Heidi Stambuck

This study examined what differences exist between the work of public relations professionals (also called communicators) who are members of CASE, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, at colleges and universities ranked in the top 20 by U.S. News & World Report and CASE-member communicators at colleges and universities that are ranked between 21 and 200 in their behavior in four areas: (1) communication goals they consider top priorities, (2) types of communication tasks they perform, (3) types of media in which they purchase advertising, and (4) their rating of audience importance. A survey completed by CASE-member communicators at colleges and universities found very little difference between the two groups in these four areas. These findings support the premise of institutional theory that organizations adopt similar behaviors because they face similar pressures, both formal and informal, that influence them. This study also finds that possible pressures influencing these communicators include the U.S. News & World Report rankings of colleges and universities and CASE ethical and operational principles.

Jessica Powviriya

This study examined 148 of the 156 of the National Advertising Review Board (NARB) cases (or 95 percent), which were decided through 2009. The study analyzed case decisions for whether ads were substantiated, the medium used and comparison advertising. Results suggest that the household products and services group was the most frequent category of concern in the NARB casework, accounting for most of the cases involving substantiation and comparative advertising.

Jonathon Modica

This study investigates whether aspects of food advertising differ significantly between the two cable networks of BET and MTV. The study examined advertising in programming that targeted both African Americans and the general population of adolescents. According to social learning theory and social cognitive theory, it is believed that different emotional appeals and production techniques may encourage adolescents to adopt the behavior that is displayed in U.S. television advertising. The frequent use of production techniques and emotional appeals in this study suggests that many children, regardless of race, are being exposed to so many distractions during commercials that they might not be able to process other important information in food and beverage advertisements. These distractions could cause children to be less attentive to messages within the context of commercials that contain valuable information (i.e. disclaimers) that should be considered before consuming the product. This raises concern because nutrition should be the most important appeal of a food or beverage. If children become accustomed to commercials that only feature live visual effects, they may become oblivious of commercials that do not contain such techniques, but provide valuable nutrition information. Food manufacturers should focus on making more nutritious foods, and advertisers should utilize appropriate methods to convey the message of nutrition to children through commercials.

Juhee Cho

A Content Analysis of Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertising on Television: Do DTC Prescription Drug Ads Provide Fair and Balanced Information?