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General Purpose: To understand how media can be used directly to
persuade and influence our behavior.
I. Advertising Economics (Biaggi, 1994)
A. Ad Expenditures - $135 billion per year is spent on ads
(about 70% of the Federal deficit). Americans account
for at least 50%.
B. Media Sources for Advertising - In 1994, we spent $34
billion in newspaper ads, $29 billion in TV ads, and $10
billion in radio ads.
C. Money Drives the System - you can make a fortune in mass
media.
D. Direct Effects versus Indirect Effects - ads directly try
to influence us.
E. How Do You Persuade People Through the Media?
II. Theory of Persuasion: The Elaborate Likelihood Model - ELM
(Petty & Cacioppo, 1986)
A. The Tools of Influence: MAC
1. Mental State - high elaboration or low elaboration
2. Arguments - you use different tactics to influence
different people
3. Cues - persuasion variable that influences without
thinking. Most ads are cues rather than arguments.
B. The Routes to Persuasion - see page 148
C. The ELM in advertising (Petty et al., 1983)
1. Would You Buy This Razor?
2. Controlling Mental State - One group is asked to
look at ads and told that these products are not
available - low watt. Other group is asked to look
at ads but the products are available and will be
given samples - high watt.
3. The Arguments: Strong vs Weak - If it contained a
strong argument, it got a more positive attitude
whether a citizen or athlete endorsed.
4. The Cues: Athletes vs Citizens - If endorsed by an
athlete, it got a more positive attitude whether
the argument was weak or strong.
5. Predictions
6. Results - see page 150
7. Interpreting Results - this theory does work in the
real world.
III. Advertising and the Schools (Greenberg & Brand, 1993)
A. Channel One - 10,000 schools across the U.S. participated
in Channel One. Each school received 15 minute
broadcasts with 2 minutes of advertising. Ads were
youth-oriented - Channel One could reach a larger teen
audience than ABC, etc.
B. Advertising Income - $500,000 made each day
C. Methods and Results - see page 151
D. Conclusions
1. Good business - advertisers love it
2. Mixed effect for students
IV. Subliminal Persuasion (Severin & Tankard, 1988; Brannon &
Brock, 1994)
A. My God, There's a Naked Woman in My Ice Cubes
1. What Is Subliminal Persuasion? any message that
influences you below your conscious awareness.
2. Subliminal in Another Key (Key, 1972) - you believe
that it does exist, is used a lot, and has a strong
effect.
B. Pop Culture Examples of Subliminal Persuasion
1. Mr. Vicary's Subliminal Machine - Vicary owned
movie theatres in the 50's and 60's. He would cut
the film and splice it with a brief message - eat
popcorn. Vicary claimed that popcorn sales
increased.
2. Suddenly, I Feel Thin - self-help tapes to help
with weight loss
3. Hal Becker Stops Shoplifters - stores that use his
tapes report less shoplifting.
4. Rock 'n Roll Demons - plaintiffs claimed their
adolescent son committed suicide after listening to
a Judas Priest tape. Jury believed that the group
did not plant these messages.
C. Scientific Analysis of These Examples
1. "There is no scientific evidence that subliminal
stimulation can initiate subsequent action, to say
nothing of commercially or politically significant
actions."
Berelson and Steiner, 1964 (quoted in Severin and
Tankard, 1988, page 130.)
"Subliminal tapes are today's snake oil. There's
no evidence that there is subliminal perception of
their message. There's no evidence of any
perception at all, let alone evidence that they
work."
Pratkanis, 1990 (quoted in Brannon and Brock, 1994,
page 288.)
D. Exceptions: Scientific Research (Kilbourne et al., 1985)
1. Say It Ain't So - wanted to see if subliminal
advertising could change the way people think/feel.
2. Methods - series of slides shown with one ad
altered to include a subliminal message. Then
asked to rate how much you liked the ads.
3. Results - both men and women had a more favorable
attitude toward the ad if they saw the subliminal
one (small effect).
E. Yeah, But...A Meta-Analysis (Trappery, 1996)
-23 different studies---Sorry Charlie, no effect
-box effect 47/53----not even a small effect
V. Conclusions About Persuasion
A. Money Is the Cause
B. The Search for the Magic Bullet Continues - there is no
magic bullet (evidence - subliminal effects).
C. But They Still Know How To Move You
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