Robert L. Gustafson

Motivations for Reading Beauty and Fashion Magazines and Anorexic Risk in College-Age Women

A growing body of research has linked the reading of womens beauty and fashion magazines with the presence of eating-disordered thinking. Most of this research has focused on the relationship between the frequency with which women read and their potential anorexic risk. In the present study, the authors explore the connection between the motivations for reading and the presence of anorexic cognitions. Specifically, this study of 536 college-age women sought to determine which reading motivations might be the most p redictive of anorexic risk and whether those motivations would be differentially related to reading frequency and to scores on the Mizes Anorectic Cognitions Scale (MACS). To test the simultaneous contribution of the possible reading motivations on the two outcomes of interest, a structural equation model using AMOS 4.0 was generated. The findings from the model indicate that reading frequency and anorexic risk are largely predicted by divergent motivational factors. The reading frequency of beauty and fashion magazines was most strongly predicted by a womans desire for selfimprovement. Anorexic risk, as measured by MACS scores, was best predicted

A strategic analysis of the best television commercials ever produced (worldwide)

ABSTRACT This study employs a typology developed by Laskey, Fox and Crask (1995) to analyse the strategic message design of a television commercial reel compiled by the Leo Burnett advertising agency and titled, ‘The 100 best commercials ever made from around the world’. Given the impact and expense of television advertising, understanding and predicting commercial effectiveness is vitally important to academics and practitioners alike. While previous studies were largely concerned with the investigation of creative executional elements, this study focuses solely on the strategy behind the message design of each commercial.