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The special issue attempts to contribute to the current discussions on the configuration of the political in Latin America. From the social sciences, we seek to discuss those “enigmas” related to the cultural, social, communicational, and technological logics of political events, as well as to the systems of knowledge rooted in those actors that participate in contemporary political processes. Drawing inspiration from Bolivian philosopher Luis Tapia’s (2008) notion political subsoil, and making a slight variation of it, the special issue develops the category the subsoil of the political. We use the subsoil of the political as a category of analysis, and not as an object of study. As a category of historical, social and political analysis, the subsoil of the political serves to understand, from a transdisciplinary and multidimensional perspective, the various forms of interaction through which the boundaries between the social and the political are (de)constructed. From the subsoil of the political, we seek to understand how cultural, communicational, spatial and technological elements flow, articulate (under different forms and scales) and acquire meaning, and integrate a substrate never fixed. From this substrate, groups, movements and actors sometimes represented as marginal or minority, but politically meaningful during the last two decades in the Latin American region, trigger processes and dynamics of social and societal mobilization, which are the focus of this dossier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work aims to approach the problem of the swarm effect in contemporary communication based on the work of Franco Berardi, in dialogue with other authors. First, we present their contributions about communication, semio-capitalism and governance. Then, we confront the idea of a “collective intelligence” as potential for creativity and freedom with the notion of general intellect (Marx, Virno, Berardi). Finally, we consider the swarm as the drift of contemporary digital culture and its articulations with the concepts of “net” and “multitude”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective was to find out what type of information the digital pages of 10 states and 76 municipalities in Mexico contain to reduce the crime of gender violence. The theoretical perspective is participatory communication. Digital ethnography was used to study the official digital spaces, and the analysis was designed in four categories of analysis. Among the main findings obtained were that there is no comprehensive strategic plan from the federation or local governments to intervene, nor is there a participatory communication strategy in the different levels of government to eradicate violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article characterizes the communication practices of the committees that promoted the popular consultations called against mining and energy extraction projects in two municipalities of Colombia: Arbeláez (Cundinamarca) and Fusagasugá (Cundinamarca). To this end, the factors that originated the socio-environmental conflict are addressed, the process of calling for consultation is reconstructed and the “repertoire of communication practices” organized by the promoting committees is detailed, including the integration of nanomedia and popular arts and their articulation with the actions of social organizations that promoted the consultations. It is concluded that the communication process of the committees strengthens the recognition of socio-environmental conflicts in the community, expands and diversifies public opinion and contributes to the development of popular participation mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Brazilian indigenous movement has gained prominence in recent years by becoming the protagonist of important struggles. Themes related to environment preservation are increasingly common, both in the news in the mainstream media and in “alternative” communication vehicles. Entities such as the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib) and the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Legal Amazon (Coiab) built an important mobilization network to strengthen their demands. This article is a theoretical-empirical reflection that aims to analyze the history of the relationship between these organizations and their anti-colonial communication networks. Important elements for understanding the struggle strategies of indigenous peoples in Brazil in the 21st century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Answering recent calls for a new definition of advertising, we identify three dynamics—(new) media and formats, (new) “consumer” behaviors, and extended effects of advertising—that drive the evolution of advertising. Based on these, and a survey of advertising academics and professionals, we formulate an updated working definition of advertising as “brand-initiated communication intent on impacting people.” We also test and validate this definition and the three dynamics in a content analysis of recently published advertising research (2010 to 2015). In doing so, we hope to contribute to a more diverse and contemporary development of advertising research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We integrate a rhetorical perspective with neoinstitutional theory to develop a rhetorical model of institutional decision making. We use this model to describe how the communicative practices of decision makers both enable and constrain how actors manage the risk and uncertainty of their judgments and decisions within an institutional context. We first develop a dual conception of reason as both communication (public argument) and cognition (private argument). With this dual conception of reason, we conceptualize actors as active and passive speakers and listeners who interpret, produce, and present public and private arguments to persuade themselves and others to adopt, maintain, or reject practices. Speakers and listeners have cognitive limits and