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Research on persuasive cues of food placements in entertainment media targeted at children is still scarce. We investigated whether healthy food placements (i.e., fruit) connected to different pers...

We analyzed comedy series for food and beverage references, with particular attention to their type of presentation, along with the characteristics of actors associated with the references. Because the generally positive tone of comedy series can exert affective influence over audiences, the result that clearly unhealthy products appeared more often (food: 51.6%; beverage: 40.5%) than clearly healthy ones (food: 11.2%; beverage: 19.6%) could be especially problematic. Moreover, women (56.5%; men: 47.4%) and African American characters (62.7%; Caucasians: 51.5%; Other: 44.7%) were significantly more often associated with unhealthy foods, which could prompt stereotypes of such individuals.

Aim: The depiction of alcohol on television is an important explanatory variable for drinking behaviour. Even though alcohol consumption is frequently shown on popular TV shows, research on the impact of TV characters as models of drinking behaviour remains scarce. We theorise that the perceived similarity to a TV character is a key mechanism to explain recipients' expectancies about alcohol consumption. Methods: We conducted two experiments in which we manipulated the drinking behaviour of a TV character and the consequences of drinking. We measured perceived similarity to the character as amediating variable and treated participants' alcohol consumption as a moderator. Results: In both studies, perceived similarity to models predicted positive expectancies about alcohol consumption, and perceived similarity decreased with the portrayal of an alcoholic character. In Study 1, participants who reported drinking rarely perceived themselves to be more similar to a rare drinker, which suggests that viewers' own alcohol consumption affects similarity judgments. In Study 2, portrayals of consequences of drinking directly affected expectancies about alcohol, moderated by participants' alcohol consumption. Conclusion: Overall, our findings suggest that perceived similarity is a key variable to understand how alcohol on television affects viewers’ expectancies toward alcohol.

Research on media induced food choices of children has not sufficiently investigated whether food placements of snacks high in nutritional value can strengthen children's healthy eating behavior. Furthermore, we lack knowledge about the moderating role of children's individual characteristics such as parental food-related mediation or BMI. The current study combines data from an experiment involving children with a survey of their parents. We exposed children to a cartoon either containing no food placements, placements of mandarins (i.e., snack high in nutritional value), or placements of fruit gums (i.e., snack low in nutritional value). Afterwards, food consumption was measured by giving children the option to choose between fruit gums or mandarins. Children in both snack placement conditions showed stronger preference for the snack low in nutritional value (i.e., fruit gum) compared to the control group. Interestingly, neither restrictive nor active food-related mediation prevented the effects of the placements on children's choice of snacks low in nutritional value. Compared to children with a low BMI, children with high BMI levels had a stronger disposition to choose the fruit gums if a snack high in nutritional value (i.e., mandarin) was presented. Thus, making snacks high in nutritional attractive for children through media presentation might need stronger persuasive cues.

Dem Bild fallt als treibende Kraft im Persuasionsprozess eine besondere Rolle in der Werbung zu. Wie im ersten Teil dieses Beitrages aufgezeigt wird, setzen Werbetreibende gezielt ausergewohnliche Asthetik im Bild ein, um Aufmerksamkeit zu erregen und sie nutzen visuelle Rhetorik, um Produkte mit Assoziationen und Emotionen aufzuladen. Doch auch Wiedererkennung und Erinnerung von bildlichen Elementen sind im Vergleich zum reinen Text starker. Dies wird deutlich von der hier erklarten Picture Superiority Theorie gezeigt. Doch die assoziative Logik von Bildern kann auch zu Fehlschlussen fuhren. So beleuchtet der letzte Teil des Kapitels, wie Werbung zur Reproduktion von Stereotypen beitragen oder RezipientInnen in die Irre fuhren kann, was wir am Thema Greenwashing beispielhaft aufzeigen.

On Facebook, companies not only actively spread branded content themselves, they also encourage users to do so. Hence, persuasive messages blend into the stream of content, making it increasingly d...

The role of placement characteristics such as brand integration and placement frequency for brand outcomes on children has largely been ignored in extant research. We also lack insights about parental mediation as a potential moderator in this context. The present paper describes an experimental study in which children were exposed to different versions of a cartoon movie which included a moderately or frequently placed chips brand. The brand was either presented as a screen- or as a plot-placement. Children's attitudinal and behavioral outcomes were matched with surveys completed by their parents who answered questions about their mediation strategies. Compared to screen-placements, moderately and frequently presented plot-placements lead to an increase in children's product choice. Parents’ advertising mediation strategies were not able to prevent this behavioral outcome. Our findings offer insights into children's susceptibility to product placement effects relevant to parents, educators, and policy regulators.

Many correlative and experimental studies indicate that the portrayal of alcohol in the mass media impacts viewers’ alcohol expectancies, attitudes, and behaviors. Based on social cognitive theory,...

This study analyzed the portrayal of alcohol in the most popular workplace-related TV dramas. Based on social cognitive theory, we coded the extent and context of all alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverage appearances as well as character-beverage interaction. Motivations to drink, topic, portrayed outcomes related to alcohol, and the characteristics of models associated with alcohol were also analyzed. More than 90% of the episodes contained depictions or references to alcohol. Although less alcohol was portrayed at the workplace compared to other locations, still nearly one third of all consumed beverages at work were alcoholic. Regardless of the location, character–beverage interaction was more likely for alcoholic than nonalcoholic beverages. The main motivation to drink alcohol was social ease, and only a few outcomes of alcohol consumption were presented. Overall, findings suggest that television dramas convey the image that alcohol at the workplace is ubiquitous, socially accepted, and without many se...