To examine the most important changes in marketing and advertising of the decade from 1976 to 1986, more than 100 people were interviewed, and their responses were fashioned into an oral history modeled on the technique used in Studs Terkel's popular books. Among those interviewed were advertising and marketing professionals, as well as casual…

Television and television advertising, because of their pervasiveness and intrusiveness, have been identified by many as potent, formative, and usually negative influences within our culture. Print media, including magazine advertising, although perhaps less potent, are perceived as equally important. The effects of gender portrayals on audiences…

Although wide variations exist among service professions, several common attributes affect the role of advertising in the service industries. For example, because a service is intangible, it cannot be evaluated before purchased or consumed. Depending on the degree of intangibility, the consumer's assessment becomes that much more difficult, and…

A coalition of health groups wants the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) to discontinue the use of the Joe Camel cartoon character in its cigarette advertisements. RJR has denied the findings of the three studies published in the "Journal of the American Medical Association" and cited by the health groups--these studies contend that…

Examining responses to print alcohol advertisements, a study questioned whether alcohol advertisers distinguish between "hard" and "soft" liquors (e.g. wine coolers and liqueurs). Subjects, 102 junior and senior high school students in a major metropolitan area, were asked to examine one set of three ads--either hard liquor ads…

A study examined the promises and limitations of the entertainment-education strategy used in development communication and charted some future directions for this approach. The approach began in the 1970s with the recognition that mass media has its limitations in fostering national development; a more participatory development theory emerged…

In July 1986 the "Knoxville Journal" (a Gannett newspaper) changed its publication time from morning to afternoon and the "Knoxville News-Sentinel" (a Scripps-Howard newspaper) changed from afternoon to morning. One month later, researchers surveyed by telephone 505 newspaper subscribing households to examine reader opinions…

A study examined the marketing differences between large chain newspapers and small chain and independent newspapers by analyzing differences in characteristics of the newspapers, patterns of circulation, economic and social conditions of the market, and competition from other print media. The 200 newspapers studied--113 large chain and 87 small…

Recent advertising research has suggested that to gain initial entry into and retain continual success with a targeted audience of consumers, it is wise to mirror the attitudes and desires of those consumers. This has proven effective in the United States, where companies such as Chevrolet, Levi Strauss, and Coca-Cola have successfully catered to…

To learn whether the problem of misunderstanding in brand names might be caused by the content of advertisements or whether it stemmed from a failure in the exposure-processing chain with respect to the effect of the ads on consumers, a study investigated the extent to which marketers provide information in their advertising that clarifies the…