thus create presumptions or shared decision-making rules to help them efficiently produce and process the arguments needed to debate, evaluate, and adjudicate recurring institutional decisions. We suggest that arguments shape actors' reasoning and judgment because they reflect appeals to pathos (emotion), logos (logic), and ethos (values) that support or criticize decisions to act. These appeals also shape the nature and construction of presumptions that bind rationality. We describe how these binds on rationality affect the formation of judgments and decisions, as well as the performance evaluation of institutional practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social-communication differences are a robust and defining feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) but identifying early points of divergence in infancy has been a challenge. The current study examines social communication in 9- to 12-month-old infants who develop ASD (N = 30; 23% female; 70% white) compared to typically developing (TD) infants (N = 94, 38% female; 88% white). Results demonstrate that infants later diagnosed with ASD were already exhibiting fewer social-communication skills using eye gaze, facial expression, gestures, and sounds at 9 months (effect size: 0.42-0.89). Moreover, three unique patterns of change across distinct social-communication skills were observed within the ASD group. This study documents that observable social-communication differences for infants with ASD are unfolding by 9 months, pointing to a critical window for targeted intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While in the past, perspectives that focus on language and communication have perhaps not received the attention they deserve in the mainstream literature in strategy and organization, interest in this area has been growing in recent years. The present essay serves to introduce a collection of insightful papers (independently submitted and reviewed, but brought together in this themed issue) that offer an opportunity to reflect on the contributions of a rich variety of research perspectives on communication to research in strategic organization. Building on the seven contributions featured in this issue, we show how communicative perspectives speak to questions of the who, how, what, and what then, of strategy. We then discuss dualisms that underpin research on strategic organization adopting a communicative lens and propose directions for future work that might bridge these divides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article contributes to the discursive and interactional study of strategizing by drawing attention to the communicative practices through which strategy progressively materializes itself. Drawing on the interactions between the partners and members of a community-based organization participating in a strategic planning exercise, our study reveals that communication plays a key role in the initial formulation of strategy, that is, in deciding which issues matter most for the organization. We identify four communicative practices through which concerns gradually become strategic: presentifying, substantiating, attributing, and crystallizing matters of concern. The article contributes to the strategy-as-practice tradition by proposing that communication materializes strategic concerns and that strategizing takes place through that materializing process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conflicts in the workplace have been characterized by their type (task, process, relationship), but little attention has been paid to how conflicts are expressed. We present a conceptual framework of conflict expression and argue that understanding how conflicts are expressed can help us gain new insights about the effects of conflict. We propose that conflict expressions vary in their directness and oppositional intensity and that these differences directly influence how people experience and react to conflict, resulting in dynamic escalatory or de-escalatory conflict spirals. We argue that directness of conflict expression is a function of the ambiguity of expression and who is involved (antagonists versus involving other people). Oppositional intensity of conflict expression is indicated by the communicated entrenchment in positions and subversiveness of actions. We argue that while oppositional intensity and directness are universal dimensions characterizing conflict expression, the cultural context and characteristics of the disputants will influence how conflict is expressed and perceived. We consider the implications of our conceptual framework for related research examining conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A conference paper about the impact of big data on the behavior and perception of consumers who are inclined to use the traditional mode of communication and consumers who are influenced by digital technology. The author notes that there is a prevailing views among older marketers and market researchers that cultural and social influences are the main factors that shape consumer attitudes and behaviors, which is further enhanced by communities and neighborhoods.

The careful choice of tactics—such as specific messages, styles, channels, or sources—is how strategic science communicators ensure that the time and money going into communication results in intended changes to chosen audiences' beliefs, feelings, and frames, as well as associated behaviors. Using a sample of scientists from American research universities (N = 516), we assess scientists' willingness to use 11 different communication tactics and the relationship between these tactics and potential predictors. We find that scientists are open to a range of communication tactics. Practical and theoretical implications for science communication are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an introduction to articles published within the issue on the theme of political, social, cultural, communicational and technological aspects of collective action in Latin America in the 21st century.

