Attitudes Toward Television Commercials in Five Major Urban Cities.

Transcription

1 Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1972 Attitudes Toward Television Commercials in Five Major Urban Cities. Claude Conyer Fuller Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: Recommended Citation Fuller, Claude Conyer, "Attitudes Toward Television Commercials in Five Major Urban Cities." (1972). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact

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3 73-13,662 FULLER, Claude Conyer, ATTITUDES TOWARD TELEVISION CCM^ERCIALS IN FIVE MAJOR URBAN CITIES. The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Ph.D., 1972 Speech U niversity Microfilms, A XEROX C om pany, A nn Arbor, M ichigan 1973 CLAUDE C uny ER FULLER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

4 ATTITUDES TOWARD TELEVISION COMMERCIALS IN FIVE MAJOR URBAN CITIES A D issertatio n Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State U niversity and A g ricu ltu ral and Mechanical College in p a r tia l fu lfillm e n t of the requirem ents for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Speech by Claude C. F u ller B.S., West Texas State U niversity, 1953 M.A., West Texas State U niversity, 1954 December, 1972

5 PLEASE NOTE: Some p ag es may have indistinct print. Filmed as re c e iv e d. University Microfilms, A Xerox Education Company

6 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This w rite r wishes to express ap p reciatio n to Dr. John H, Pennybacker for his wisdom, c o rd ia lity, and patience in d ire c tin g th is d is s e rta tio n. He is very g ra te fu l to John Paul Kapp, computer programmer of Northeast Louisiana U niversity and Dr. L. M. McKneely who gave him much needed e d ito r ia l assistan ce and encouragement. To Lelia Galey, a deceased r e la tiv e, who gave me her unrelenting fa ith in my p o te n tia l. He is indebted most to h is e n tire family who gave fin a n c ia l, moral, and p a tie n t support during these years of hope for educational and in te lle c tu a l achievement. i l

7 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAT ACKNOWLEDGMENTS... LIST OF TABLES... ABSTRACT... i i vi x CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION... 1 Statement of Problem... 4 Methodology... S I I. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Overview of A ttitu d es Toward T elevision Commercials by the Public and B roadcasters I I I. ANALYSIS OF ATTITUDES TOWARD TELEVISION COMMERCIALS General A t t i t u d e s Age Groups Income Levels Education Attainment L evel M ale-f em ale Color and Black and White Set Owners A ttitu d in a l Com plaints Age Groups Income L evel Educational L e v e l M ale-f em ale Black and White - Color TV Set D ifferences Favorable Points About T elevision Commercials Age Groups Income Level Educational Level Male and Female Set O w n e r s i l l

8 CHAPTER IV. PAGE RECALL OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS DURING AN AVERAGE EVENING OF VIEWING Number of Commercials Recalled in an Average Evening of Viewing Age Groups Income Levels Educational L evels M ale-f em ale Black and White - Color TV Set D ifferen ces Audio and/or Visual Factors by Demographic Groups Age Groups Educational L evels Income Levels M ale-f em ale Black and White - Color TV Set D ifferen ces Types of Commercials Appealing to Respondents Age Groups Income Levels Educational L ev els M ale-f em ale Black and White - Color TV Set D ifferen ces V. EFFECTS OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS ON BUYING HABITS Purchased Three to Five Items in the Past Three Months Age Groups Income Levels Educational L evels M ale-fem ale Black and White and Color Set Owners Did Not A ffect B u y in g Age Groups Income L e v e l s Education Groups M ale-fem ale Black and White and Color Set Owners VI. ATTITUDES TOWARD TELEVISION COMMERCIALS AS A SOURCE OF SUPPORT FOR TELEVISION ENTERTAINMENT Best Way of Paying for T e le v is io n Age Groups Income L e v e l s Education Groups... I l l M ale-fem ale... I l l Black and White and Color Set Owners... I l l iv

9 CHAPTER PAGE I f No TV Commercials, Support P r e f e r r e d Age Groups Income Levels Education Groups M ale-f em ale Black and White and Color Set Owners VII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDIX A APPENDIX B APPENDIX C VITA 178

10 LIST OF TABLES NUMBER OF QUESTIONNAIRES SENT AND RETURNED FROM THE FIVE MAJOR URBAN CITIES... PERCENTAGE OF THE TOTAL SAMPLE ACCORDING TO AGE GROUPS COMPARED TO NATIONAL CENSUS DATA... PERCENTAGE OF THE TOTAL SAMPLE ACCORDING TO SEX COMPARED TO NATIONAL CENSUS DATA..., PERCENTAGE OF THE TOTAL SAMPLE BY INCOME LEVEL COMPARED TO NATIONAL CENSUS DATA..., PERCENTAGE OF THE TOTAL SAMPLE ACCORDING TO EDUCATION COMPARED TO NATIONAL CENSUS DATA.... PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL SAMPLE ACCORDING TO TELEVISION SET OWNERSHIP... "DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE THAT HAVING COMMERCIALS ON TV IS A FAIR PRICE TO PAY FOR BEING ABLE TO WATCH IT?"... "WHICH ONE OF THESE FOUR STATEMENTS COMES CLOSEST TO DESCRIBING HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT COMMERCIALS ON TELEVISION?"... ROPER S SURVEY - OPINIONS EXPRESSED CONCERNING TELEVISION COMMERCIALS... ATTITUDES EXPRESSED TOWARDS TELEVISION COMMERCIALS BY ENTIRE URBAN SAMPLE... ATTITUDE EXPRESSED TOWARDS TELEVISION COMMERCIALS BY VARIOUS AGE GROUPS... ATTITUDES EXPRESSED TOWARDS TELEVISION COMMERCIALS BY INCOME GROUPS... ATTITUDES EXPRESSED TOWARDS TELEVISION COMMERCIALS BY EDUCATION GROUPS... vi

