbal Behavior in the Teaching of Gender-Stereotyped Materials1

Twenty teachers each taught a male and a female student two different lessons. One of these lessons was in a stereotypically masculine domain (mechanics), the other in a stereotypically feminine domain (vocabulary). Judges viewed clips from the videotaped lessons and rated teachers' nonverbal behaviors. The students also rated their teachers on a variety of behavioral dimensions. The results showed that teachers exhibited more positive behavior toward the students for whose gender the material being taught was stereotypically appropriate. Similarly, teachers exhibited more negative behavior toward those students for whose gender the material being taught was considered stereotypically inappropriate. Additionally, teacher gender was shown to interact with the above-mentioned biased teaching behavior. Generally speaking, women teachers behaved in a less gender-biased way than did men teachers. It is suggested that these kinds of differential teaching behaviors may contribute to the differential performance of male and female students in traditionally gender-stereotyped academic domains.     

The Effects of Nonsexist Television Commercials and Perceptions of Reality on Children's Attitudes About Women

To test the hypothesis that television content can teach sex-typed attitudes, this study presented third and eighth graders with television commercials showing either traditional or nontraditional women. Crossing this manipulation, the children's perceptions of the reality of the commercials were altered with instructions that the characters in the commercials were all real people (reality set), that they were all acting (acting set), or that the commercials were just like ones seen at home (no instructions). Results showed that the children's perceptions of reality were successfully manipulated, and that younger children thought all content was more real. The two sets of commercials were found to have a significant differential impact on the children's attitudes about women only for groups that had been in-structed about reality. For these groups, there was an interaction with sex of subject so that eighth grade boys had more traditional attitudes about women after viewing the nontraditional women, while all other groups showed the reverse pattern of means. Finally, rather than the predicted interaction, perceived reality had a main effect such that children who believed the characters to be acting were less traditional in their attitudes about women. This result is supported by a matching correlation between the two variables for the noninstructed groups.     

The Portrayal of Men's Family Roles in Television Commercials

This study examines the portrayal of men infamily roles, as fathers and husbands, on televisioncommercials. A content analysis of commercials airedduring football, daytime, and prime time is carried out. The sample size of characters is 944, mostof whom are middle-class, non-Hispanic whites. Men withchildren but no spouse are more likely to be shownduring football than are women with children but no spouse. Advertisements for computers andelectronics are more likely to include men with childrenbut no spouse than women with children but no spouse.Men appearing alone with children are more likely to be shown outside than women alone withchildren. Men are less likely to be portrayed cooking,cleaning, washing dishes, and shopping than women. Menwithout spouses are more likely to be shown with boys and less likely to be shown with infants thanwomen without spouses. Men are infrequently shown takingcare of a child and are never shown caring for girls.However, men are often shown teaching, reading, talking, eating, and playing with children. Tothe extent that men are shown as more involved in familylife, they still tend to depend largely on knowledge andactivities that are stereotypically male.     

Variations in the Gender-Stereotyped Content of Children's Television Cartoons Across Genres

This study examined the gender-stereotyped content of children's TV network cartoons across 4 genres: traditional adventure (e.g., "Spiderman"), nontraditional adventure (e.g., "Reboot"), educational/family (e.g., "Magic School Bus"), and comedy ("Animaniacs"). Acting negatively, showing physical aggression, and being a victim were significantly less likely in the educational/family genre cartoons than any of the other three genres. Demonstrating romantic behavior was significantly more likely in the traditional adventure and the comedy genres than the other genres. Male characters were represented in cartoons significantly more than were female characters, but only in the traditional adventure and the comedy genres. Male characters were more likely than were female characters to use physical aggression, but only in the traditional adventure genre. Behaviors that were relatively more likely among female characters across genres included showing fear, acting romantic, being polite, and acting supportive. Most of the significant differences were also associated with very large effect sizes.     

