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ERIC Number: ED237208
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1983-Apr
Pages: 9
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Does Expertise or Pretty Please? The Influence of Attractiveness, Gender and Expertise on Children's Evaluations of Models in Advertisements.
Lerma, Sheila; Downs, A. Chris
The extent to which children evaluated non-television advertisements differentially on the basis of performers' gender, expertise, and attractiveness was assessed. Participating were 56 girls and 47 boys attending first-, third-, and fifth-grade classes in Galveston, Texas. A total of 24 pairs of specially prepared advertisements were used as stimulus materials. On each pair, identical pictures of neutral products were shown; pairs varied in the gender, attractiveness, and expertise of the male or female models appearing with the product. Performer's expertise was indicated by a simple sentence included in the advertising copy. Results of chi-square and Z tests indicated that children's selections among advertisements were primarily influenced by the attractiveness of the adult models who appeared. Expertise seemed fairly unimportant to children's judgments. The strength of selecting attractive models across the grades was essentially equivalent. It was concluded that even first graders apparently prefer attractive adult models and that the role of non-television media in attractiveness-based socialization may be extremely important. (RH)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Researchers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A