11 TABLE PAGE 14 ATTITUDES EXPRESSED TOWARDS TELEVISION COMMERCIALS BY SEX GROUPS ATTITUDES EXPRESSED TOWARDS TELEVISION COMMERCIALS BY BLACK AND WHITE SET OWNERS AND COLOR SET OWNERS COMPLAINTS SELECTED BY THE ENTIRE URBAN SAMPLE COMPLAINTS SELECTED BY VARIOUS AGE GROUPS COMPLAINTS SELECTED BY INCOME GROUPS COMPLAINTS SELECTED BY EDUCATION GROUPS COMPLAINTS SELECTED BY SEX GROUPS COMPLAINTS SELECTED BY BLACK AND WHITE SET OWNERS AND COLOR SET OWNERS FAVORABLE POINTS SELECTED BY ENTIRE URBAN SAMPLE FAVORABLE POINTS SELECTED BY VARIOUS AGE GROUPS FAVORABLE POINTS SELECTED BY INCOME GROUPS FAVORABLE POINTS SELECTED BY EDUCATION GROUPS FAVORABLE POINTS SELECTED BY SEX GROUPS FAVORABLE POINTS SELECTED BY BLACK SET OWNERS AND COLOR SET OWNERS NUMBER OF COMMERCIALS RESPONDENTS RECALLED SEEING BY THE ENTIRE URBAN SAMPLE RESPONSES EXPRESSED TOWARDS TELEVISION COMMERCIALS BY VARIOUS AGE GROUPS ATTITUDES EXPRESSED TOWARDS TELEVISION COMMERCIALS BY INCOME GROUPS ATTITUDES EXPRESSED TOWARDS TELEVISION COMMERCIALS BY EDUCATION GROUPS ATTITUDES EXPRESSED TOWARDS TELEVISION COMMERCIALS BY SEX GROUPS ATTITUDES EXPRESSED TOWARDS TELEVISION COMMERCIALS BY BLACK AND WHITE SET OWNERS AND COLOR SET OWNERS vii

12 PAGE ORAL AND VISUAL FACTORS RECALLED BY RESPONDENTS OF THE ENTIRE URBAN SAMPLE ORAL AND VISUAL FACTORS RECALLED BY RESPONDENTS BY VARIOUS AGE GROUPS ORAL AND VISUAL FACTORS RECALLED BY RESPONDENTS BY LEVELS OF INCOME ORAL AND VISUAL FACTORS RECALLED BY RESPONDENTS BY EDUCATION GROUPS ORAL AND VISUAL FACTORS RECALLED BY RESPONDENTS BY SEX GROUPS ORAL AND VISUAL FACTORS RECALLED BY RESPONDENTS OF BLACK AND WHITE AND COLOR SET OWNERS TYPES OF COMMERCIALS APPEALING BY ENTIRE URBAN SAMPLE.. 80 TYPES OF COMMERCIALS APPEALING BY VARIOUS AGE GROUPS TYPES OF COMMERCIALS APPEALING BY LEVELS OF INCOME TYPES OF COMMERCIALS APPEALING BY EDUCATION GROUPS TYPES OF COMMERCIALS APPEALING BY SEX GROUPS TYPES OF COMMERCIALS APPEALING BY BUCK AND WHITE AND COLOR SET OWNERS NUMBER OF ITEMS PURCHASED IN PAST THREE MONTHS AS A RESULT OF TV BY ENTIRE URBAN SAMPLE EFFECTS OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS ON BUYING BY VARIOUS AGE GROUPS - PURCHASED THREE TO FIVE ITEMS EFFECTS OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS ON BUYING BY INCOME LEVELS - PURCHASED THREE TO FIVE ITEMS EFFECTS OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS ON BUYING BY LEVEL OF EDUCATION - PURCHASED THREE TO FIVE ITEMS EFFECTS OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS ON BUYING BY SEX GROUPS - PURCHASED THREE TO FIVE ITEMS EFFECTS OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS ON BUYING BY BUCK AND WHITE AND COLOR SET OWNERS - PURCHASED THREE TO FIVE ITEMS viii

13 TABLE PAGE 52 EFFECTS OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS ON BUYING BY VARIOUS AGE GROUPS - NO INFLUENCE EFFECTS OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS ON BUYING BY LEVELS OF INCOME - NO INFLUENCE EFFECTS OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS ON BUYING BY EDUCATION GROUPS - NO INFLUENCE EFFECTS OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS ON BUYING BY SEX GROUPS - NO INFLUENCE EFFECTS OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS ON BUYING BY BLACK AND WHITE AND COLOR SET OWNERS - NO INFLUENCE BEST WAY OF PAYING FOR TELEVISION BY ENTIRE SAMPLE BEST WAY OF PAYING FOR TELEVISION BY VARIOUS AGE GROUPS BEST WAY OF PAYING FOR TELEVISION BY LEVEL OF INCOME BEST WAY OF PAYING FOR TELEVISION BY EDUCATION GROUPS BEST WAY OF PAYING FOR TELEVISION BY SEX GROUPS BEST WAY OF PAYING FOR TELEVISION BY BLACK AND WHITE AND COLOR SET OWNERS ATTITUDES EXPRESSED BY THE ENTIRE URBAN SAMPLE CON CERNING THEIR PREFERENCE OF SUPPORTING TELEVISION IF THERE WERE NO TELEVISION COMMERCIALS BEST WAY OF PAYING FOR TELEVISION IF THERE WERE NO TV COMMERCIALS - AGE GROUPS BEST WAY OF PAYING FOR TELEVISION IF THERE WERE NO TV COMMERCIALS - INCOME LEVELS BEST WAY OF PAYING FOR TELEVISION IF THERE WERE NO TV COMMERCIALS - EDUCATION GROUPS BEST WAY OF PAYING FOR TELEVISION IF THERE WERE NO TV COMMERCIALS - SEX GROUPS BEST WAY OF PAYING FOR TELEVISION IF THERE WERE NO TV COMMERCIALS - BLACK AND WHITE AND COLOR SET OWNERS lx

14 ABSTRACT The purpose of th is study was to evaluate a ttitu d e s toward te le v isio n commercials as found in fiv e major urban c itie s of the United S tates. This study used the demographic facto rs of age groups, income le v e ls, educational achievement, sex, and ownership of black and white or color s e ts. This study examined the answers of a random sample of respondents to a questionnaire including the following general question a re as: (1) What were the a ttitu d e s of the e n tire urban sample toward te le v isio n commercials? (2) What complaints were given about te le v isio n commercials? (3) What were the good points about te le v isio n commercials? (4) How many TV commercials did respondents re c a ll seeing in an average evening of viewing? (5) What were the oral and v isu al facto rs of commercials of which respondents were most aware? (6 ) What type of commercials did the respondents report as appealing to them? (7) What e ffe c t did te le v isio n commercials have on the respondents purchases during the la s t three months? (8 ) Are te le v isio n commercials the best way to support TV? and (9) I f there were no TV commercials, which form of support would be most desirable? Conelusions 1. What were the a ttitu d e s of the sample towards te le v isio n commercials? Approximately 62% of those surveyed found TV commercials h elp fu l in product se le c tio n. These re s u lts were obtained by combining the

15 responses to the f i r s t two questions "provides a source of inform ation about av ailab le products" and "ac tu a lly helps me choose the brand to buy." 2. What complaints were given about te le v isio n commercials? The most frequently mentioned complaint was th a t TV commercials were repeated too often (71%). The second highest complaint was too many TV commercials (58%) while " in su ltin g to the in te llig e n c e " had 54%. 3. What were the good points about te le v isio n commercials? This study found 37% of the sample checked TV commercials as "en tertain in g " and 33% noted commercials as "inform ative." 4. How many TV commercials did respondents re c a ll seeing in an average evening viewing? Approximately 50% of the e n tire sample recalled seeing "more than twelve" commercials in an average evening of viewing. 5. What were the o ra l and v isu al fa c to rs of TV commercials th at respondents were most aware of upon recall? Musical background during TV commercials received the highest o ra l/v isu a l facto rs response (52%). 6. What type of commercials did the respondents report as being appealing to them? Respondents from the e n tire sample seemed to p refer "outdoor scenes" to other types of commercials. Almost 54% chose th is category. Cartoons were second most popular w ith a 45.6% response. 7. What e ffe c t did te le v isio n commercials have on the respondents' purchases during the past three months? A m ajority of 6 8 % f e lt TV commercials had no influence on th e ir xi

16 buying h ab its while 26% checked they had purchased "three to fiv e" items in the past three months as a re s u lt of viewing TV. 8. Are te le v isio n commercials the best way of supporting telev isio n? This study found 69% of the to ta l sample was in favor of "comm ercial" te le v isio n while 18% favored another type of fin a n c ial support for TV. 9. I f there were no te le v isio n commercials, which form of support would be most desirable? This study found 69.5% of the to ta l sample would be w illin g to pay a monthly fee or support meter TV i f there were no TV commercials. Government support was selected by 19% of the to ta l sample. xii

17 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The viewing public in the United S tates spends nearly seven hours a day watching te le v isio n. Such a proportion of le isu re time spent in one a c tiv ity is in d icativ e of so cial facto rs and individual ta s te s. This study was undertaken to find and evaluate the a ttitu d e s of the viewing public towards one aspect of te le v isio n --th e commercials which support te le v isio n in America. The 1972 Broadcasting Yearbook c itin g a study by A. C. Nielsen Company reported th a t the average viewer spends six hours and twenty minutes per day watching te lev isio n * while Broadcasting magazine re ported 45.3 hours weekly for non-color homes and 50.9 hours weekly in the ty p ical color homes. Such an amount of time could have an enormous impact upon watchers and could be e ith e r b e n eficia l or dangerous. For th is reason, i f for no o th er, th is large use of leisu re time should be studied to determine a ttitu d e s towards te le v isio n comm ercials and some of th e ir possible e f f e c ts. These problems have long been the concern of the general *1972 Broadcasting Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Broadcasting P ublications I n c., 1972), p. 71. ^"54.5% of TV Homes Color-Equipped, Says NBC," Broadcasting. LXXXII:21 (May 22, 1972), p. 56.

18 2 viewing p u b lic, ad v ertisin g agencies, b ro ad casters, psychologists, and so cio lo g ists who have studied a ttitu d e s in order to determine why people buy and what influences them to purchase a p a rtic u la r product. A ttitu d es toward te le v isio n commercials have been analyzed, researched, discussed and reviewed since the advent of te le v isio n ju s t as commerc ia ls on radio have long been examined and d isse c te d. Researchers have wanted to know what the re a l influences are on the purchase of a p a rtic u la r product even though the te le v isio n commercial i t s e l f may be laughed at or cast off as seemingly unim portant. M otivational r e searchers have also sought to know i f people purchase a p a rtic u la r product knowingly or through sublim inal or "im pulsive buying," A ttitudes, th erefo re, are important to the sponsors of te le v isio n commerc ia ls, the public, and c e rta in ly to in v e stig ato rs in a l l aspects of the te le v isio n industry. Research in to the a ttitu d e s of te le v isio n viewers has been given high p rio r ity by both educators and by the broadcasting in d u stry. Summaries of the major stu d ies are presented in Appendix A and major d irectio n s of th is research are discussed in Chapter I I. The o v erall concern about a ttitu d e s toward te le v isio n and te l e v isio n commercials has been summarized by Bernard Berelson in the foreword to one of the most thorough recent studies of the American viewing public and th e ir a ttitu d e s toward te le v isio n. In Gary A. S te in e r's book The People Look a t T elevision Berelson made th is succinct s ta t e ment : For about fifte e n years now, te le v isio n has been a t, or close to, the cen ter of a tte n tio n in America. The people have been

19 3 watching te le v isio n, and the c r i t i c s, commentators, and educators have been watching the people watching te le v isio n. On the whole, the one has liked what i t saw; the o th er, n o t. Anything a ttra c tin g so much a tte n tio n and taking up so much time is bound to come in for close scru tin y in a society as open and as self-conscious as ours. So i t is no wonder th a t, ju s t as i t has taken over th e ir audiences, te le v isio n has taken over from radios and movies as a subject of controversy and debate: Is i t good? Is i t good enough? Can i t be b e tte r? Should i t be b etter? How should i t be run? Who is responsible? Is i t ruining American ta s te, m o rality, values? Is i t s u ffic ie n tly u p liftin g or only Playtime U.S.A.?^ Berelson continued in h is foreword in S te in e r's book... I can only hope th a t the research community, the broadcasting in d u stry, the government o ffic e rs involved, the c r itic s and the commentators, and a l l other p a rtie s in te re ste d in the present and the future of th is most powerful study of communication media - th a t each w ill see in th is study of te le v isio n, as I do, a large body of informed findings for th e ir consideration and th e ir r e f le c tio n. 4 This study was undertaken to co n trib u te fu rth er to the body of knowledge about public a ttitu d e s toward te le v isio n commercials. These a ttitu d e s toward te le v isio n commercials are discussed in Chapters I I I, IV, V, and VI. This study concentrates upon the a ttitu d e s of a selected urban sample toward te le v isio n commercials and the effectiv en ess of the comm ercials as stim ulants to purchase products. These findings were reported by the respondents in a questionnaire d istrib u te d to a random sample. This study w ill examine a ttitu d e s toward te le v isio n commercials JGary A. S tein er. The People Look a t Television (New York: A lfred A. Knopf, 1963), p. v i i. 4 I b id., p. x.

20 4 found in a cross sectio n of five major c i t i e s in the United S tates: P hilad elp h ia, Pennsylvania; A tlan ta, Georgia; Columbus, Ohio; D allas, Texas; and San Diego, C alifo rn ia. These five c i t i e s were chosen to represent the fiv e geographically d iffe re n t urban areas of the United S ta te s: the E ast, the South, the Midwest, the Southwest, and the West. STATEMENT OF PROBLEM S p e c ific a lly, th is study w ill focus on the following questions: (1) What were the general a ttitu d e s of the urban sample toward commercials? (2) What complaints were made about te le v isio n commercials? (3) What were the p o sitiv e facto rs of te le v isio n commercials? (4) How many commercials did a lis te n e r re c a ll a f te r an average evening of viewing? (5) What oral and v isu al facto rs were the te le v isio n viewers most aware of on recall? (6 ) What types o f commercials were reported as most appealing to the respondent? (7) Did viewers feel te le v isio n commercials were the best way of paying fo r telev isio n? ( 8 ) I f there were no te le v isio n commercials, what type of financing would be p re fe r able to support te le v isio n broadcasting? A Roper Survey in 1969 found the percentage of people r e f le c tin g lik es toward te le v isio n commercials and d islik e s toward commerc ia ls had not changed between 1967 and I t was reported People who lik e commercials (57%) s t i l l outnumber those who d is lik e them (38%) by about three to two. The number who think commercials are a f a ir price to pay for te le v isio n stands a t 80%, as i t did in ^"T elevision in the Crucible of Public Opinion," B roadcasting. LXXVT:13 (March 31, 1969), 49.

21 5 Bauer and Greyser gave an overview of the p eo p le's a ttitu d e toward te le v isio n and ad v ertisin g when they said The American public opinion of ad v ertisin g is preponderantly favorable. People ta lk about i t a lo t, often c r i t i c a l l y, but i t ' s not a subject of major concern for them. Despite what so cial c r i t i c s say, few people think i t is in need of immediate change, and no more than one percent think i t needs more government regulatio n.^ This study attem pts to analyze more than simple likes and d is lik e s. I t seeks to delve deeper in to sp ecific a ttitu d e s toward t e l e v isio n commercials. What, fo r in stan ce, were the a ttitu d e s of the th irty -e ig h t percent who claimed to d islik e commercials in 1968? What caused th e ir negative a ttitu d e? A dditionally, th is study seeks to determine the p o sitiv e and negative aspects of te le v isio n commercials in the minds of the sample. Although te le v isio n coomercials have been analyzed, studied, and dissected through various means of research, few have probed deeply in to sp ec ific viewer a ttitu d e s toward coom ercials. This study, then, attem pts to is o la te and id e n tify a wider range of a ttitu d e s toward te le v isio n commercials. METHODOLOGY The questionnaire used in th is study appears in Appendix B. I t was formulated from the basic questions asked by S tein er in his 1960 study.^ From th is wide ranging questionnaire some questions were ^"A dvertising: The Public View," B roadcasting, LXXV:3 CJulv 15, 1968), ^S tein er, op. c i t.