Scientific objective: To characterize the genesis of the institutions of the Holy See in the years 1948-2018, competent in media matters, against the background of changes in the Roman Curia's system; showing the institutional evolution of the "media department"--from the Papal Commission established ad experimentum by the Council, having the status of an expert and promotional dicastery1, to the dicastery with rights analogous to the congregation. Research method: Historical and normative analysis based on papal legislation and the literature on the subject. Results and conclusions: The analysis led to the conclusion that a feature of the changes was the systematic raising of the rank of institutions competent in matters of media and their functional and organizational integration. Cognitive value: The paper addresses the problem of tradition and modernization of the constitution of the Holy See's primary organs, of which the Curia's reform project initiated by Pope Francis and implemented since 2014 is a key element. This thread is a relatively new and little recognized subject of scientific analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to Dan Ben-Amos's theorization, genre signifies culture-bounded systems and is informed by the "cultural affirmation of the communication rules ...within the cultural context. " At a time when Islamophobia is manifest in discourse and in action, communities of Muslim and non-Muslims speak about and negotiate hate and discrimination in different ways. This work examines the conversations and the rhetoric around Islamophobia from the perspectives of various communities in Pennsylvania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I explore the significance of the Chinese minge or folksong commonly known as "Liangge of the Chen family based on interviews conducted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1989. In my analysis, I trace the history of the song in each family member's life in Beijing Municipality, Hubei and Hebei Provinces, and finally in Philadelphia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When new products and brands are introduced into other cultures, the speed and extent of the product's acceptance are important concerns for marketers. The spread of positive word of mouth (WOM) and the lack of negative WOM about the product or brand by early adopter groups are critical to the product's successful diffusion in a population. This is the first study to investigate the effects of consumers' cultural values on their WOM behavior. Data analysis from two samples indicates that the pattern, type, and target receivers of consumers' WOM activity depend on their cultural values. The authors use Hofstede's four cultural dimensions to test the effects of cultural values on WOM behavior to social in- and out-groups. They find that all four dimensions have significant effects on WOM engagement to those groups. Although the authors could not determine the causal nature of the relationships because of the sample design used, they argue that marketers should monitor the cultural values of their market to anticipate in- and out-group discussions and the choice of appropriate brand communication strategies in other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the relation of the board of directors and institutional ownership with the properties of management earnings forecasts. We find that firms with more outside directors and greater institutional ownership are more likely to issue a forecast and are inclined to forecast more frequently. In addition, these forecasts tend to be more specific, accurate and less optimistically biased. These results are robust to changes specification, Granger causality tests, and simultaneous equation analyses. The results are similar in the pre– and post–Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD) eras. Additional analysis suggests that concentrated institutional ownership is negatively associated with forecast properties. This association is less negative in the post–Reg FD environment, which is consistent with Reg FD reducing the ability of firms to privately communicate information to select audiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digital revolution has been a boon to those who seek convenient, expanded access to information. It has dramatically increased the opportunity to share ideas and discoveries and disseminate information to ever-broader audiences. At the same time, it has raised concerns on the part of those responsible for ensuring that access to content remains within the guidelines established by copyright law. The challenge is to tap the unprecedented potential of digital technology while respecting the rights of those who create original works. Some of the most effective solutions capitalize on the very technology and attributes that gave rise to the digital marketplace. By automating the copyright permissions process, they seek to make copyright compliance' as convenient as accessing information-and increasingly, they are succeeding. Current permissions services are available both at the point of content and as an integrated component of existing information management software. In many cases, they provide one-stop shopping for content and permissions, and a convenient way to comply with copyright law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This empirical study sought to establish the views of a sample of 319 members of the British public concerning the practice of child-specific advertising. It also examined the sample members' relative levels of interest in child-specific advertisements that featured youngsters of specific ages, ethnicities and possessing various forms of disability (physical, psychological or behavioural). Interviews were conducted with individuals of the type targeted by an inner-London local government social services department in venues currently displaying the department's child-specific advertisements. The respondents were generally supportive of child-specific advertising, although older people and individuals of African or African-Caribbean heritage tended to be less enthusiastic about the practice than the rest of the sample. It emerged that behavioural problems were regarded as a more unattractive impairment than either a physical disability or a psychological difficulty. Single people, the less well educated, females, white and mixed-race respondents, and persons with highly altruistic dispositions exhibited significantly different preference structures vis-a-vis alternative combinations