Menstrual Knowledge and Taboo TV Commercials: Effects on Self-Objectification among Italian and Swedish Women

Despite menstruation being a physiological phenomenon in women’s life, social research has highlighted that there are still many taboos, also conveyed by advertising, which prevent an open discourse on the topic and can have negative impacts on women’s well-being. The present study examined the influence of the exposure to existing TV advertisements for sanitary napkins depicting menstruation as a taboo on self-objectification in women from Italy (n = 160) and Sweden (n = 159). To do so, we also investigated the moderating role of menstrual knowledge in this relationship. Our findings showed that in the Italian sample, exposure to the taboo TV commercial led to more self-objectification especially for participants with lower knowledge of menstruation. These effects did not occur for their Swedish counterparts, showing no differences in self-objectification when women were exposed to the taboo advertisement. The present results are discussed in light of cultural differences in sexual and menstrual education between the two countries. Theoretical and practical implications are drawn.     

Uses of Sex Appeals in Prime-Time Television Commercials

This study examines how sex appeals employed bymale and female models were utilized in Americantelevision commercials. It centers on the physicalcharacteristics and behavior of models appearing during primetime network programs, including bodilyshape, clothing revealment, physical contact, sexiness,attractiveness and physical as well as verbal innuendo.The study was based on 505 coding units sampled from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. on the major broadcastnetworks taped during a composite week of programming.The racial background of models was as follows:Caucasian (89.3%), Black (10.1%), Hispanic (.2%), Native American (.2%) and Asian (.2%). Resultsindicate that these commercials generally were notdominated by sex, although 12% of models appear in somestate of undress, and 8% feature sexually-orientedconduct. As both male and female models were depicted asequal sensual beings, females were presented as sexobjects more often than males.     

Effect of Persuasive Appeals in AIDS PSAs and Condom Commercials on Intentions to Use Condoms1

The study compared the effect of five persuasive appeals used in AIDS PSAs and condom commercials (fear arousal-no sex/condom theme; fear arousal-sex/condom theme; erotic; humorous; factual) on 122 male and 114 female college students' i]ntentions to use and taking of condoms. Results showed that the two fear appeals were more effective than other appeals in increasing intentions to use condoms with a new partner. The fear appeal–no sex/condom theme was more effective than other appeals for increasing intentions to use condoms with a steady partner. Compared to men, women rated commercials as more effective for increasing intentions to use condoms with a new partner. Persuasive appeals had no effect on the taking of free condoms. The best predictor of commercial effectiveness was the degree to which a commercial evoked a high fear of AIDS. Other significant predictors were subjects' a]ttitude toward condom use and commercial qualities of being humorous, romantic, credible, and factual. Implications are that all five types of appeals are potentially effective for use in AIDS PSAs. Recommendations include combining appeals (e.g. fear with erotic) and emphasizing the positive features of condom use.     

The Effects of Voice Changes on Orienting and Immediate Cognitive Overload in Radio Listeners

An experiment was designed to identify the voice change as a specific structural feature of radio that causes automatic allocation of cognitive resources to message encoding. The cardiac orienting response (OR) was used as an indication of this automatic resource allocation. It was hypothesized that listeners would exhibit cardiac ORs in response to voice changes and that the associated automatic resource allocation would result in momentary cognitive overload. Data were collected from 62 participants as they listened to nine messages that varied in the number of voice changes they contained. Results show robust cardiac orienting to voice changes and suggest that this response does not habituate over the course of 2-minute messages. Furthermore, auditory recognition data show that not only does orienting to voice changes result in momentary cognitive overload, but the severity of that overload depends on the total number of voice changes in the message.     

Preferences and Children's Use of Gender-Stereotyped Knowledge About Musical Instruments: Making Judgments About Other Children's Preferences

A developmental model of gender-stereotype acquisition (Martin, 1989) proposes that by the age of 8 years children draw upon information about gender-stereotyped interests as well as other children's sex when deciding how much other children would like different activities; younger children rely on sex only when making such decisions. We examined whether the judgments that children made about other children's preferences were different from those that they made about their own preferences for masculine and feminine musical instruments. Three hundred twelve children aged 8–9 years ranked 6 instruments in order of preference, and rated on a 4-point scale how much they would like to play each one. Children were then asked to decide how much other children would like to play each instrument. Only girls' own preferences for feminine instruments differed according to the gender-stereotyping of their most-preferred instrument. Judgments about how much other children would like masculine and feminine instruments did not differ according to those children's gender-stereotyped interest. Children made stereotypical predictions about the preferences of children of unknown sex who played either a masculine or feminine instrument. Implications for a theoretical account of the development of children's gender-stereotypes are discussed.     

Rock Stars in Anti‐Drug‐Abuse Commercials: An Experimental Study of Adolescents' Reactions1

Two studies examined adolescents' perceptions and effectiveness of rock stars in antidrug‐abuse public‐service announcements (PSAs). In the pilot study (N= 24 teenagers), adolescents expected rock musicians, and in particular heavy metal musicians, to be drug users. In our experimental study (N= 78 high school students aged 15 to 16 years), one group was shown 4 PSAs produced by Rock Against Drugs, using rock stars Jon Bon Jovi, Aimee Mann, Gene Simmons, and Belinda Carlysle as spokespersons. The comparison group was shown 4 equivalent PSAs that were created using unknown actors selected for their similarity to the rock stars in terms of age, ethnicity, and gender, but without any reference to rock music. PSA ratings were taken on 4 scales: attractiveness, expertness, trustworthiness, and overall PSA rating. Pretest and posttest measures of drug attitudes supported our hypotheses that countermessages from rock stars denormalize the connection between rock music and drugs, and that adolescents respond more positively to PSAs with rock stars than to PSAs without rock stars.     

Context Effects of Radio Programming on Cognitive Processing of Embedded Advertisements

This experiment tested the hypothesis that the involvement, entertainment and enjoyment properties of radio programmes would be related to memory for the accompanying advertisements and attitudes towards them. Ninety-three subjects listened to one of three radio programmes (a phone-in, a chart show, or a nostalgia programme) in which were embedded a set of four unfamiliar advertisements. Subjects' ratings of the programmes as involving, entertaining, and enjoyable were positively correlated with subsequent ratings of the advertised brands and purchasing intentions. Analyses of variance indicated significant differences in memory for the advertisements and programme ratings: the phone-in programme context, which was rated significantly less interesting, enjoyable and entertaining, and more boring and humorous than the nostalgia radio programme context, produced significantly lower memory for the advertisements. These results provide substantial evidence for context effects operating in the radio medium.     

Sexual Orientation and Leadership Suitability: How Being a Gay Man Affects Perceptions of Fit in Gender-Stereotyped Positions

The current set of studies examines perceptions of gay men’s fitness for leadership positions in the workplace. In two between-subjects experiments we examined the effect of a male employee’s sexuality on perceptions of his suitability for stereotypically feminine, masculine, and gender-neutral managerial positions, as well as potential mediators (perceptions of target agency and communion) and moderators (target out status) of these effects. In Study 1, 341 U.S. college student participants rated a gay male target as more communal and more suitable for feminine managerial positions than an otherwise identical heterosexual target, irrespective of his “out” status. Moreover, ratings of communion mediated the relationship between targets’ sexuality and suitability for feminine leadership. No differences between gay and heterosexual targets in targets’ agency or targets’ suitability for masculine or gender-neutral managerial positions were detected. Study 2 used a sample of 439 U.S. adults and an ambiguous target’s résumé to replicate and expand Study 1. This study provided participants with conflicting information on targets’ agency and communion, and it assessed the same dependent variables of targets’ agency, communion, and leadership suitability for various positions. Study 2 again found that ratings of communion significantly mediated the relationship between male targets’ sexuality and perceived suitability for feminine managerial roles. These findings extend previous research on perceptions of gay men in the workplace and have practical implications for being “out” at work.     

Recall of Television Commercials as a Function of Viewing Context: The Impact of Program-Commercial Congruity on Commercial Messages

The effect of the congruity between the involvement types of advertising commercial and a television program on the effectiveness of the commercial was studied. Participants (N = 103) viewed either a cognitive or an affective commercial for a product, which was embedded in either a cognitive or an affective television program. The results showed that the effects of the congruence influence the impact on memory. Free recall and cued recall were significantly influenced by the program-commercial congruity. Free recall and cued recall were significantly higher for the cognitively involving commercial in the cognitively involving program context than in the affectively involving program context. Similarly, free recall and cued recall were significantly higher for the affectively involving commercial in the affectively involving program context than in the cognitively involving program context.     

