The purpose of this dissertation is to develop and evaluate an expanded spokesperson credibility model to address issues uncovered in Ohanian's (1991) study about linkages between spokespersons ' credibility and consumers ' purchase intentions. Based on Tajfel's social categorization theory (1981), 12 hypotheses were developed to test direct and indirect relationships between spokesperson's credibility and purchase intentions. The sample for the study consisted of 1,162 respondents 82.9% students and 17.1% nonstudents; 48.2% males and 51.4% females; 31.3% Caucasian (American); 24.5% Cuban (American); 19.6% other Hispanics and 22.5% other ethnic groups. The data were collected .by having respondents either view a video tape or listen to an audio tape in a classroom or shopping mall setting. The respondents were told that they would hear a spokesperson presenting a message. After listening to the message they would then be asked to complete a questionnaire. The spokesperson credibility model was tested using covariance structure analysis as implemented in the LISREL software. A series of ANOVAs were used to test the impact of the moderating variables on purchase intentions. The findings indicate that Ohanian's (1991) credibility constructs i.e., attractiveness, trustworthiness, and expertise are significantly related to purchase intentions. In addition, the following interactions were found to be statistically significant:

No description available.

There is a common belief that the special situation one encounters in restrooms is likely to evoke negative associations between the setting and a potential product, and that these presumed associations make advertising in restrooms incompatible with the objectives of advertisers. This general proposition was questioned on theoretical grounds. It was argued that the specific situation in a restroom would be conducive to advertising goals in a number of ways. In addition, while negative associations may occur with certain kinds of products, others were hypothesized to be unaffected. In particular, the potential value of restrooms for communicating public education issues such as AIDS and Cholesterol was examined.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the problem resolution appeals used in television advertisements. Data were collected by videotaping advertisements shown on local affiliates of the three national networks during September 1984, in Blacksburg, Virginia. An instrument developed for the study was used to code problem resolution appeals in a sample of 1380 national commercials. A majority of the sample was found to have at least one problem. The problem type most frequently found was physical, followed by social, product, ego, and safety. The intensity (magnitude, urgency, and excitement value) of the problems presented was found to be high in a majority of the commercials. The time required for resolution to occur was judged to be immediate (within seconds or minutes) in over three-fourths of the advertisements. Resolutions were presented as definite and certain to occur in over three-fourths of the commercials and were shown to be easy to accomplish. The findings of this study are useful as a description of the problems and resolutions presented in television advertising. They help to define one technique used by advertisers to sell products and may be instrumental in future studies that will investigate the impact of problem solving portrayals on consumers. / M.S.

The study determined how Thai and U.S. advertisements reflected women's attractiveness. Advertisements from the Thai and U.S. editions of Elle and Cosmopolitan magazines from January 2005 to January 2006 were analyzed using the content analysis method. The author created a code book with definitions of all categories to be used as guidelines for the analysis, an itemized code sheet, and training criteria. Two coders who were proficient in both Thai and English collected the data for the study. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was utilized as a tool to analyze the data gathered. Results indicated that there were both similarities and differences in the specifics, but what remained constant is the use of beautiful women to sell clothing and beauty products. The findings suggest that Thai and U.S. advertisers should apply the similiarities found in the study in their cross-cultural advertising campaigns. In addition, advertisers should be aware of differences and create advertisements that reflect attractiveness values of each culture.

Between 1939 and 1940 the United States Government conducted a study of the measurements of women’s bodies to establish a standardized system of garment and pattern sizes. The central theme of my research is to analyze the female figure in the context of a technology-driven global contemporary society. My thesis exhibition includes a body of work that echoes the pressures that Western Society employs by standardizing women’s appearances. The focus of the work is to confront the viewer with a visual examination, which illustrates the preconceived notion that Western Society portrays the female body as a commodity and exports those views to different cultures and societies. This calls to question: “who makes those standards endorsed by society and why women follow them?”. From the standardized measurements conducted by the United States Government, I generated a 2-D computer model of an outline of the generic female figure. Based on the 2-D representation, I constructed a series of ten 27”x36” inkjet prints and a 3-Dimensional prototype of the figurative form. The project consist on the manufacture of 14,698 molds base on the 3- Dimensional prototype -- 10% reduction of the size of the average female. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.F.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014.. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

