<p> Unbeknownst to many viewers, models in advertising are often digitally enhanced, meaning that there are digital edits made to the models' faces and bodies. Viewers participate in social comparison when they compare their lives and bodies to the models they see in the media. This social comparison can often lead to negative effects on their self-esteem, social assurance, and body satisfaction. Some U.S. legislatures believe that warning labels could help curb these negative effects. The little research on warning labels for digitally altered models in advertising has demonstrated that warning labels can be a successful tool in limiting social comparison with the model. </p><p> This research will build on the literature by examining the extent to which type of warning label (visual, verbal, both visual and verbal) and placement of warning label (before or after) intervene with participants' self-esteem, social assurance, and body dissatisfaction levels by using a 3 X 2 full factorial experimental design with control group. </p><p> Volunteer participants were selected from CMCN 100 classes. Of the participants, 178 females ages 17&ndash;33 were used in analysis. One-way ANOVA testing disproved any main effects the type or placement of warning labels have on self-esteem, social assurance, and body dissatisfaction. No significant interaction effects were found for warning label type and its placement on self-esteem, social assurance, and body dissatisfaction</p>

<p> Policy debate is an educational practice that researchers have verified teaches students an important skill set that is highly valued in today&rsquo;s workforce and communities. The problem is that this interscholastic activity has traditionally excluded students from underrepresented populations and those who live in poverty. In the late 1990s, Urban Debate Leagues (UDLs) were created to rectify this problem. UDLs brought policy debate to large urban school districts. Quantitative research shows that UDL students improve their GPAs, test scores, graduation and college matriculation rates. However, there is little qualitative research to support these findings.</p><p> In this dissertation, I argue that identity is what changes students. Students are influenced by many different identities that they are able to explore through the UDL program. The study asks two questions 1) what identities are offered by a UDL? and 2) what tensions exist between the identities experienced in the UDL and the students&rsquo; social identities? Critical ethnography and portraiture were the two methodologies utilized. Analysis of the data showed that students explored three types of identities&mdash;debater, academic, and the Carlinville Urban Debate League. The findings also showed tensions between debater identities and student&rsquo;s social identities particularly race and class. It was determined that identity was the key to understanding the influence of UDLs on its participants.</p>

It came to the attention of the Researcher that there is a lack of communication between the management and the personnel in most of the workplaces that could lead to the achievement of common objectives as set out by the organisation. Therefore this study mainly focused on the poor standards of communication within the workplace between management and subordinates. The Department of Agriculture, Conservation, Environment and Rural Development (DACE & RD), Mmabatho Chief Directorate was identified as the population for this study. Permission was then sought from the Head of the Department to use this Chief Directorate as a study population. A total group of seventy (70) out of two hundred and seventy-eight (278) employees were given questionnaires to complete, and only fifty-one (51) well completed forms were returned and analyzed by the researcher. The views of the respondents were obtained through this method. The study reflected different views of the respondents starting from the demographic data, educational background, occupation and the different opinions regarding the topic. The demographic data assisted the researcher in knowing the background of the respondents. The results of the study show that different employees have got different viewpoints regarding the flow of communication with in their work environment. The findings from this research show that most of the respondents have indicated that there is no effective communication in this department. They further show that effective internal communication, leadership and employees seem to be three crucial aspects of critical importance for the potential success of any organisation or government department. / Thesis (M.A.(Communication) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2011

<p> This study assesses the compliance-gaining impact of specific micronarrative identities on non-profit fundraising in the online environment. It examines the effects of narratives in crowdfunding requests in the non-profit category of entities on the peer-to-peer (P2P) crowdfunding website Indiegogo. The study has several goals: 1) distinguish micronarrative identity claims from longer narratives and explore the compliance-gaining influence mechanisms behind both simple, micronarrative identity claims and longer narratives, by exploring previously studied and newly described identity claim categories in the texts of non-profit donation requests; 2) explore the relevance of recent claims about trust in the for-profit lending realm for their applicability to the realm of non-profit donations; and 3) determine the relevance to nonprofit funding requesters of narratives relaying need information. In study #1, in-depth inductive analyses were conducted to identify the types of narratives nonprofit entrepreneurs are employing in their crowdfunding requests, while in study #2 multivariate analyses were used to investigate the relationship between the use of micro-narratives and the success of crowdfunding requests. The study found narratives containing mentions of need, children and victim terminology have a significant impact on funding success rates for non-profit lending requests. In addition, <i>hipster</i> and <i>hero</i> narratives significantly affect the number of funders. The study also supports previous research finding that the discrete number of narratives is negatively correlated with funding success. By implication, having a coherent narrative seems more important. Secondly, regarding other elements of the campaign, such as making regular updates, adding photos and perk levels, and longer campaigns &ndash; it appears that providing current information and visual imagery leads to greater funding success, as does providing more choices of perk levels. Finally, with the narrative structure variables, longer campaigns help, as does having one&rsquo;s request professionally written or being low in illiteracy. These findings have potential implications for requesters attempting to crowdsource funds on Internet lending sites.</p>

<p> Using the focus group methodology, this thesis investigated Instagram&rsquo;s impact on Knapp&rsquo;s (1978) relational model, which conceptualized romantic relationships as occurring in stages. In particular, the purpose of this thesis was to gain insight on the ways that young adults (18&ndash;25) utilized Instagram&rsquo;s affordances during the stages of romantic relationships. The focus groups elicited eight themes that provided insights on the motivations and behaviors of individuals who use Instagram&rsquo;s affordances during romantic relationship processes. These themes included: 1) information seeking, 2) reciprocal idiosyncratic &ldquo;Like,&rdquo; 3) unequivocal comment, 4) significant first picture, 5) expected profile engagement, 6) reciprocal photo sharing, 7) jealousy provoking behaviors, and 8) supplemental termination behavior. The first four themes showed that Instagram&rsquo;s affordances play a large role in the coming together stages of romantic relationships. The next two themes indicated that Instagram&rsquo;s affordances play a large role in relationship maintenance. Finally, the last two themes indicated that Instagram&rsquo;s affordances play a moderate role in the coming apart stages of relationships. The uses and gratifications theory was used to explain the findings.</p>

<p> The study was conducted to examine how, and under what conditions, celebrity endorsements are effective in influencing the voting behavior of 18 to 24-year-old individuals. An online survey was provided to the 188 participants. In the survey, participants looked at a Facebook page of a politician created for this study that included a celebrity&rsquo;s endorsement for the politician. Following exposure to the Facebook page, participants answered questions regarding their liking for the candidate and endorser, their preference for consistency, voting behaviors, and political self-efficacy. Results from this project indicated that individuals who reported a higher preference for consistency were more likely to report positive affect toward the endorsed political candidate if they also liked the endorser. Results are further discussed as they relate to our understanding of celebrity endorsements in the realm of politics.</p>

The Violence Against Women Act is a legislation created to expand more legal rights and services to survivors of domestic violence or intimate partner violence. Frame analysis was used to examine the coverage of the Violence Against Women Act of 2013 in three genres of press media: mainstream press, Native American press, and tribal press. Based on the media frames produced in the three media genres, the legislation was presented as more of a conflicting or controversial issue in mainstream press through the use of the conflict frame and the "Indian as other" frame. But all news coverage also presented two emergent frames--the tribal sovereignty frame and the women's rights frame--that explained the importance of expanding tribal sovereignty in order to protect Native American women on reservations. The news coverage of VAWA 2013 in all press genres also included perspectives from federal and state governmental sources as well as perspectives from tribal governments, Native American organizations, and social service agencies. This report concludes by discussing the implications of the media frames and occupational source use in terms of the three media genres.

<p> This textual and visual analysis of the account Coping_with_PTSD found Instagram to be an information-rich platform for supportive communication. Individuals affected by Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) were able to provide and seek supportive communication through text, photos and emojis. Key themes identified for the account and its followers providing supportive communication were posting health information, normalizing PTSD, sharing personal narratives and providing encouragement. Additionally, account followers used tagging and direct messaging as supportive communication. Further, account users sought supportive communication through asking and disclosing personal narratives. Three themes were found for emojis: reinforcement, emotional insight and &ldquo;emoji speak&rdquo; as supportive communication. The examination of emojis extended qualitative textual analysis methodologies to an analysis of emojis. The study resulted in the development of a framework for studying the relationship between text, visuals and emojis. The methodology and framework presented in this paper should be developed and utilized as emojis continue to grow and replace text communication in social media.</p>

<p> Generally, non-tattooed individuals assign less favorable characteristics to individuals with tattoos. This generalization tends to exclude celebrities, professional athletes, musicians, and others who pursue non-traditional professions. However, present research has largely neglected to consider whether or not the general opinion of tattoos can have an effect on the perception of an entire brand. The objective of the present study was to determine if the presence of a tattoo in a mock advertisement would affect the way an individual would evaluate the brand itself as well as its brand representative (i.e. the tattooed individual shown in the advertisement). Questionnaires were distributed and completed by 206 undergraduate students enrolled in a public university. The mock advertisements used focused on the university&rsquo;s health clinic, located on campus. Participants were asked to evaluate the presentation of the brand in one advertisement and then to evaluate the skill and likeability of the brand representative featured in the second advertisement. The control group was not exposed to any tattoo stimuli, and the two experimental groups were exposed to varying degrees of tattoo visibility. The results demonstrated that while there was no difference in the way the control group and each experimental group perceived the advertisements, there was a significant difference in the way the two experimental groups (exposed to the tattoo stimuli) perceived the advertisements.</p>

<p> The current study interviewed 24 members of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) to analyze the expression of the addiction recovery experience. The current study also explored the theoretical boundaries of the Communication Theory of Identity (CTI) (Hecht et al., 2005) by focusing on the expression of identity-building resources drawn from the layers of CTI, and by investigating the nature of interpenetration as well as the nature of between-layer and within-layer identity gaps. Findings showed that members of AA, when talking about their recovery experience, referenced concepts that can be considered identity-building resources such as honesty, gratitude, and selflessness, relationships with sponsors and other members of AA, and relationships with friends and family outside of AA. Members also talked about enacting their recovery by identifying with the community of AA and working the 12 steps. In addition, the current study demonstrated how each of the layers and their attending resources interpenetrated to form a more complete picture of identity during recovery. For example, working the steps and learning the principles of AA fostered personal layer qualities like honesty and selflessness which helped improve relationships and, overall, helped members of AA enact their sobriety and understand themselves as successful recovering alcoholics within the community of AA. Furthermore, the current study identified and described personalenacted, personal-relational, and personal-communal identity gaps for members of AA, along with within-layer gaps, such as personal-personal, relational-relational, and communal-communal identity gaps.</p>