of attributes (age, ethnicity and form of impairment) associated with children requiring adoption. The findings should assist managers of local government adoption units to draft child-specific advertisements in manners that maximise the probability of their securing substantial numbers of serious enquiries from particular target audiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solomon (1983) proposed that products, as social stimuli, influence reflected appraisals. Appraisals, in turn, influence self-definition. Kleine, Kleine, and Kernan (1993, study 2) empirically supported Solomon's hypothesis. Appraisals were found to completely mediate the relationship between possessions and self-definition. Appraisals are thus an essential link between possession sets and individuals' self-definitions. The current study extends the Kleine et al. (1993) model in two important ways. First, we combined insights from identity theory, appraisal theory, and the sociology of emotions literatures to offer a more precise and comprehensive conceptualization of the appraisal process that includes both cognitive and emotional components. The conceptualization distinguishes appraisals of possessions from appraisals of performance and reflected versus self-appraisals. Second, symbolic interactionist theory suggests that social interactions and media are social communication discourses that, like possessions, influence self-definitions via appraisals. The extended model incorporates these possibilities. Data collected from individuals with an identity based on one of two freely chosen athletic activities provides encouraging support for the extended model. The result pattern provides insights into how appraisals mediate the relationship between social communication discourses and self-definition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of romanità (Romanness) is used as a framework for exploring the modes of spectatorship elicited by the floor mosaics from the Foro Mussolini's Piazzale dell'Impero, a space designed by Luigi Moretti and inaugurated in 1937. While the piazzale's floor mosaics clearly evoked the formal features of ancient Roman pavements, they also resulted in a kinesthetic viewing experience that recalled such precedents. What made this viewing experience ideologically productive was the particular way Moretti used the mosaics to move spectators, both physically and affectively, in hopes of heightening their sense of engagement with Fascist Italy's pursuit of empire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study examined patterns in online communication using computer-mediated discourse analysis to better understand how teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence are manifested in an online learning environment. The findings indicate that study participants actively participated in the discussion. The instructor and facilitators displayed high teaching presence through posting encouraging social words and maintaining a positive emotional tone, which created an open communication environment for student discussion. To promote students' cognitive development, the acts that their words described included to "inform" and "elaborate" to help students construct knowledge by providing factual information and extending or embellishing upon points made. Students displayed social presence by using more social and positive emotion words, and tone, which signaled that they were satisfied with the discussion. Students' cognitive presence was manifested through making claims, providing information and elaboration on posted comments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional perspectives on small discussion groups often focus on either the individual or group level of analysis, but rarely both. Following Borgatta and Bales (1953), I argue that group-level constructs are built from individual actions, and that the distribution of different interaction profiles leads to group-level assessments that are sometimes different from, but based on, assessments made at the individual level. The current study applies multilevel latent profile analysis (MLPA) to a previously published data set to identify interaction profiles at the individual level and determine whether those profiles (a) are interdependent and (b) allow for the classification of groups. MLPA identified three interaction profiles at the individual level and, based on those profiles, two classes of groups emerged. Discussion addresses the impact of the findings on conceptualizing and studying small-group interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific objective: Analysis of the perspectives and the diversified conceptualisations of the development of the Polish media and communication studies within the context of the changing conditions of the organisation of the Polish academic life. The author calls for the consideration of the gains and the dangers of the narrow, strictly delineated concept of the media study associated with the political science paradigm, and of the concept of the loose, multidisciplinary federation. They ponder the negative impact of the disciplinary mechanisms aimed at raising the performativity and measurability of the results and forcing researchers to publish abroad in English, on the development of the media research in Poland. Research methods: The author carried out the overview of the conceptualisations of the discipline since its early days in Poland, and the meta-analysis of the proposed new systemic solutions. Results and conclusions: The author points to the possible solution of the problem through 1/intentional actions of the profession leading to the reinforcement of the status of the media and communication studies as the academic study, and not just the set of the skills and techniques, 2/purposeful re-definition of the criteria of success and scholarly quality within the shared field of academic production. Cognitive value: Discussion about the status and the future of media and communication science is nowadays the urgent need within the media studies community. Media studies journal is the fitting context for the discussion of such kind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the social construction in U.S. young adults of the meaning surrounding dying and death, including in regard to coordinated management of meaning theory (CMM). An overview of communication on death, including family members' communicating their grief, conversations on death and medical professionals' avoiding communicating on death, is provided.

