Michael L. Maynard

Girlish Images across Cultures: Analyzing Japanese versus U.S. Seventeen Magazine Ads

Abstract The authors address cross-cultural variability in the manner in which advertising portrays teenage girls. Specifically, the level to which “girlish” images are portrayed in Japan and the United States by employing a content analysis of 263 advertisements appearing in eight issues of Seventeen, four Japanese and four American. Culture-based differences in advertising are discussed with a specific focus on how advertising constructs the image of teenage girls, and how, in turn, teenage girls are encouraged to identify with their mediated images of self. Chi-square analysis shows a significantly higher frequency of verbal and visual girlish images in the Japanese Seventeen issues.

Attitudes Toward Direct Marketing and Its Regulation: A Comparison of the United States and Japan

The authors propose that the high-context nature of Japanese communication and the collectivistic nature of Japanese culture have an impact on attitudes toward direct marketing and its regulation. The results of a survey of Japanese and U.S. university students suggest that certain types of direct marketing messages are less effective in Japan than in the United States. The results also indicate a greater willingness by Japanese respondents to support regulation of direct marketing practices. The authors discuss managerial implications of the findings for multinational marketers and advertisers and suggest public policy implications for direct marketing in Japan.

Framing the Genetic Testing Issue Discourse and Cultural Clashes among Policy Communities

This study examined ways in which the congressional testimony of public policy factions used interpretive frames to lend advantage to their own views of genetic testing. The authors applied semantic network analysis to four sessions of congressional testimony. Using the cultural theory of risk, they divided testifiers into bureaucratic, entrepreneurial, and egalitarian cultures. The authors then cluster-analyzed testimony of each policy camp to expose word patterns that delineated each groups policy frame. Within a shared frame about privacy and fairness, the entrepreneurs emphasized rules for appropriate access; the egalitarians, personal concerns for family and self; and the bureaucrats, safety through government programs.

Policing Transnational Commerce: Global Awareness in the Margins of Morality

Transnationals operate in what may be called the margins of morality because the historical, cultural, and governmental mores of the worlds nation-states are not uniform. There is a gray area of ethical judgment where the standards of the transnationals home country differ substantially from those of the host country. Following the argument of institutional theory in providing stability and meaning to social behavior, in matters of moral conduct the transnational is likely to yield to at least four policing authorities: (1) itself, in terms of the integrity of its management and by decision-making that follows its own code of ethics, (2) other corporations within its competitive set, (3) governmental agencies including those of the host country, and (4) public exposure, which includes the media as well as non-governmental agencies such as offshore watchdog groups. The fourth mechanism, public exposure, is thought to be the most effective in policing transnational conduct.

A comparative analysis of Japanese and U.S. attitudes toward direct marketing

Abstract This study compares the current state of direct marketing in Japan and the U.S. Questionnaire responses (109 Japanese and 101 U.S.) were obtained from students of major Japanese and U.S. universities in order to test three hypotheses posed in this study: (a) general attitude toward direct marketing; (b) privacy issues; and (c) environmental concerns. The results show that (a) Japanese and U.S. respondents have similar levels of ambivalence toward direct marketing as well as concern toward environmental issues; and (b) contrary to expectations. Japanese respondents more strongly express a concern about privacy issues than do U.S. respondents. This article concludes with implications of these results for the practice of international direct marketing, followed by suggested directions for future studies.

Opportunity in Paid vs. Unpaid Public Relations Internships: A Semantic Network Analysis.

Abstract Semantic network analysis was used to compare differences in benefit appeal in two sets of letters written by the business community to the internship director. In the Unpaid set (N=72) the promise of “opportunity” co-occurred more often with appeals such as “for credit,” “flexible schedule” and “supervision.” In the Paid set (N=73) emphasis was placed on writing skills and work related tasks. This study reveals the business communitys understanding of student expectations from the internship experience.

Emotional intelligence and perceived employability for internship curriculum.

Emotional Intelligence dimensions of motivation as well as social and communication skills were associated with perceived entry-level employability. Feedback from internship hosts was the measure of association for 77 college juniors or seniors between the ages of 18 and 22 (49 women, 28 men), enrolled in a one-semester communications internship. Chi squared supported the hypothesis that interns scoring high on emotional intelligence are more likely to be considered for employment by the internship host than those scoring low. Given replication of this work applications for an internship curriculum can be identified.

EFFECTIVENESS OF "BEGGING" AS A PERSUASIVE TACTIC FOR IMPROVING RESPONSE RATE ON A CLIENT/AGENCY MAIL SURVEY '.

This experimental study tested the assumption that ingratiation through the researchers frank request for compliance yields higher response rates to mail surveys. The hypothesis was tested by inserting a cartoon of the researcher “begging” the recipient within the treatment group to respond. Results suggest that begging achieved a reduction in nonresponse within the treatment group (n = 116). Also, begging made no significant difference along the dimensions of job function, gender, or seniority.

Using judgment analysis to improve consultant/client understanding: An advertising application

Abstract This study uses regression‐based judgment analysis to develop decision profiles for a matched group of 22 clients and their advertising agency representatives. We compared agencies and clients according to five criteria for a successful advertising campaign: market research, media planning, message and creativity, budget, and agency/client working relationship. Considered in the aggregate, agencies and clients showed solid cognitive consensus. However, the 22 individual working partnerships revealed striking cognitive handicaps: agency/client partners agreed only moderately about campaign criteria, had little insight into each others’ decision values, and did not self‐report their own values accurately. We analyzed several agency/client partnerships in detail to show the implications of such cognitive misunderstandings, and to support our overall recommendation that judgment analysis form a central part of agency performance audits.

Challenging the 3.0 GPA eligibility standard for public relations internships

Abstract Analysis of internship grades earned by 132 public relations and communication majors registered for internship credit at a major Northeastern university show that students with a 2.7 grade point average (GPA) predictably do as well as students with a GPA ranging from 3.0 to 3.3. Accordingly, it is recommended that the GPA cutoff point for internship eligibility at this school be lowered from the previous 3.0 standard to 2.7. This case study demonstrates the value of measuring actual performance against idealized standards. In addition to his interest in the internship curriculum, Temple University Associate Professor Michael L. Maynard’s areas of research include mass media analysis, the relationship between mass communication and culture as well as textual and semiotic analyses of Japanese television and print advertising.