Thesis (M.A.)--Kent State University, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Mar. 26, 2010). Advisor: Koon-Hwee Kan. Keywords: Visual culture; advertisements; Taiwanese; elementary school students. Includes bibliographical references (p. 173-181).

Thesis (M.A.) University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (June 26, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.

Background: Youth consume high volumes of fast food, putting them at risk for poor diet, weight gain and several noncommunicable diseases. Fast food marketing can affect youth's food-related behaviours and has been identified as a determinant of excess weight and obesity. The aim of this research is to examine the relationship between exposure to fast food marketing and the fast food brand preferences and intake amongst youth aged 10-17 across six countries. Methods: The International Food Policy Study youth survey collects data on dietary patterns and behaviours amongst youth aged 10-17 living in six countries. Data on fast food marketing exposure, brand preferences and intake were compared using regression models adjusted for age, sex, income adequacy and ethnicity. Results: Exposure to fast food marketing was positively associated with both brand preferences and fast food intake across most countries. Brand preferences were consistently high across all countries when exposed to brand-specific marketing. Fast food intake was higher amongst ethnic minority respondents than ethnic majority respondents and amongst males compared to females. Conclusion: Fast food marketing is consistently associated with brand preferences and intake across all countries investigated, which points to the need for stringent government regulation to reduce unhealthy food marketing to youth in all 6 countries.

Two of the most important behaviors affecting youth are alcohol use and aggression. Advertisements that promote alcohol consumption and display aggressive images and words may influence attitudes and behaviors of youth. While there is considerable research on these kinds of advertisements in various media channels, there is limited research describing such advertising within public transit systems. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to describe and prevalence and characteristics of advertisements about alcohol and with violent content on the platform walls of the New York City subway system. Methods: A cross-sectional design with direct observations was used to document all advertisements in four boroughs: Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. Subway stations with and without advertising were identified and selected characteristics of advertisements about alcohol and with violent content were described. The presence of advertisements was examined based on racial/ethnic and income characteristics of station location using logistic regression. Results: Of 472 subway stations observed, 143 contained 8,737 advertisements, including duplicates. Of the 143 stations with any type of advertisements, 76 (53.1%) displayed one or more alcohol advertisements while over 95% included one or more advertisements with violent content (136 of 143). Of the 8,737 advertisements observed, 129 (1.5%) were for alcohol (including three public service messages) and 1,154 (13.2%) had violent content. Almost two-thirds of the 129 advertisements about alcohol were for beer. There were 144 advertisements that pictured guns. Not one public service announcement for violence prevention was observed. Examination of the presence of advertisements based on racial/ethnic and income characteristics of station location (n = 454 with complete data) showed no differences for advertisements with violent content, but greater odds of alcohol advertisements being present in locations with a higher percentage of Black population. Considerable variability existed between neighborhoods within each borough. Conclusions: Almost 9,000 advertisements were documented in this study. Despite the low number of advertisements about alcohol, one or more such advertisements was present in over one-half of the stations with advertising. Advertisements with violent content were pervasive. Recommendations focus on how public transit spaces can be used more productively to help cultivate caring communities.

The Index of Receptivity to Tobacco Industry Promotion (IRTIP) is a model that is used by hundreds of articles. The causal claim based on findings from this model is even more pervasive, and has resulted in much of the modern post 1998 tobacco legislation that is still enforced. This thesis tested the link between adolescent receptivity to tobacco industry promotion and susceptibility to smoking. Pierce et al. (1998) reported that they had found a positive and causal association between receptivity and susceptibility by using IRTIP. They claimed that receptivity to tobacco industry promotion was the only significant causal factor affecting adolescent susceptibility to smoking. Exposure to peer and parental smoking was not found to be a significant effect. A review of the literature found that many sections of IRTIP differ from accepted marketing theory on how cigarette advertising and promotions affect adolescent adoption of cigarette smoking. The proxy measures used in IRTIP were shown to diverge from those previously used for measuring the constructs of Attention, Intention, Desire and Action (AIDA) in marketing communications. IRTIP also differs from previous theory by including measures that attempt to quantify the effect of tobacco premiums into a model that was designed to measure the effects of advertising.