One approach to the study of structures that underly receiver response to perceptual stimuli has been that of factor analysis. This method was used to study responses of 92 students at the University of Connecticut to drug abuse commercials. Responses to five anti-drug television commercials were categorized according to: (1) "relative…

Message strategies relating to information about social problems such as drug abuse have been based on the assumption that exposure to relevant information via mass media will result in behavior modification. There is need, however, for scientific inquiry into methods of information acquisition and perceptual response to information. A two-part…

The magnitude of the effect television has on young people's lives makes it an important source of drug abuse information, but there is a question as to whether or not such information is persuasive. Some studies indicate that viewer response to anti-drug television commercials falls into four judgmental dimensions: relevant persuasion, negative…