University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-1972 An exploratory investigation of children's responses to commercial content of television advertising in relation to their stages of cognitive development. Ronald S. Rubin University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Rubin, Ronald S., "An exploratory investigation of children's responses to commercial content of television advertising in relation to their stages of cognitive development." (1972). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 6195. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/6195 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ’ ■ © 1973 RONALD STUART RUBIN ALL RIGHTS RESERVED AN EXPLORATORY INVESTIGATION OF CHILDREN'S RESPONSES TO COMMERCIAL CONTENT OF TELEVISION ADVERTISING IN RELATION TO THEIR STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT A Dissertation Presented By RONALD STUART RUBIN Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts in partial Fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY September 1972 Major Subject Business Administration Ill AN EXPLORATORY INVESTIGATION OF CHILDREN'S RESPONSES TO COMMERCIAL CONTENT OF TELEVISION ADVERTISING IN RELATION TO THEIR STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT A Dissertation By RONALD STUART RUBIN Approved as to style and content by: rman of Commit tee) ent B. Monroe (Member) Donald G. Frederick September 1972 (Month) (Year) iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people have been most helpful and have contributed to the development of this study. The subject was suggested to me by Professor Kent Monroe as an outgrowth, of his interest in this area. Having estab¬ lished the point of departure. Professor Monroe continued to advise me throughout as chairman of my- dissertation committee, especially with regard to the final exposition and the discussion of the empirical re¬ sults. More important than his specific contributions, however, was the opportunity I had to work with, him, for which I am grateful. His keen insight, great patience, indefatigable energy, and unflagging interest helped the study and its author far more than a few words of thanks could possibly hope to convey. In the early stages, of the study, I benefited from a discussion with Professor Scott Ward of Harvard. The insight gained from his studies led me in the direction of the research effort described on the following pages. I am especially indebted to Mr. Ronald Laviolette, principal of the Bondsville Elementary School, Bondsville, Massachusetts, for permitting the interviews with the children of his school. I also thank the teachers of the Bondsville Elementary School for their cooperation. I thank the General Foods Corporation for being particularly generous in giving the films of the Pink Panther commercials for use in this study. The manuscript received very thorough readings from my dissertation committee. Their comments led to improvements ranging over the whole work. I thank Professors Gordon Paul, Donald Frederick, and Marvin Daehler for their guidance, understanding, help in refining the analysis, and their V penetrating comments and constructive suggestions. Mrs. Rendulic patiently typed the final manuscript. I am very grateful for her time and skillful effort which enabled the study to be presented most favorably. It must be emphasized that the massive good fortune associated with being able to call upon the range of talents indicated does not necessarily imply a corresponding ability to translate that assistance into an effec¬ tive end product. The analytical and expositional shortcomings which re¬ main are unambiguously the responsibility of the author. A final word of thanks is due to my lovely and loving wife, Cynthia, for her encouragement, her patience, and her devoted help throughout the research project - she made constructive suggestions, interviewed the children, read and reread many drafts of the study. And perhaps most important of all in the uncertain business of research, she had a much valued sense of perspective for what I was: trying to accomplish and her devotion throughout the project will always be remembered. To her I dedicate this dissertation. VI TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURE. ix ABSTRACT. xi CHAPTER I. TELEVISION, COMMERCIALS', AND CHILDREN 1 Introduction . 1 Television Advertising and Children The Federal Trade Commission Hearings . 2 Manipulative Aspects . 3 Delusive Information . 3 Product Information . 5 The Industry View. 6 Related Research . 7 Ward's Overview . 8 Learning Outcomes . 11 Effectiveness of Medium. 12 Conditioning Children . 14 Nature of Viewing Behavior . ..• 14 Summary. 16 II. NEED AND PURPOSE OF RESEARCH 19 Needed Research . 19 Research Objectives . 20 Conceptualization and Statement of Hypotheses. 22 Research Problem. 30 Summary. 30 III. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 33 Design Overview. 33 Product Type Used. 35 Commercial Used. 35 The Independent Variables . 37 Commercial Content . 37 Stage of Cognitive Development ........ 38 The Dependent Variable ... 39 The Measurement Instrument. 39 VI1 PAGE Pretesting the Questionnaire . 41 Subjects. 42 Procedures . .... 44 Summary. 47 IV. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS 49 Scheme for the Classification of Data ....... 49 Test of Hypotheses... 52 Preliminary Steps ............... 52 Hypothesis 1 ... ............. 54 Hypothesis 2 ...... 61 Hypothesis 3 . .. 64 Hypothesis 4 .... 68 Hypothesis 5 . .. 68 Hypothesis 6 .......... 73 Hypothesis 7 77 Further Analysis . 89 Summary. 101 V. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 103 Discussion. 1Q3 Ability to Recall Specific Elements of Commercial. 103 Amount of Elements Recalled . 105 Recall of Action Sequence of Commercial .... 106 Understanding the Use of the Product. 109 Awareness of "Commercial" . 110 Understanding of Commercial Purpose . Ill Conclusions. 114 Limitations. 114 Significance . 117 Suggestions for Future Research . 120 Summary. 124 REFERENCES. 125 APPENDIX A THE MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENT - THE QUESTIONNAIRE. 129 APPENDIX B PHOTOGRAPHS USED IN THE AIDED RECALL SECTION OF QUESTIONNAIRE. 134 APPENDIX C SEQUENCING OF SCENES . 139 Sequencing of Product-Oriented Commercial. 139 viii PAGE Sequencing of Premium-Oriented Commercial. 140 APPENDIX D TABLES COMPARING STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT . 142 IX LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURE Page Table 1 RECALL OF SPECIFIC ELEMENTS OF COMMERCIAL BY STAGE OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 56 Table 2 RECALL OF SPECIFIC ELEMENTS OF COMMERCIAL BY COMMERCIAL CONTENT PRESENTATION 57 Table 3 TYPES OF RESPONSES: SPECIFIC ELEMENTS OF COMMERCIAL BY STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 59 Table 4 TYPE OF RESPONSES: SPECIFIC ELEMENTS OF COMMERCIAL BY COMMERCIAL CONTENT PRESENTATION 60 Table 5 AMOUNT OF ELEMENTS RECALLED BY STAGE OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 62 Table 6 AMOUNT OF ELEMENTS RECALLED BY COMMERCIAL CONTENT PRESENTATION 63 Table 7 RECALL OF ACTION SEQUENCE OF COMMERCIAL BY STAGE OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 66 Table 8 RECALL OF ACTION SEQUENCE OF COMMERCIAL BY PRESENTATION OF COMMERCIAL CONTENT 69 Table 9 UNDERSTANDING THE USE OF THE PRODUCT BY STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 71 Table 10 UNDERSTANDING THE USE OF THE PRODUCT BY COMMERCIAL CONTENT PRESENTATION 72 Table 11 AWARENESS OF "COMMERCIAL" BY STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 74 Table 12 AWARENESS OF "COMMERCIAL" BY COMMERCIAL CONTENT PRESENTATION 76 Table 13 UNDERSTANDING OF COMMERCIAL PURPOSE BY STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 78 Table 14 UNDERSTANDING OF COMMERCIAL PURPOSE BY COMMERCIAL CONTENT PRESENTATION 80 Table 15 UNDERSTANDING OF WHY A COMMERCIAL IS MADE BY STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 81 Table 16 UNDERSTANDING OF WHY A COMMERCIAL IS MADE BY COMMERCIAL CONTENT PRESENTATION 83 X Page Table 17 UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IS TO BE WANTED BY STAGE OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 85 Table 18 UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IS TO BE WANTED BY COMMERCIAL CONTENT PRESENTATION 88 Table 19 AIDED RECALL OF SPECIFIC ELEMENTS OF COMMERCIAL BY STAGE OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 92 Table 20 AIDED RECALL OF SPECIFIC ELEMENTS OF COMMERCIAL BY COMMERCIAL CONTENT PRESENTATION 93 Table 21 AIDED RECALL OF AMOUNT OF ELEMENTS BY STAGE OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 94 Table 22 AIDED RECALL OF AMOUNT OF ELEMENTS BY COMMERCIAL CONTENT PRESENTATION 95 Table 23 AIDED RECALL OF ACTION SEQUENCE OF COMMERCIAL BY STAGE OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 97 Table 24 AIDED RECALL OF ACTION SEQUENCE OF COMMERCIAL BY PRESENTATION OF COMMERCIAL CONTENT 98 Figure 1 SCHEMATIC REPRESENTATION OF RESEARCH DESIGN 34 XI ABSTRACT An Exploratory Investigation of Children's Responses to Commercial Content of Television Advertising in Relation to Their Stages of Cognitive Development (September 1972) Ronald Stuart Rubin, B.A. Queens College, C.U.N.Y. M.A., University of Pennsylvania Ph. D., University of Massachusetts Directed by: Dr. Kent B. Monroe The objective of the dissertation is to explore television adver¬ tising viewing as it affects the "consumer learning process" of a child. The study is an exploratory investigation of children's responses to com¬ mercial content of television advertising in relation to their stages of cognitive development. The "consumer learning process" involves several different kinds of learning which can be ordered, in general,