ABSTRACTS
Volume 8, Number 2
March-April 2003
Vol. 8, Num. 2: Contents | Editorial | Up Front | Abstracts
Tobacco Counter-Advertising: A
Review of the Literature and a Conceptual Model for Understanding Effects
GINA AGOSTINELLI , JOEL W. GRUBE
The tobacco counter-advertising literature is reviewed as it relates
to basic process questions concerning what makes counter-advertisements
effective. Limitations in addressing (a) counter-advertisement content
and the psychological mediators targeted, (b) counter-advertisement
style and the affective reactions targeted, (c) prior smoking experience,
and (d) other audience factors are enumerated. A theoretical model based
on alcohol advertising research is presented to address those limitations.
The model addresses the practical research question of predicting when
tobacco counter-advertising will work by examining the independent influence
of each of these enumerated factors, as well as how these factors operate
in concert, qualifying each other. The model also addresses the process
question of explaining how counter-advertising works by identifying
affective and cognitive processes as mediators. By understanding the
processes that underlie the qualified findings, one can better advise
the designers of tobacco counter-advertisements how to be more effective.
The Effectiveness of Gateway
Communications in Anti-Marijuana Campaigns
MARCO C. YZER, JOSEPH N. CAPPELLA, MARTIN FISHBEIN,
ROBERT HORNIK, R. KIRKLAND AHERN
Successful anti-marijuana messages can be hypothesized to have two
types of effects, namely persuasion effects, that is, a change in people's
beliefs about using marijuana, and priming effects, that is, a strengthened
correlation between beliefs and associated variables such as attitude
and intention. This study examined different sets of anti-drug advertisements
for persuasion and priming effects. The ads targeted the belief that
marijuana is a gateway to stronger drugs, a belief that is often endorsed
by campaign planning officials and health educators. A sample of 418
middle and high school students was randomly assigned to a control video
or one of three series of ads, two of which included the gateway message
in either an explicit or implicit way. Results did not support the use
of the gateway belief in anti-marijuana interventions. Whereas no clear
persuasion or priming effects were found for any of the ad sequences,
there is some possibility that an explicit gateway argument may actually
boomerang. In comparison to the control condition, adolescents in the
explicit gateway condition tended to agree less with the gateway message
and displayed weaker correlations between anti-marijuana beliefs and
their attitude toward marijuana use. The results suggest that the gateway
message should not be used in anti-drug interventions.
Increasing Intention to Comply
with Pharmaceutical Product Instructions: An Exploratory Study Investigating
the Roles of Frame and Plain Language
AMANDA B. BOWER, VALERIE A. TAYLOR
This article does not have an abstract.
The Relationship of Parental
Reinforcement of Media Messages to College Students' Alcohol-Related Behaviors
ERICA WEINTRAUB AUSTIN, YIN JU CHEN
Although alcohol consumption is a problem on the college campus, beliefs
and behaviors predictive of alcohol use are in development in children
as young as third grade. Because they develop partially in response
to interpretations of media messages, for which parents can have an
influence, this study examined how college students' (N=300) recollections
of parental reinforcement of media messages associated with alcohol-related
beliefs and behaviors. Structural equation modeling showed that recalled
positive mediation negatively predicted skepticism, and positively predicted
desirability and expectancies. Desirability of media messages predicted
more positive norms perceptions, and a lack of skepticism predicted
more positive expectancies. With age of first experimentation controlled,
expectancies predicted heavier current drinking behavior. Norms did
not predict behavior, and positive mediation did not predict norms.
The study concludes that to the extent parental communication leads
adolescents to interpret media messages less skeptically, they encourage
adolescents to find alcohol portrayals appealing. This in turn appears
to lead toward more risky behaviors. The results suggest that college-based
anti-alcohol campaigns can benefit by acknowledging the appeal of competing
messages and by including parents as a campaign target.
A Qualitative Analysis of Patient-Centered
Dentistry in Consultations with Dental Phobic Patients
KÁROLY R. KULICH, ULF BERGGREN, LILLEMOR
R.-M. HALLBERG
Dental phobia is regarded as one of the greatest obstructions to adequate
dental care. It has long been established that fearful dental patients
are particularly sensitive to dentists' behavior and performance of
dental care. There is a need for the establishment of a systematic theory
of dentist-patient communication and new methods analyzing how dentists
interact with their patients. In this qualitative study, thirty semi-structured
interviews were conducted in 1998 and 1999 with five dentists (three
male and two female). Dentists consulted on two occasions with 15 newly
enrolled, consecutive dental phobic patients (2 male and 13 female)
in a Swedish clinic specializing in the treatment of odontophobia. The
time interval between consultation one and two was approximately 2-3
weeks. Analysis of the transcribed interviews was based by the principles
of Grounded Theory. The study identified one core category, "Holistic
perception and understanding of the patient", two categories, "The
dentist's positive outlook on people" and "The dentist's positive
view of patient contact", and six further subcategories. Findings
support previous models of patient-centered medicine and contribute
to a better understanding of how patient-centered dentists interact
with dental phobic patients.
BOOK REVIEW
Handbook of Communication and People with Disabilities.
Dawn Braithwaite and Teresa Thompson (Eds.).
Reviewed by Jim L. Query, Jr., Darnell L. Thomas, Ashley R. Tilka,
& Alicia B. Denney
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