22 6 formed and other new questions pertin en t to th is study were formulated. A p ilo t study was conducted in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1967 w ith a 39% retu rn of the q u estionnaires. From th is p ilo t study i t was found th a t several questions needed to be rev ised, sim p lified, and given extra space for comments not covered in the o rig in al p ilo t study. Copies of the p ilo t study questionnaire are found in Appendix B along w ith the fin a l questionnaire th at was used in th is study. Concerning the m ailing of the questionnaire used in th is study, the le tte r s were sent out a t a postal ra te th a t would not allow the questionnaires to be forwarded. The p ilo t study did allow for the fo r warding to a change cf address. Because of th is a sm aller percentage of answers were received than in the p ilo t study. Sampling procedure used herein as w ell as those used by the n atio n al and regional ratin g services are designed to get a true cross section of the opinions. The homes selected to receive the questionn aire were chosen on a random sampling b a sis. Other n atio n al ratin g services have used the f i r s t name of each column or every tw en ty -fifth name or some other type of population sele c tio n to get th e ir sample. A fter consultation w ith s t a t i s t i c a l experts a t Louisiana State U niversity and N ortheast Louisiana U niversity, i t was believed th a t a random sampling technique would be v alid i f a cross section of geographical areas was sampled. The geographical cross sectio n previously described was chosen and the 13th name in the th ird column of each page of the telephone book of each of the c itie s was selected to receive a q u estionnaire. I f the 13th name was a business address the next

23 7 re s id e n tia l lis tin g was used. The cover l e t t e r sent w ith the questionn aire is included in Appendix B. The data used in th is study represents a 19.27, retu rn from the random sampling out of the five aforementioned c itie s. Therefore, of the 4,094 questionnaires sen t, 786 were returned, 53 were not usable for data computation. The unusable ones contained w ritten comments only, a facetious g reetin g, questions of the a u th e n tic ity of the research, "none of your damn business" re p lie s and so on. Thus, 17.7% of the to ta l questionnaires were used for comparing answers of a ttitu d e s toward te l e vision commercials. A breakdown of the questionnaires sent and returned and the percentage is found in Table 1. TABLE 1 NUMBER OF QUESTIONNAIRES SENT AND RETURNED FROM THE FIVE MAJOR URBAN CITIES C ity Sent Returned Percentage P hiladelphia, Pennsylvania 1, A tlan ta, Georgia Columbus, Ohio D allas, Texas San Diego, C alifornia T otal 4,

24 8 This study a lso examines the e ffe c ts te le v isio n had on buying by th is sample; whether te le v isio n commercials are the best way to pay for te le v isio n viewing; and the e ffe c ts color te le v isio n had on a t t i tudes toward te le v isio n commercials. An analysis of the data and the sp ec ific techniques of finding audience a ttitu d e s toward te le v isio n commercials is discussed in Chapters I I I, IV, V, and VI. Some reservations concerning the responses used herein should be noted. The person who answered the questionnaire may or may not have been speaking for his family and i t s a ttitu d e s toward te le v isio n commercial.'. Secondly, the questionnaire is presumed to have been answered >y people in homes th a t do have te le v isio n s e ts. However in 1965 approximately 93% of a l l homes in the United S tates had te le v isio n sets and in 1972 "a to ta l of 62.1 m illio n homes, or 95.8% of a l l United S tates homes (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) were TV-equipped as q of September 1971, according to A. C. Nielsen Co." Thus more than 5% of the people who received the questionnaire did not have se ts and therefore could not or would not answer the questionnaire. A th ird facto r is sample re s u lts may not be accepted as comp le te ly accurate measurements. As noted by Summers and Summers A fter a l l, they are based on inform ation provided only on a sample of the whole population, and sometimes by only a ra th e r a Robert E. Summers and Harrison B. Summers. Broadcasting and the Public (Belmont, C alifo rn ia: Wadsworth Publishing Co., In c., 1968), p Broadcasting Yearbook, op. c i t., p. 71.

25 9 lim ited sample. The best th a t s ta t is tic ia n s w ill promise is th a t n in ety -fiv e times out of one hundred a n atio n al ra tin g of for a network program, based on a sample of figures from 1,500 homes, w ill not be more than 1.5 ra tin g points away from the percentage of homes from coast to coast th a t were tuned to the program in q u estio n. 1 0 Data was fed in to a computer from the returned questionnaires with the inform ation coded in to general categories of "appealing asp ects," "com plaints," and "general a ttitu d e s " and sub-coded according to demographic inform ation. Comments th a t were received in the responses were selected to give an approximation of th e ir reactio n s and are included in Appendix C. A demographic breakdown of the respondents returning the questio n n aires follows in Tables 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Table 2 compares the age groups used in th is study to the national census averages. This table shows th at th is study had a s lig h tly larg er percentage of responses from a l l age groups compared to n atio n al census fig u res with the exception of the 18 to 25 group. The n atio n al figures do not to ta l 100% because 34.8% of the n atio n al population is under 18 years of age. N ational census figures are from surveys conducted from Ju ly 1, 1967 to Ju ly 1, P u b licatio n was in 1970.** ^Summers and Summers, lo c. c l t., p **U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Census, "Estimates of the Population of the United S ta te s, by Age, Race and Sex." July 1, 1967 to Ju ly 1, 1969, Series P-25, No. 441, March 19, 1970, pp