The article offers information on the communication of scientists with the society. Topics discussed include views on the issues with the communication skills in scientists; difference between the scientist communicated research and public opinion; and views on several effort to encourage communication skills of scientist like scientific meetings and training of scientist.

In this technological world, the major challenge is to improve and extend the range of communication aids. This can happen only by developing an atmosphere of acceptance from various sources. Language is a tool that enables the people to communicate and it amazes us with the abundance of different words, meanings and ways of usage that it has. The effect of globalization paved way for an increase in language learners, especially English. This research paper deals with the insight of language as a tool to express the views of people in a multicultural society through digital media. With the help of media even a single concept of language gives wide pluralized views from different angles. The paper will further be a base and will help us to understand the perception and usage of language in a multicultural society through different medium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A crucial human cognitive goal is to understand and to be understood. But understanding often takes active management. Two studies investigated early developmental processes of understanding management by focusing on young children's comprehension monitoring. We ask: When and how do young children actively monitor their comprehension of social-communicative interchanges and so seek to clarify and correct their own potential miscomprehension? Study 1 examined the parent-child conversations of 13 children studied longitudinally in everyday situations from the time the children were approximately 2 years through 3 years. Study 2 used a seminaturalistic situation in the laboratory to address these questions with more precision and control with 36 children aged 2-3 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is generally recognized that the term 'humaneness', signifying compassion, kindness or mercy, is the least appropriate among several candidates in the English language for use with crimes against humanity. Yet, this term has been used by one of the official languages of the United Nations — Russian. Crimes against humanity has been translated as 'crimes against humaneness' — prestupleniya protiv chelovechnosti — in the Russian versions of statutes of international criminal tribunals and courts. This translation distorts the concept of crimes against humanity and diminishes the gravity of this group of crimes. This article analyses the circumstances leading to the appearance of this term in the Russian version of draft Article 6(c) of the Statute of the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg. In addition, this article demonstrates that inconsistencies exist at Russian official translations of the notion which have resulted in interpretative confusions. The post-Nuremberg meaning of the term 'humanity' has evolved into 'humankind'. It is suggested that the current drafting process by the International Law Commission on the proposed convention on crimes against humanity may assist states in the proper interpretation and translation of crimes against humanity into their national law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles in the issue on topics including the development in communication skills, early childhood education and the primary schools.

Communication was born at the same time with humanity, and with the progression of historical ages the range of communication opportunities has become more widespread. Communication has the power, whether transmitted by words, images or even behavior, to shape the individual and thus the society. The greatest power of communication is its shaping potential. Individuals, organizations, companies, and governments are aware that what is being conveyed has an impact on the social values, but they also play a role in promoting societal problems, as empathy is the cornerstone of a healthy society. This article analyzes the following: (1) by what means and how did the communication of the expectations on women change during history (physical values/values regarding the appearance); (2) identifying the social problems of advertising campaigns; (3) the main guiding principle of Apple, Huawei and Samsung's advertising: the focus of their communication; (4) the values determined by Julia Roberts and the brands she represents; (5) the social problems promoted by world brands. The focus of the analyzes is on women, because women play a significant role in the implementation and solution of values and social problems, they also have an important role to play if they do not fight in the front line, but they are behind the scenes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this research is to assess the cross-cultural generalizability of persuasion effects predicted by dual process models. In two experiments, the impact of motivation, congruity of persuasive communication and the diagnosticity of heuristic cues on the processing strategies and product evaluations of members of a collectivist culture were compared with findings documented in past research in individualist cultures. This research supports the view that perceptual differences in cue diagnosticity account for systematic differences in persuasive effects across cultures. It is also suggested that existing theoretical frameworks, specifically the dual process models of persuasion, are robust across cultures and can help predict and explain cultural differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Verbalizations of the thoughts evoked by an advocacy message are used as data in many persuasion experiments. In this article, the theory and measurement principles underlying such research are examined, and a review of empirical evidence on the relationship between experimental treatments, verbalized thoughts, and ensuing topical judgments is presented. The conclusion is that verbalized thoughts may be valid indicants of some audience processing activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The patterns of public communication established with the institutionalization of television in the 1950's have become radically destabilized. The primary agents of this change are satellite broadcasting and computer technology in combination with cable transmission and interactive television. These developments have the potential for upsetting the established relations of power and profit within communications and reorganising the content of communication and the distribution of audiences across media. These changes do not constitute a revolution in the nature of public communication, however. Rather, new technologies deepen and intensify basic patterns of communications that came into existence with the birth of the national magazine and the modern newspaper in the 1890's. These media simultaneously created both a mass, national audience and the differentiated audience for specialized, national publication. The new media offer opportunities for creating both a mass, international audience, and new and more finely graded audience segments. These developments in turn erode the public sphere, as historically understood, and the possibility of public discourse as a ground condition of political life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses the constraints on creativity in advertising copy. He believes advertising is a form of communication with certain peculiar restraints. He explains it is rarely possible for an advertisement to be tailored to every reader. He contends that the function of advertising is the communication of a solution to a problem.