I Saw It on the Radio: The Allocation of Attention to High-Imagery Radio Advertisements

This study was conducted to explore how the level of imagery in a radio advertisement affects the allocation of cognitive resources to encoding the message into memory. A within-subjects experiment was conducted in which participants listened to 24, 60-second radio advertisements that had been coded as either high- or low-imagery messages. Secondary-task reaction time was obtained during exposure to half of the advertisements, within each level of imagery. Self-reported involvement with the message was also obtained after exposure to each advertisement. Secondary-task reaction time was faster during exposure to the high-imagery advertisements. Self-reported involvement was greater for high-imagery advertisements, compared to low-imagery advertisements. Results of this study indicate that people allocate more controlled cognitive resources to encoding high-imagery radio advertisements than may be required by the message.     

Reducing Children's Susceptibility to Commercials: Mechanisms of Factual and Evaluative Advertising Interventions

The aim of this study was to investigate how factual and evaluative interventions modify the effects of television advertising among children in early and middle childhood. First, a conceptual model of advertising intervention was developed, and then this model was experimentally tested drawing on a sample of 5- to 10-year-old children (N = 206). Structural equation modeling analysis confirmed that factual intervention reduced children's susceptibility to commercials by stimulating their advertising knowledge and skepticism, and evaluative intervention reduced children's susceptibility by influencing their attitudes toward commercials negatively. For children older than 6, both factual and evaluative interventions were successful in modifying the effects of advertising, whereas the younger children had difficulty processing any type of intervention.     

The Effects of Discussion on Eyewitness Memory1

This study investigated the effects of witness discussion on the accuracy of recall and misidentifications in eyewitness memory. Dyadic groups who discussed the crime and dyads who made joint memorial decisions about the incident were more accurate in recall than were dyads who discussed noncriminal matters, and a no-discussion group. Collaborative dyads giving joint decisions also were significantly more accurate than were the other groups in rejection of the culprit-absent lineup. The sequential lineup method proved superior to the simultaneous method, regardless of whether or not witnesses discussed the crime prior to identification. It was concluded that discussion and joint decision making by 2 eyewitnesses can improve both eyewitness recall and minimize false identifications in some circumstances.     

A Content Analysis of Prime Time Commercials: A Contextual Framework of Gender Representation

For this content analysis we recorded a sample of 1,337 prime time commercials from the 3 major networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) in 1998. There were 5,473 primary and secondary characters identified. Each character was coded for gender, age, acting role, and product being advertised. The findings were then compared to Bretl and Cantor (1988), the U.S. Census Bureau's 2000 population statistics, and Mediamark Research and Simmons syndicated marketing services. The commercials' producers cast their female and male characters much the same way as was done in the 1980s. Although women make most purchases of goods and services, they are still underrepresented as primary characters during most prime time commercials except for health and beauty products. Women are still cast as younger, supportive counterparts to men, and older women are still the most underrepresented group. Television commercials perpetuate traditional stereotypes of women and men.     

The Direct and Indirect Effects of Inadmissible Evidence1

College students (N= 270) assigned to six-person mock juries read summaries of a murder trial and then evaluated the defendant's guilt both before and after group discussion. The strength of the prosecution's case was manipulated, as was the inclusion of extra wiretapping evidence that favored the prosecution or the defense and was ruled admissible or inadmissible by the judge. Whether it favored the prosecution or the defense, inadmissible evidence directly biased subjects' reactions toward the defendant and indirectly biased their behaviors during the group discussions. None of these effects varied with the strength of the prosecution's case. The results also showed that the direct effects of inadmissible evidence were at least partially mediated by its indirect effects, suggesting that the process of deliberation can potentially help jurors to control the influence of inadmissible evidence on their decisions.     

The Effects of Regulatory Focus on Braking Speed1

According to regulatory focus theory ( Higgins, 1997 ), promotion focus is concerned with accomplishments and aspirations leading to strategic eagerness; whereas prevention focus is concerned with safety and responsibilities leading to strategic vigilance. In this study, we investigate how regulatory focus theory can predict braking behavior in driving. In Study 1, participants' assessed regulatory focus strength as measured by chronic personality differences in regulatory focus predicted braking speed, in that chronic prevention‐oriented participants initiated braking earlier, as compared to promotion‐oriented people. In Study 2, we experimentally induced regulatory focus and showed that induced prevention focus enhanced braking speed (i.e., faster), as compared to induced promotion focus.