26 10 TABLE 2 PERCENTAGE OF THE TOTAL SAMPLE ACCORDING TO AGE GROUPS COMPARED TO NATIONAL CENSUS DATA Age % of This Study N ational Census (18 years and older) % up No answer Table 3 reveals a n atio n al percentage of less than 1% d if f e r ence in the male and female population. This study received responses from 8 % more males than females. I t a lso is noted th a t th is study had 5% who did not in d icate th e ir sex. TABLE 3 PERCENTAGE OF THE TOTAL SAMPLE ACCORDING TO SEX COMPARED TO NATIONAL CENSUS DATA % of This Study N ational Census Male Female No answer

27 11 Table 4 reveals a s lig h t d ifferen ce between th is sample and n atio n al census figures re la tin g to income le v el. This sample is skewed s lig h tly to the higher income levels of $15,000 and up. N ational data revealed 3.27» of the population with incomes less than $1,000, TABLE 4 PERCENTAGE OF THE TOTAL SAMPLE BY INCOME LEVEL COMPARED TO NATIONAL CENSUS DATA Income Level This Study N ational Census $ 1,000-3, ,000-5, ,000-7, $5,000-7, ,500-10, ,000-10, ,000-15, ,000-20, , up No answer Table 5 compares the educational achievement of th is sample to the n atio n al fig u res. This sample is skewed toward higher educated groups (those with education more than high sch o o l). 1 3 U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Census, "Household Income in 1969 and Selected Social and Economic C h arac te ristic s of Household," S eries P-60, No. 72, August 14, 1970, cover page.

28 12 TABLE 5 PERCENTAGE OF THE TOTAL SAMPLE ACCORDING TO EDUCATION COMPARED TO NATIONAL CENSUS DATA Education Level This Study N ational Census N ational Median 1-8 years years years college Post graduate No answer Table 6 compares te le v isio n set ownership of black and white set owners and color set owners. The la te s t figures from the Bureau of the Census is simply th e ir count of black and white set owners and color set owners. The only comparison noted by the Bureau of Census is an increase in ownership of color se ts. TABLE 6 PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL SAMPLE ACCORDING TO TELEVISION SET OWNERSHIP Type of TV Set Number % of This Study National Population Black and white only % 78% Color only Black and white color and l^u. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau o f Census, "Educational A ttainm ent, March 1969," Series P-20, No. 194, February 19, 1970, p u, S. Department of A griculture, Bureau of Census, "Special Report on Household Ownership of C ars, Homes, and Selected Household Durables: 1970, 1969, and I960," S eries P-65, No. 33, October 16, 1970, cover page.

29 13 SUMMARY With te le v isio n viewing increasing yearly to over six hours per day, th is large amount of le isu re time should be studied as to the e ffe c ts of TV commercials. This study considers the a ttitu d e s toward commercials as found in a random sampling questionnaire of five major c itie s of the United S tates. These c itie s were P hiladelphia, Pennsylvania; A tlan ta, Georgia; Columbus, Ohio; D allas, Texas; and San Diego, C a lifo rn ia. The study focused on these nine questions; 1. What were the a ttitu d e s of the urban sample toward TV commercials? 2. What complaints were made about commercials? 3. What were the p o sitiv e facto rs of TV commercials? 4. How many commercials did a lis te n e r re c a ll a f te r an average evening of viewing? 5. What o ra l and v isu al facto rs were the te le v isio n viewers most aware of on recall? 6. What type of commercials were reported as most appealing to the respondent? 7. Did te le v isio n ad v ertisin g influence the viewing public to purchase any items? 8. Did viewers feel te le v isio n commercials were the best way of paying for TV? 9. I f there were no te le v isio n commercials what type of fin an cing would be p referab le to support TV broadcasting?

30 CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE A review of the lite r a tu r e concerning te le v isio n commercials was undertaken in order to determine what a ttitu d e s have been found in previous surveys. F urth er, the research was studied to find whether a ttitu d e s toward commercials are subject to change; and to determine what method and instrum ent to use in th is study th a t would in d ic a te, as clo sely as p o ssib le, the present a ttitu d e s of educational, age, economic, sex groups, and black and white set owners compared with color set owners. OVERVIEW OF ATTITUDES TOWARD TELEVISION COMMERCIALS BY THE PUBLIC AND BROADCASTERS A ttitudes toward ad v ertisin g in general and towards te le v isio n commercials in p a rtic u la r have been studied by many ad v ertisin g agenc ie s, p riv ate research groups, the Federal Communications Commission and other p ro fessional in v e stig ativ e groups. An excellent summary of research on a ttitu d e s toward ad v ertisin g in general in the period between 1938 and 1962 can be found in Appendix A of a book, A dvertising in America: The Consigner View, by Raymond A, Bauer and Stephen A. G reyser. This summary is included as Appendix A of th is study for those readers who are in te re sted in such background. There have been two major recent in v e stig atio n s of a ttitu d e s