What is the relationship between society and the communication media? How do the media influence society? How does society influence the media? These questions stimulate much debate. There are some who hold that the influence of the media predominates, and that the media mold and control the patterns of society. Others believe that the media simply reflect what is already happening in society. This argument usually centers around media content McLuhan, however, has asserted that the characteristics of the media themselves, rather than the messages and communications they carry, are the media's chief influence on society. This article, which examines how society affects the media, also relegates the importance of media content, and explores the way in which society influences the expression of its communication media Two media are considered -- television (particularly television news) and advertising (particularly advertising in magazines). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the recent work on meaning (often labeled structural semantics) has been based upon the assumption that there is a semantic structure of English (or any other language) and that this structure is static enough to be described and to serve as a predictive device in language use settings. However, a consideration of certain dynamic or flexible aspects of language --namely context and figurative language use--makes structural interpretations of meaning and communication untenable. Certain theoretical arguments and empirical data suggest that there is no semantic structure per se, but that structures are created and dissolved in particular language and communication situations--i.e., that there is structuring but no ubiquitous structure. Implications for psychology and advertising are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on rhetorical theory and structuration, this article proposes genres of organizational communication as a concept useful for studying communication as embedded in social process rather than as the result of isolated rational actions. Genres (e.g.. the memo, the proposal, and the meeting) are typified communicative actions characterized by similar substance and form and taken in response to recurrent situations. These genres evolve over time in reciprocal interaction between institutionalized practices and individual human actions. They are distinct from communication media, though media may play a role in genre form, and the introduction of new media may occasion genre evolution. After the genre concept is developed, the article shows how it addresses existing limitations in research on media, demonstrates its usefulness in an extended historical example, and draws implications for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The children's television advertising environment generally is studied from the 1970s onward. Indeed, so little academic research was reported in the 1950s that the decade has been referred to as the prehistory of research on children's television advertising. The authors rectify that oversight by examining commercials of the 1950s in programs aimed at the child market. Content analysis shows marked distinctions from commercials of subsequent decades in total commercial time, product type, promotional appeals, age and gender of participants, production variables, and controversial techniques. Some of the differences are due to the television technology and technical standards of the 1950s, but others illustrate growth in advertisers' and television executives' understanding of the medium as a way to reach specialized child audiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors report the findings of an experiment comparing the effectiveness of television commercials with varied levels of information content (high vs. low) in the United States and the Republic of Korea. Cultural differences were used as a basis for the hypothesis. Consistent with expectations based on those cultural differences, the U.S. subjects responded more favourably to commercials with high information levels than did the Korean subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two current perspectives on the relationship between meaning and action differ with respect to the amount of shared meaning necessary for organization. We argue that these two perspectives can be integrated if we understand how communication links meaning and action. We provide empirical evidence to show that through communication, organized action can occur despite differences of interpretation among organizational members. Communication enables members to create equal-final meaning, from which organized action can follow. Our data revealed four communication mechanisms that generate and sustain equafinal meaning: metaphor, logical argument, affect modulation, and linguistic indirection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]