Violence and Sex in Television Programs Do Not Sell Products in Advertisements

Bushman, Brad J. 2005. "Violence and Sex in Television Programs Do Not Sell Products in Advertisements." Psychological Science (Wiley-Blackwell) 16, no. 9: 702-708.

Brad Bushman’s study compliments and reinforces the findings discovered in a previously posted article, “Does sex sell? The effect of sexual programme content on the recall of sexual and non-sexual advertisements.” As found in Parker and Furnham’s study, Bushman argues that television programs containing sex or violence hinder brand recall and reduce consumers’ interest in buying or selecting a coupon for that brand. Surprisingly, however, Bushman did not find any differences or correlations concerning gender and age.

In his experiment, Bushman recruited 336 participants, aged 18 to 54, through newspaper ads in central Iowa. Age was distributed to be representative of US adults owning a television in their household. Participants were compensated. Participants were divided into four groups, 84 in each, and asked to watch a television show containing sex, violence, both sex and violence, or one with no sex and violence. Each television program included the same twelve advertisements. Bushman measured participants’ recall of advertisements, brand recognition, buying intentions, and coupon choices.

This article has its pros and cons. The article is current, as it was published in 2005, and the study is grounded in previous theory. Bushman offers a literature review, citations for further reading, and useful background information. He discusses the practical implications of the study; however he did not mention any limitations to his experiment. I do not plan on studying types of television programs in my research project, as advertisements will be my sole independent variable, yet I still believe Bushman’s experiment data and literature review will serve as a good secondary source and will be useful when comparing consumer behavior.

Does sex sell? The effect of sexual programme content on the recall of sexual and non-sexual advertisements

Parker, Ellie, and Adrian Furnham. 2007. "Does sex sell? The effect of sexual programme content on the recall of sexual and non-sexual advertisements." Applied Cognitive Psychology 21, no. 9: 1217-1228.

The authors of this study examined brand recall of sexual versus non-sexual advertisements inserted within television programs. The article begins with an in depth look into previous studies involving television advertisements of a sexual or violent nature. The authors’ study is based upon these previous theories which claim that sexual or violent commercials invoke emotions within consumers and lead to increases in sales.

To briefly summarize the authors’ experiment, participants, students aged 18 to 31, were asked to watch either ‘Sex in the City’ or ‘Malcolm in the Middle.’ After which, they were asked to recall details of the advertisements played during commercial break. The authors found that television shows containing sexual content, such as ‘Sex in the City,’ hindered consumers’ recall of advertisements. However, the type of advertisement, sexual or non-sexual, did not have a major effect on recall. The authors also reported differences between gender and advertisement recall. Males recalled sexual advertisements better, while females recalled non-sexual advertisements better. Those who recalled specific content of the advertisements remembered the brand name as well.

I found the information provided in this article to be useful. The authors’ literature review solidifies their study and gives them credibility. This article, and the additional sources cited in this article, could really enrich the literature reviews of advertisement studies. Not only does it discuss sexuality, the article also touches on issues of violence, gender roles, and age.

Parent and adolescent interaction in television advertisements as consumer socialization agents

Özmete, Emine. 2009. "Parent and adolescent interaction in television advertisements as consumer socialization agents." Education 129, no. 3: 372-381.

This article delves into the relationship between parents and adolescents, while discussing the effects of advertisements on adolescents’ purchasing decisions. It offers a literature review and background information on consumer socialization, which the article defines as, “the process ‘by which young people acquire the skills, knowledge and attitudes relevant to their functioning as consumers in the marketplace.’” The author, Emine Ozmete, notes that both parental influence and media act as agents in an adolescent’s consumer socialization.

Ozmete’s experiment was performed using a sample of 240 high school students residing in Turkey. The study considered age and gender as factors in parental influence and the effectiveness of television advertisements. In short, the study found that boys were affected by advertisements and parental influence more so than girls. The study also showed age as a significant factor, as adolescents between the ages of sixteen and eighteen appreciated advertisements more. The older adolescents also based their purchasing decisions on these advertisements.

While this article is current, it does not go into great detail of cultural differences that factor into adolescent behavior. It mentions studies performed in America and Japan, but doesn’t offer extensive comparisons. I think the information in this article will be helpful, especially to those comparing participants’ ages in their research projects. However, I believe the article will be more effective if I compare it to similar studies performed in the United States, as I’ll be studying American television advertisements for my research project.

Effects of presentation order and communication modality on recall and attitude

Unnava, H. Rao, Robert E. Burnkrant, and Sunil Erevelles. 1994. Effects of presentation order and communication modality on recall and attitude. Journal of Consumer Research 21: 481–490.

In this article, the authors demonstrate how to develop effective communications by examining the ways in which consumers construct messages through memory based judgments. They discuss the differences between print and audio modes of communication, and argue that the order of presentation and recall affect the attitudes of consumers and hence the effectiveness of communication methods. Visual communication and audio communication have stimuli which consumers encode differently, so the authors compare the two, posing such questions as, “Should the most important information be placed first or last for enhanced effectiveness?”

The authors performed two separate experiments focusing on the modes of communication, consumer attitude, and recall. Experiment one proved that information presented first, or at the beginning of a message, is recalled first when presented auditorily but not when presented visually. Experiment two found that recall and attitude are positively correlated. The authors also found that consumers who hear information are affected by the order of presentation more so than those who see the information.

I believe this article provides useful information for those studying visual communication. The information would be a good supplemental source that may help deepen understanding of communication. In regards to real life application, the authors suggest their findings to be beneficial to copy editors, advertisers, teachers or salespersons. The authors also discuss the limitations of their study and offer suggestions to those who would like to further their research. The article is a bit dated, as it was published in 1994, but I believe the information discussed is fairly basic and still applicable to today.

What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy - Ron Choi ENG 574

Gee, James P. What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.

In this book, the author Gee makes the case that good video game design uses the same principles as good instructional design.  He goes on to define 36 learning principles that can be derived from good video game design, illustrating them using specific games and gameplay scenarios.  There are a few major themes that are predominant through the principles:  learning in the context of a “semiotic domain”, with its own situated meaning, affinity group and cultural models; an incremental, bottom-up learning environment that enables probing and practice in a reduced risk environment; and moving beyond literacy and active learning into critical learning and intuitive knowledge. 

Although this resource is a literary work, as opposed to an academic article, the author Gee holds a PhD in Linguistics, and is currently a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Arizona State University.  His book has an academic feel to it, and he does provide significant notes and references.  The book has received very mixed reviews though, and in fact, I particularly disliked Gee’s writing style, and found it very difficult and almost painful to read.  That being said, I did actually agree with many of Gee’s conclusions and his learning principles. 

I read this book as part of Dr. Veltsos’ ENG 572 Instructional Design course, and given my strong negative reaction to the book, I would have been content to never open it or discuss it again.  However, during the readings for this research project, I found myself comparing the instruction of communication to engineering students to the learning principles in Gee’s book.  Perhaps my emotional reaction to the book resulted in its “stickiness” (another reference to ENG 572).  I couldn’t help but wonder if Gee’s learning principles could be applied to the semiotic domain of engineering students learning how to communicate.