Spencer F. Tinkham

In the Pages of Ms.: Sex Role Portrayals of Women in Advertising

Abstract The stated advertising policy of Ms. magazine precludes the acceptance of advertisements for products that are “harmful” or advertisements that are insulting to women. This study employs manifest and latent content analysis to assess the extent to which Ms. advertising, over the first 15 full years of its publication has carried out this policy. The findings suggest that a substantial proportion of Ms. advertising promotes products generally considered “harmful.” Also, while the portrayal of women as subordinate to men or as merely decorative has decreased over time, Ms. advertising has increasingly portrayed women as alluring sex objects. Possible reasons for the trends revealed here are discussed.

Kids These Days: Examining Differences in Political Uses and Gratifications, Internet Political Participation, Political Information Efficacy, and Cynicism on the Basis of Age

Using a telephone survey of randomly selected voters from the general population, the authors sought to understand the interrelatedness of the use of the Internet as a political information source with perception of political participation, political information efficacy, and cynicism. Guided by the uses and gratifications theory and employing the Political Media Gratifications Scale, the authors examine these constructs in terms of emergent generational differences. Findings indicate that digital natives differ from their older voting counterparts, and the researchers conclude more research must investigate further to accurate determine meaning.

Ethical Judgments of Political Television Commercials as Predictors of Attitude toward the Ad

Abstract This study examines the impact of ethical judgments about televised political commercials on global attitude toward the ad. Findings from the quasi-experiment indicate that the “ethical” attribute belongs to a set of salient, “utilitarian” cognitions that influence how political commercials are evaluated. These findings suggest that ethical perceptions really matter. However, certain emotional “hedonic” cognitive responses, which voters say are nonsalient in their overall evaluations of political ads, in fact may circumvent the powerful impact of ethical—and other salient—cognitive elements. Implications for political advertising strategy and public policy are discussed.

The Sleeper Effect and Negative Political Advertising

Abstract The sleeper effect phenomenon is examined to explain how the impact of negative political advertising persists —and even increases —over time. Using a true experimental design with attack and defensive message treatments, adult subjects were asked to report their vote and its certainty immediately after message exposure and in a delayed telephone callback. Results indicate that a defensive advertisement following the attack is initially effective; however, over the next few weeks, the impact of the attack ad increases substantially. Similarly, an initial perception that the assailant has low credibility has only a temporary suppressive impact on the effectiveness of the attack ad. Our documentation of both an order-driven and a credibility-driven sleeper effect poses strategic challenges for those candidates who are attacked. Further, these results offer theoretical insights into the determinants and the pervasiveness of the sleeper effect in political campaigns.

Social Media and Online Political Communication: The Role of Interpersonal Informational Trust and Openness

This study examines relationships among interpersonal informational trust and openness with Internet-based political activities and attitudes. Conceptually, it proposes the categorization of online spaces and activities as consumption or interaction types, and classifies interpersonal informational trust within inner and outer circles. Interpersonal informational trust was found to be positively associated with perception of online activities as political participation. It also was associated with use of all types of online media for purposes of political communication, but mostly with online spaces that require interaction with others. Interpersonal political openness showed positive association with the use of interactive-type Web sites for purposes of political communication.

Humorous Threat Persuasion in Advertising: The Effects of Humor, Threat Intensity, and Issue Involvement

Using humor to communicate threatening information in advertising can often be observed in practice, but scholars have seldom investigated its effects. Drawing from dual processing models, the current study proposed that response to humor in threat persuasion would depend on the individuals level of issue involvement. This proposition was tested in two experiments. In Study 1, a significant humor and issue involvement interaction effect emerged for threat persuasion ads; low-involvement individuals rated the humor ad more positively than the nonhumor ad, and the opposite was true for high-involvement individuals. With threat intensities varied in Study 2, the results indicated that the effectiveness of various threat intensity and humor combinations depended on the individuals issue involvement. Implications for both theory and practice are discussed.

The Perceived Informativeness of National and Retail Advertising

Abstract A telephone survey was conducted to assess the relative value of six mass media types as sources of advertising information. National and retail advertising within each medium were rated separately. Results suggest that perceived informativeness varies as a function of the national-retail dichotomy and is mediated by audience characteristics.

Valence-based homophily on Twitter: Network Analysis of Emotions and Political Talk in the 2012 Presidential Election

This study integrates network and content analyses to examine valence-based homophily on Twitter or the tendency for individuals to interact with those expressing similar valence. During the 2012 federal election cycle, we collected Twitter conversations about 10 controversial political topics and mapped their network ties. Using network analysis, we discovered clusters—subgroups of highly self-connected users—and coded messages in each cluster for their expressed positive-to-negative emotional valence, level of support or opposition, and political leaning. We found that valence-based homophily successfully explained the selection of user interactions on Twitter, in terms of expressed emotional valence in their tweets or support versus criticism to an issue. It also finds conservative voices to be associated with negatively valenced clusters and vice versa. This study expands the theory of homophily beyond its traditional conceptualization and provides a new understanding of political-issue interactions in a social media context.

Incumbency and its perceived advantage: A comparison of 1982 and 1990 congressional advertising strategies

This article examines the relationship between choice of message strategy— especially the decision to “go negative” in advertisements—as a function of incumbency and the perception of incumbency advantages that are held by both challengers and incumbents. Research questions developed from congressional campaigns studied in 1982 are examined using data from the 1990 election cycle. Findings from the 1982 and 1990 studies indicate that there are strong similarities between the two election cycles. Specifically, emphasis in campaign advertising messages on issues or the candidates personal qualities is independent of incumbency status. However, the choice to “go negative” and emphasize an opponents characteristics is strongly predicted by both incumbency status and the perception of how much the incumbent in the race benefits from his or her tenure in office.

Advertising Message Strategy in U.S. Congressional Campaigns: Its Impact on Election Outcome

Abstract A survey of Congressional candidates showed that advertising message strategies such as relative emphasis on issues, personal qualities, and opponents characteristics, exhibit significant differences across three types of campaigns: incumbent, challenger, and open. Results also document that message strategies are related to election outcome and, even when controlling for campaign type, have a direct effect on the percentage of votes a candidate receives. Lower vote percentages were observed in those campaigns which emphasized negative and issues-oriented advertising appeals.