Thesis
Strategic ambiguity: the effects of viewing ambiguous advertisements on college students
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
2010
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/103252
Abstract
Objective: Alcohol advertising is self regulated by an internal review board that reviews complaints and issues sanctions when deemed necessary. Previous research has determined that alcohol advertisements may violate the intentions of the guidelines while still strictly adhering to the codes, which could be seen as a form of ambiguity. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of such ambiguous content and compare it with unambiguous versions of the same advertisements to determine the role ambiguity plays in perceptions, intentions and attitudes related to drinking. Methods: A 3 (condition) X 3 (level of consumption) pre and post test experiment was conducted with 377 participants. Participants came into a lab, completed a pretest, and then returned a week later. Participants then viewed four advertisements that differed by advertisement ambiguity level and completed a post test questionnaire. The conditions included an ambiguous condition; an unambiguous condition that used the same advertisements as the ambiguous condition but with alterations so the ambiguity was removed; and a control condition of non-beverage advertisements. Results: Both alcohol consumption and condition did have an effect on a variety of measures. General and personal appeal toward the ads differed by condition, with the unambiguous condition having the least appeal. Appeal to people less than 21 also differed by condition. Desirability was also influenced by the advertisements, with the ambiguous and unambiguous advertisements having a greater impact on desirability than the control. Conditions did not influence alcohol expectancies or intentions to consume alcohol. Conclusions: It is evident that ambiguous advertisements may play a role in opinions related to alcohol consumption, but not necessarily to behavioral intentions when there is only minimal exposure. Exposure to alcohol advertising in general had an effect on desirability. And although participants did not feel the ads appealed to them personally, participants did feel that the ambiguous ads would be more appealing to people who are less than 21 years of age. This could have implications for the advertising industry.
Metrics
32 File views/ downloads
59 Record Views
Details
- Title
- Strategic ambiguity
- Creators
- Jessica K. Fitts
- Contributors
- Stacey J. T. Hust (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Edward R. Murrow College of Communication
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; Pullman, Wash. :
- Identifiers
- 99900525128801842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis