Relevance theory, the premise that a hearer will make the effort to process a communication if he or she feels it will alter or enrich his/her cognitive environment, can be useful for increasing the effectiveness of advertising communication. It is particularly helpful for analyzing and improving the effectiveness of the creative devices often…

A study examined the message features that influence an innovation's acceptance by a mass audience. The study looked at three strategies of innovational rhetoric (denial of controversy, subtle criticism of existing institutions, and projection of a rhetorical vision) used by a commercial broadcasting company, called Whittle Communications in 1989,…

This digest addresses the question of health information and reporting in the mass media, focusing on its accuracy and on some researchers' ideas for improving the quality of the health information that is disseminated. The digest discusses accuracy in reporting, the role of commercial television, advertising, and the audiences for health…

Noting that basic courses in advertising provide little or no instruction in how to perform the tasks of account management, this paper suggests the outlines of a syllabus which will prepare a future account manager at least as well as courses in copy, layout, and media planning prepare their future professionals. The course outlined in the paper…

A 3-year project to generate awareness and utilization of the nontraditional services offered by the Florida public libraries is described. The presentation is divided into two sections: an overview of the program to date and examples from the media campaign. Within section 1, three distinct phases of the project are identified and described:…

Four paperbacks that will help students examine propaganda and advertising techniques are reviewed. (JH)

Both sides of advertising--the insidious and the artistic--should be studied in every composition class.

Shows that the cultural content of Philippine print-media advertising does not reflect Philippine culture, but instead appears to reflect Western culture. (RB)

This experimental comparison of the advertising effectiveness of television, movies, radio, and print finds no support for McLuhan's idea that television is a "cool" medium and movies are a "hot" medium. (RB)

A mock trial offers a situation for students to learn about the Federal Trade Commission, about deceptive advertising practices, and about identification of misleading advertisements. (Author/KM)

This paper provides a selected review of political candidate campaign advertising studies from the political science, mass communication, advertising, and political communication literature. The paper examines the literature in terms of research pertaining to (1) candidate advertising content (commercials for male versus female candidates and for…

A study investigated the relationship between readability of advertising copy and conventional measures of ad readership. It was hypothesized that readership scores would be higher for advertisements containing copy with the highest and lowest computed readership grade levels. Fifty-five full-page advertisements that met arbitrary minimal copy…

Deconstruction is a critical literary theory which focuses on the unintentional meanings of a text and aims to achieve an unprejudiced, value-free vision of the social and political power structures in society that combine to produce the text. The development of such critical skills in advertising students will deepen their ability to judge the…

In 1974, 1976, and 1980 three best-selling books were published by Prentice Hall authored by Wilson Bryan Key. Key adopted the viewpoint that subliminal perception was a new phenomenon and that advertisers and advertising agencies were involved in manipulation of the public with the cooperation of the mass media. This study asks whether professors…

Because recent restrictive changes in cigarette advertising laws have unknown consequences for advertisers, this report outlines the history of the controversy over whether to allow cigarette advertisements, explores its legal status with respect to First Amendment rights for advertisers, and considers potential solutions to the conflict between…