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User control is a characteristic of a medium, which allows users to control the pace and sequence with which information is presented. This study examined the role of user control in recognition me...

Advertising literacy education can be developed based on three literacy components: content, grammar, and structure literacy. Content literacy refers to an understanding of the content of ads (e.g....

This study tests how the public’s responsibility judgments and their policy opinions could be affected by different types of attributions made by the media. Study 1 examined three types of attributions regarding smartphone addiction: (a) individualistic (e.g., lack of self-control), (b) societal (e.g., the media industry or government), and (c) none (i.e., control group). Results showed that individualistic attributions by the media did not affect perceived individual responsibility and support for smartphone-addicted children. On the other hand, societal attributions increased perceived industry responsibility, which subsequently increased punishment opinions for the smartphone industry. Study 2 examined three types of attributions regarding childhood obesity (child vs. parent vs. societal) by two types of exemplar formats (“interviews” vs. “user comments”). Consistent with Study 1, results showed that the societal attribution condition resulted in greater perceived industry responsibility and greater pu...

The extant empirical research examining the effectiveness of statistical and exemplar-based health information is largely inconsistent. Under the premise that the inconsistency may be due to an unacknowledged moderator (O'Keefe, 2002), this study examined a moderating role of outcome-relevant involvement (JohnsonEagly, 1989) in the effects of statistical and exemplified risk information on risk perception. Consistent with predictions based on elaboration likelihood model (PettyCacioppo, 1984), findings from an experiment (N = 237) concerning alcohol consumption risks showed that statistical risk information predicted risk perceptions of individuals with high, rather than low, involvement, while exemplified risk information predicted risk perceptions of those with low, rather than high, involvement. Moreover, statistical risk information contributed to negative attitude toward drinking via increased risk perception only for highly involved individuals, while exemplified risk information influenced the attitude through the same mechanism only for individuals with low involvement. Theoretical and practical implications for health risk communication are discussed.

This study conducted a lab experiment in the US and South Korea to test cross-national differences in response to comparative versus non-comparative Facebook advertising messages. Consistent with prior research, this study found that comparative ads resulted in more positive attitudinal responses among Americans, whereas non-comparative ads resulted in more positive attitudinal responses among Koreans. Results of multiple mediation tests showed that Americans showed more positive responses to a comparative ad message because the message was perceived to be more assertive than a non-comparative ad message, whereas Koreans showed more negative responses to a comparative ad message because the message was perceived to be less considerate than a comparative ad message. This study has important theoretical implications by testing multiple mediators for comparative ad effects; and also has practical implications for cultural adaptation marketing strategies.

Although the inhibiting effects of multitasking can be explained by 2 components, capacity interference (CI) and structural interference (SI), studies that have specifically focused on SI are limited. Thus, the present study examined the effects of SI in persuasion using 2 experimental studies. Results of Study 1 showed that SI (not CI) reduced both comprehension and counterarguing. In addition, results of Study 2 showed that SI effects occur not only in single-channel multitasking but also in dual-channel multitasking, and that SI effects occur not only when content interference is high (language-based multitasking) but also when it is low (non–language-based multitasking). The role of SI in multitasking effects has important implications for research on audience behaviors and persuasive communication.

Although aviation accidents are due to various causes, the media may focus on particular causes, which is likely to contribute to the public's perceptions about aviation accidents. This research examines how the public's prevalence estimates of the causes of aviation accidents can vary when the media provides exemplars of internal causes (pilot error and mechanical failure) and on external causes (weather). The distribution of these exemplars varied between the two experimental messages: internal attribution message and external attribution message. Compared with the external attribution message, the internal attribution message resulted in higher prevalence estimates of internal causes. The internal attribution message had indirect effects on punitive opinions mediated by responsibility judgments. In addition, exemplification effects were observed two weeks after exposure, and the effects were greater among respondents who better recalled the exemplifying information. The results of this study suggest th...

Young audiences frequently combine media use (e.g., television viewing) with other activities (e.g., homework); this is referred to as multitasking. This research uses longitudinal data to examine the moderating role of multitasking by examining the effects of exposure to sexual content in the media on adolescents' sexual behavior. Consistent with the predictions based on the limited capacity approach, there was a significant multitasking by exposure interaction suggesting that multitasking reduces the impact of media. More specifically, the effect of exposure to sexual content in the media on sexual behavior was significantly greater among light multitaskers than among heavy multitaskers.