31 toward te le v isio n commercials. These were Burns W. Roper, A Ten Year View of Public A ttitu d es Toward T elevision and Other Mass Media, , and Gary A. S te in e r's book The People Look at T elevision The l a tte r book surveyed and studied audience a ttitu d e s toward te le v isio n in the spring of In Roper's survey covering , his fie ld s ta f f conducted approximately 2,000 interview s. A ll ages 21 and over were included, and the survey covered a l l sizes of communities, geographic areas and economic le v els. In h is four major surveys he explored a ttitu d e s toward commercially sponsored te le v isio n and drew the following conclusion; "In general, the p u b lic 's a ttitu d e s toward commercials are on the favorable side and the idea of a commercially sponsored system wins overwhelming endorsement."3 The survey was taken over a five-year period; four separate surveys were conducted by Roper over th is five-year period. The re su lts are tabulated in Table 7. Roper then asked the question shown in Table 8. He found l i t t l e change in a ttitu d e over the five-year period. ^Bums W. Roper, A Ten Year View of Public A ttitu d es Toward T elevision and Other Mass Media (New York; T elevision Inform ation O ffice, March 26, 1969). ^Gary A. S te in e r, The People Look a t T elev isio n. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1963),

32 16 TABLE 7 "DO YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE THAT HAVING COMMERCIALS ON TV IS A FAIR PRICE TO PAY FOR BEING ABLE TO WATCH IT?" 11/63 % 11/ /67 7o Agree Disagree /68 T, Don' t know TABLE 8 "WHICH ONE OF THESE FOUR STATEMENTS COMES CLOSEST TO DESCRIBING HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT COMMERCIALS ON TELEVISION? It 11/63I 11/64 1/67 11/68 I d islik e p ra c tic a lly a l l commerc ia ls on te le v isio n While some of the commercials on te le v isio n are a l l rig h t, most of them are very annoying There are some very annoying comm ercials on te le v isio n, but most of them are p e rfe ctly a l l rig h t The commercials on te le v isio n seldom annoy m e--in fa c t, I often enjoy them Don't know or no answer I b id.. p I b ld.. p. 23.

33 17 Roper's th ird set of questions d ealt with sp ec ific a ttitu d e s towards te le v isio n commercials. He reported the following inform ation for 1967 and 1968: TABLE 9 ROPER'S SURVEY - OPINIONS EXPRESSED CONCERNING TELEVISION COMMERCIALS 1/67 11/68 Commercials frequently provide useful inform ation about new products Commercials are often amusing and fun to watch Commercials are sometimes a welcome break in programs There are fa r too many commercials on te le v isio n Many commercials are done in poor ta ste They are usually too noisy and loud They often ad v ertise things th a t should not be advertised Thus Roper's ten-year study shows a ttitu d e s have changed l i t t l e, p a rtic u la rly over the la st four years. He concluded th is portion of his survey by saying: While the pu b lic, th e re fo re, is c le a rly c r i t i c a l of c e rta in aspects of commercials, they genuinely approve c ertain o th ers. general, the p u b lic 's a ttitu d e s toward commercials are on the favorable side and the ideas of a commercially sponsored system wins overwhelming endorsement.7 In 6I b id., p I b id.

34 18 Gary A. S te in e r's study of 1960 consisted of personal i n t e r views with a n atio n al sample of 2,849 adults from ages 18 to 70. He gathered his inform ation from 2,427 viewers since 207 of the interview s were conducted in homes th a t had no te le v isio n sets at that tim e. In h is survey te le v isio n was selected as most en tertain in g by 68% of his sample. His conclusions were: 1. The audience as a whole has predominantly favorable feelin g s about te le v isio n in general, but 2. D ifferent segments of the population have d iffe re n t opinions of the m atter. 3. Those who are most favorably disposed toward the medium come from the most numerous segments of society. S te in e r's conclusions were sim ilar to the basic a ttitu d e s toward te le v isio n in general and te le v isio n commercials found la te r by Roper. The public a t large lik es te le v isio n and is generally s a t i s fied with the job th a t the TV industry is doing. He found the average viewer is by no means overwhelmed with TV's general excellence, but h is sampling gave no in d icatio n of general d is s a tis fa c tio n. S teiner found the following demographic facto rs a ffe c t the a ttitu d e s toward te le v isio n viewing and te le v isio n commercials: EDUCATION 1. At the very top of the educational ladder, people are considerably less impressed. There are no doubt several reasons: F ir s t, they probably impress less e a sily on any score. Education and the re la ted fin an cial means develop d iscrim ination and c r i t i c a l standards, both re a l and verb al. The man with a professional or graduate education Steiner, lo c. c i t., p. 41.

35 19 has more strin g en t c r ite r ia for excellence in the f i r s t place, and he a lso fe e ls more need to demonstrate c r itic a l reactio n s as opposed to blanket p ra ise. Next, they have less need and use for te le v isio n ; they have other in te re s ts and things to do, and the money to do them w ith.^ 2. Education m atters for c r itic a l tone, but not su b sta n tia lly u n til a f te r high school. From then on, each successive group is less favorably disposed toward TV u n til those with educatio n beyond college become the only viewing segment, in any such a n aly sis, w ith a predominantly c r i t i c a l set of responses.^ INCOME LEVEL 3. Since income is clo sely re la ted to formal education, the r e la tionship here is in the same d ire c tio n, though not so strong. But as we sh all see, fin an cial sta tu s probably also exerts some s lig h t independent influence on a ttitu d e s toward TV.*-*- AGE 4. Advancing age is not p a rtic u la rly associated with a larger to ta l proportion of favorable vs. c r i t i c a l re a ctio n s, but i t does seem to produce more extreme p o sitiv e r e a c tio n s.^ SEX 5. Men and women do not d if f e r at a l l in th e ir o v e r-a ll evaluatio n s (toward te le v is io n ).* 3 While S teiner found the public generally favorable to TV by a nearly th ree to one r a tio, he found, as did Roper, the following negativ e a ttitu d e s toward te le v isio n commercials: The average viewer... thinks there are too many commercials, and e sp e c ia lly too many th a t are boring, re p e titio u s, and/or 9 I b id., P I b i d.. P I b i d., PP Ib id., P* Ib id.

