Examines the influence of soft-money-sponsored issue-advocacy advertising in U.S. House and Senate campaigns, comparing its effects against candidate-sponsored positive advertising and contrast advertising on viewers' candidate preferences and on their attitude that reflect democratic values. Reveals no main effects for advertising approach on…

Examines intended and unintended effects of print comparative political advertising on political decision making, voting preferences, and situational election involvement among a sample of communication and business undergraduate students. Suggests that comparative advertising reduces targeted-candidate voting preferences while avoiding most forms…

Presents results of a study of 300 magazine advertisements assessing the level at which the ads are objective and informative. Discusses how these ads are communications designed to influence consumer behavior to the extent that they correspond to the facts, are relevant, comprehensive, adequately supported, intelligible, and logical. (JMF)

Surveyed teenagers (grades 7-12) about their drinking behavior, their exposure to alcohol advertising, relevant demographic information, and other communication influences. Concluded that exposure to alcohol advertising is significantly associated with teenage drinking behavior and intentions. (PD)

Reviews the current research on the effects of television advertising on children and the interaction between parent and child regarding the child's consumer behavior. Suggests areas for future research. (JMF)

Develops a typology of corporate advocacy advertising and examines why corporations have begun to present their political perspective directly to mass audiences. Categorizes corporate advocacy ads as public interest, participation, patriotic, free enterprise, controversy, equal time, image, informative, advertorial, and recruitment. (PD)

Outlines attempts to establish a code of ethics in the advertising profession. Contends that advertising ethical codes and self-regulatory mechanisms are designed to present the impression of professionalism and to combat perceptions of the need for outside interference, and thus serve as superficial public relations tools. (JMF)

Presents a case study of the United Colors of Benetton advertising campaign as a conscious strategy to transform advertising into a broader category of communication. Argues that the campaign reflects the discomfort created by the postmodern dilemma of arbitrary meaning. Analyzes selected advertisements from the campaign. Recommends further study…

Analyzed the historical and family life changes in the images of family intimacy depicted in magazine advertising for over 50 years. Concludes that closeness appears to have increased in importance as a factor in the portrayal of family relations. (PD)

Discusses how the use of unregulated mass media to convey the health risks of smoking is severely limited by the tobacco industry's power, via advertising dollars, to minimize the coverage of the negative health aspects of smoking in the editorial content of these media. (JD)

Advertising featuring men appears to be moving gradually toward a decrease in sex-role stereotyping, although the progress is obviously slow. Of the 660 advertisements examined, only 13 were in the category showing men performing nonstereotypic roles capably or acknowledging that the sexes are fully equal. (PD)

Examines the expanding use of advertising in China. Discusses the impact of transnational corporations in communication and other areas on the development of China, and the implications that the introduction of advertising has for China's role as one of the models for developing countries. (JMF)

Sketches the history of the expansion of multinational advertising agencies. Then examines the growth, characteristics, and consequences of these agencies in an important region of the developing world, Latin America. (PD)

Finds clear patterns of differences in nature and number of commercials during children's programs on three different types of television channels: broadcast networks, independent stations, and cable networks. Examines themes/appeals employed in commercials, disclosures/disclaimers used, and other content attributes. (SR)

Reviews a study of viewer recall of disclaimer information required in commercials. Indicates that aural and video disclaimers are generally ineffective because they are either not attended to or not comprehended. (JMF)