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This current study conducted a content analysis of Taiwanese TV commercials with family elements. By collecting all Taiwanese TV commercials in a period of two weeks, we got five hundred TV commercials. Among them, sixty TV commercials were with family elements. The current study counted the family types and images of family appearing in the TV commercials. The content analysis results revealed that most TV commercials presented a happy atmosphere to emphasize the family value. In most of the commercials being analyzed, nucleus families (a pair of parents and their children) and extended families (grandparents, parents, and kids) were presented. However, 23% Taiwanese TV commercials presented single parent family, which revealed that some proportion of household in Taiwan were single parent family. In addition, we found that the gender roles were still limited to the traditional gender stereotype of "the husband should take charge of earning money, while his wife should take care of housekeeping matters". We find this deep-rooted gender stereotype still appeared in Taiwanese TV commercials. Besides, the elderly and children were often portrayed as needing extra care or involved in intimate behaviors such as hugs to depict the happiness in family life. In general, these portrayals of family members' roles in Taiwanese TV commercials can be regarded as a window for the Taiwanese family life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: An appeal to fear may attract an audience's attention to anti-smoking advertisements that reveal tobacco to be harmful and lead to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Two empirical studies investigated the persuasive effects of advertisements with appeals to fear and the moderating effect of a self-regulatory focus. Methods: In Study 1, a paper-andpencil questionnaire survey of 172 subjects was used to compare the persuasive effects of antitobacco ads with and without appeals to fear, and to examine the moderating effect of a selfregulatory focus. In Study 2, a 2 (fear /non-fear) by 2 (positive /negative framed message) experimental design with 185 subjects was used to examine the moderating effect of message framing on the persuasive effect of an appeal to fear. Results: Audiences' perceived efficacy and behavioral intent were greater when the ad contains appeals to fear. Both a self-regulatory focus and message framing moderated the impact of appeals to fear on the attitudes toward ads and behavioral intent. Conclusions: According to these empirical studies, we found that an appeal to fear could enhance the persuasive effect; however, a self-regulatory focus might moderate the impact of appeals to fear on attitudes toward anti-tobacco advertisements and behavioral intent. Message framing might also moderate the persuasive effect of appeals to fear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]