Finally: scientific evidence that advertising
- Posted by Kati on June 20th, 2002 filed in Lifeblog in english
Finally: scientific evidence that advertising in a violent and/or erotic/sexual context is NOT a wise thing to do. Quote from an article in the Journal of Applied Psychology - Violence and sex impair memory for television ads (PDF format) by two Iowa State University researchers:
“Participants watched a violent, sexually explicit, or neutral TV program that contained 9 ads. Participants recalled the advertised brands. They also identified the advertised brands from slides of supermarket shelves. The next day, participants were telephoned and asked to recall again the advertised brands. Results showed better memory for people who saw the ads during a neutral program than for people who saw the ads during a violent or sexual program both immediately after exposure and 24 hr later. Violence and sex impaired memory for males and females of all ages, regardless of whether they liked programs containing violence and sex. These results suggest that sponsoring violent and sexually explicit TV programs might not be a profitable venture for advertisers.”
Plus, from the conclusion, even wiser words:
“It is unlikely that moral appeals from parents and other concerned citizens will influence the TV industry to reduce the amount of violence and sex on television. The bottom line -profits- actually determines what programs are shown on television. If advertisers refused to sponsor them, violent and sexually explicit TV programs would become extinct. According to former CBS programming chief Jeff Sagansky, “The number one priority in television is not to transmit quality programming to viewers, but to deliver consumers to advertisers.” (Kim, 1994, p. 1434). The current findings suggest that advertisers should think twice about sponsoring violent and sexually explicit TV programs.”
I hope advertising execs read the paper. If you know one, send them the link!