by Iu Ho Tsz Carmen & Tam Suk Yan Tammy. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 124-132). / abstract --- p.ii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iii / LIST OF TABLES --- p.v / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.viii / CHAPTER / Chapter I. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter II. --- Literature Review --- p.5 / Chapter III. --- Background --- p.11 / Chapter IV. --- Hypotheses --- p.18 / Chapter V. --- Methodology --- p.25 / Content Analysis --- p.26 / Information Content --- p.26 / Emotional Appeal --- p.26 / Sex Appeal --- p.27 / Selection of Magazines --- p.28 / Selection of Advertisements --- p.29 / Evaluation of Advertisements --- p.29 / Survey --- p.30 / Chapter VI. --- Results --- p.32 / Content Analysis --- p.32 / General Magazine Profile --- p.32 / General Presentation of Advertisements --- p.33 / Proportion of Advertising Product Category in Women's Magazines --- p.33 / Color and Size --- p.34 / lmage Model --- p.35 / Contact Methods --- p.36 / Information Content --- p.37 / Emotional Appeal --- p.42 / Use of Sex Appeal --- p.44 / Survey --- p.46 / Reading Habit --- p.46 / Advertising Effectiveness --- p.49 / Information Content --- p.49 / Emotional Appeal --- p.52 / Perception Towards Sex Appeal --- p.56 / Definition of Sex Appeal --- p.56 / Impression on Sex Appeal --- p.58 / Comparison of Feelings --- p.59 / Chapter VII. --- Discussions And Implications --- p.61 / General --- p.61 / Advertisers' Selection of Magazines --- p.61 / Necessities of Contact Modes --- p.62 / Information Content --- p.63 / Text Level vs. Information Level --- p.66 / Usefulness vs. Attractiveness of Advertisements --- p.66 / Emotional Appeal --- p.66 / Sex Appeal --- p.67 / Women's Perceptions of Sex Appealin Print Advertisements --- p.67 / Appropriateness/Acceptance Level of the Use of Sex Appeal --- p.68 / Acceptance Level of Sex Appeal vs. Age --- p.69 / Sex Appeal vs. Nudity --- p.69 / Limitations --- p.70 / APPENDIX --- p.72 / bibliography --- p.124

There is a popular lay-belief that consumers always strive to repair their negative mood. However, one can think of contrary instances where people seek out melancholic music when they feel sad, or choose to remain miserable when something frustrates them. My dissertation proposes that people vary considerably in the degree to which they need to feel better when they experience negative feelings. Specifically, my dissertation advances current understanding of why certain individuals do not engage in mood repair. It also allows us to decipher when people would form judgments and decisions in a mood-congruent versus mood-incongruent manner, thereby accounting for the lack of robustness of mood repair effects. To this end, I advance a construct called the "Need to Feel Better" (NFB), and propose four distinct facets of NFB that individuals differ on: 1) behavioral tendency to repair bad moods, 2) aversion to negative feelings, 3) pleasure derived from negative feelings, and 4) tendency to reflect on negative feelings. I also propose a scale that measures this construct and the four facets it encompasses. My dissertation shows that NFB is associated with stronger preference for common mood repair activities such as leisure shopping and exercise. It is also associated with certain demographics (e.g., age and gender), personality traits (e.g., extraversion and agreeableness), and self-regulation constructs (e.g., promotion-focus). NFB also predicts people's tendency to engage in mood repair when they experience negative moods and their attitudes towards mood lifting appeals. From a managerial standpoint, this work provides insights for the marketing of "feel-good" products (e.g., aromatherapy and vacation packages) and the use of mood repair appeals (e.g., Volkswagen's "Get Happy" Super Bowl commercial and the "Look Good Feel Better" campaign for women with cancer by the cosmetics industry).

Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Fear appeals are commonly used in the advertising of social issues, such as drunken driving. In general, researchers believe that there is a positive relationship between fear and persuasion (to adapt misbehaviour). However, there are disputes amongst fear appeal researchers about the level of fear appeal to be used. Fear appeals, like other advertising appeals employed in advertising, is dependant on the traits of the target audience. The effect of fear appeals differ for different target audiences as different people fear different matters. This study tests one of the contemporary models on the working of fear appeals, namely activation theory. Young adults are the target audience of social marketing in South Africa for anti-alcohol abuse issues, such as drunken driving. The effect of fear appeals on the target audience has never been empirically investigated in South Africa although social marketers often employ fear appeals to bring about a change in behaviour. The responses of a sample of young adults in South Africa were tested by means of a quasi-experimental design based on Thayer’s activation deactivation checklist as implemented by previous fear appeal researchers. Three television advertisements that depict three levels of fear appeal (low, medium and high) were presented to three sample groups. Significant differences in the responses of the level of fear appeal were observed after statistical analyses in terms of tension arousal, energy arousal, attitude towards the advertisement and intention to engage in drunken driving. A difference in how genders react to fear appeals was also found. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die gebruik van vreesaanslae in die advertering van sosiale kwessies soos dronkbestuur is algemeen. Alhoewel navorsers glo dat ’n positiewe verhouding bestaan tussen vrees en oorreding (van ’n persoon om sy gedrag aan te pas), heers daar verskille oor die sterkte van die vreesaanslag wat gebruik moet word. Daar is bevind dat vreesaanslae, net soos ander aanslae wat deur die advertensiewese gebruik word, afhanklik is van die teikengehoor. Vreesaanslae se effek verskil, aangesien verskillende mense en gehore verskillende sake vrees. Hierdie studie toets een van die kontemporêre modelle van die werking van vreesaanslae. Jong volwassenes is die teikengehoor in die sosiale bemarking van anti-alkoholmisbruik kwessies soos dronkbestuur. Alhoewel sosiale bemarkers dikwels vrees aanwend om hierdie teiken gehoor se gedrag te verander, is dit nog nooit empiries in Suid-Afrika getoets nie. Die reaksies van ’n steekproef uit dié teikengehoor is getoets deur ‘n kwasieksperimentele ontwerp geskoei op Thayer se “aktivering deaktivering” kontrolelys, soos geïmplementeer deur vorige navorsing in vreesaanslae. Drie televisie advertensies wat drie vlakke van vrees (laag, medium en hoog) verteenwoordig is, aan drie eksperimentele steekproefgroepe getoon. Betekenisvolle verskille in die reaksie van die drie groepe is waargeneem ná statistiese ontledings. ’n Verskil in hoe geslagte reageer op vreesaanslae, is ook bevind.

Thesis (PhD (Business Management))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / Research to guide marketing practitioners in social issue-related communication remains underexplored. The increases in various social problems have caused practitioners to return to fear appeals as motivation to influence individuals to think and behave in a certain way. The HIV/AIDS pandemic is a major concern worldwide, as well as in South Africa, and some marketing communication campaigns do not seem to be producing the expected results. During 2007, an alarming 33.2 million people worldwide were infected with HIV. The African continent, and specifically sub-Saharan Africa, is still hardest hit by this pandemic. The high level of new HIV infections occurring daily in South Africa reflects the difficulties faced by HIV/AIDS education and prevention campaigns. Approximately 5.41 million people were living with HIV in 2006. This equates to about 11 percent of the total population and approximately 1 000 AIDS deaths occur every day. The social climate in South Africa has not been conducive to safe sexual messages, and there is a continuing need to encourage safe sexual behaviour, and awareness of the detrimental effects of HIV/AIDS. An estimated 60 percent of all new HIV/AIDS infections in South Africa occur in people between the ages of 15 and 25 years, with young women being more at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS than young men. This trend implies that the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic will be felt extensively in the next decade. Additionally, HIV/AIDS prevention programmes for the youth are not having the intended effect to promote partner reduction, consistent condom use and prompt treatment for sexually transmitted infections. These factors confirm that HIV/AIDS marketing communication programmes are of central importance in slowing down the spread of the disease among South African adolescents. Marketing communication is evolving to an era of tailored messages targeted at individuals and more sophisticated segmentation of target audiences. South African young adults reside in a country with diverse racial groups and cultural backgrounds. The more knowledge about their feelings and fears about HIV/AIDS become available, the more effective marketing communication can be developed. Overall marketing communication campaigns must be tailored to the specific needs of adolescents and the promotion of safer sexual behaviour should be at the core of HIV/AIDS programmes, since they are embarking on their sexual lives and are therefore open to behavioural change interventions. This study investigated whether the use of fear increases the likelihood of adopting appropriate behaviour pertaining to HIV/AIDS. Fear, attitude towards the advertisements, severity, susceptibility and efficacy were examined to ascertain the influence of fear appeals. Findings provide encouraging evidence for the persuasive power of fear appeals. Fear appeals can be a strong motivator if accompanied by high efficacy messages, to improve knowledge and to influence attitudes about HIV/AIDS. Susceptibility to the disease among adolescents also influences behaviour, and the importance of individual factors, including racial characteristics and personality, was confirmed. The empirical results of the study reveal that together with message factors like message content and media usage, the goal of changing adolescents’ sexual behaviour in the midst of the HIV/AIDS pandemic can be achieved.