36 20 i r r i t a t i n g. Here, again, the re s p o n sib ility is not th a t of the viewer; and he wishes th a t those in charge would do something to improve the s itu a tio n.* 4 A fu rth er in d icatio n of the importance of a continued study of the a ttitu d e s of te le v isio n commercials was reported in B roadcasting. Further research along the lin es established by S teiner, who is now dead, w ill be undertaken. The ro le of te le v isio n in the lif e of Americans and th e ir a ttitu d e s toward the medium w ill be explored in a survey to be conducted by the Bureau of Social Science Research, Washington. The study, cost of which is estim ated between $150,000 and $200,000 has been in itia te d and supported by a grant from CBS Inc. The survey w ill encompass d e tailed interview s with a n atio n wide sample of a d u lts, 18 years and o ld e r, and w ill attempt to determine the p u b lic 's a ttitu d e toward te le v isio n ; how the medium is used in everyday lif e ; it s general importance to people, and how i t re la te s to the use of le isu re time. CBS in itia te d a sim ilar study th at was conducted by the la te Dr. Gary A. S teiner and was published in 1963 by Alfred A. Knopf under the t i t l e of The People Look a t T elev isio n. As a re s u lt of th is e a r lie r work, CBS noted i t w ill be possible to trace changes to development in the technology and content of the medium as w ell as to trends in the demographic c h a ra c te ris tic s of the te le v isio n audience. C riticism s, of course, are not new to the broadcasters. Objections to commercials vary w idely. T elevision commercials are v o lu n ta rily guided by the Code of Good P ractice estab lish ed by the N ational A ssociation of B roadcasters, the Federal Communications Comm ission, the Federal Trade Commission, ad v ertisin g agencies, the 14I b id.. pp ^"What U, S. Thinks of TV is Focus of CBS Study," Broadc a s tin g. November 10, 1969, LXXVII: 19, p. 77.

37 21 networks, the local s ta tio n s themselves and c e rta in ly the public for whom the commercial message is aimed. Summers and Summers found these c ritic is m s : No feature of broadcasting is more i r r i t a t i n g to rank and f ile lis te n e rs than the use of ad v ertisin g messages in radio and te le v isio n programs. Most people in the United S tates re a liz e th a t, under the system of broadcasting used in th is country, broadcasting is made possible by revenues received from sale of time to a d v e rtise rs. But lis te n e rs are c r i t i c a l of broadcast ads; far more c r i t i c a l, in most cases, than they are of advertising carried in newspapers and magazines. Some object to the advertis in g of c e rta in types of products over the a ir ; others charge th at some ad v ertisin g messages are fraudulent and m isleading; many believe th a t much of the ad vertising on radio and te le v isio n is lacking in good ta s te ; and large numbers of lis te n e rs object to the quantity of ad v ertisin g m atter in serted in broadcast schedules.16 The Federal Trade Commission since 1938 has been concerned with fraudulent ad v ertisin g, but u n til recen tly has done l i t t l e. Summers and Summers concluded... a common c ritic ism of radio and te le v isio n ad v ertisin g is th a t many commercial announcements are objectionable and v io la te the requirements of good ta s t e. ^ Other agencies have expressed th e ir concern th a t commercial announcements may be offensive or in bad ta s te whereas the product or service may be acceptable to the general te le v isio n audience. Iso la tin g another c ritic ism of te le v isio n commercials, many people frequently speak of the i r r i t a t i n g q u a litie s such as in te rru p tin g th e ir fav o rite program or being too loud and raucous. * Robert E. Summers and H arrison B. Summers, Broadcasting and the Public (Belmont, C alifo rn ia: Wadsworth Publishing Co., In c., 1968), p Ibid., p. 285.

38 Some members of the Federal Communications Commission have even charged th a t the sound or "noise lev el of filmed or recorded announcements has been in te n tio n a lly raised above th at of the surrounding program m aterial. And there has been widespread objection from lis te n e rs to the use of "hard s e ll" techniques by announcers, both network and lo cal. Researchers have a lso found a common complaint of "too many" te le v isio n commercials presented "too o fte n." T elevision sta tio n s have been judged by some c r itic s as.. a seemingly endless se rie s of commercial announcements, in terru p ted occasionally by short segments of e n te rta in m e n t." ^ The high cost of te le v isio n program production, color te le v isio n equipment, and com petition w ith other mass media have been facto rs influencing the increase in the number of local spot announcements. Summers and Summers said: Some radio statio n s reportedly schedule as many as 200 commercial announcements a day. Television statio n s have been known to devote as much as 25 percent of th e ir broadcasting tim e, a t c e rta in periods, to ad v ertisin g and other nonentertainment m a te ria ls. Some c r itic s have described the ty p ical broadcast program as a seemingly endless se rie s of commercial announcements, in terru p ted occasionally by short segments of entertainm ent. C ertain ly lis te n e rs and viewers are acutely aware of the amount of a d v ertisin g carried today on radio and te le v isio n schedules - an amount decidedly g re a te r than was perm itted on radio statio n s before the advent of television.^ The Federal Communications Commission a lso has long pondered the question of too many te le v isio n commercials. Broadcasting reported;

39 23 FCC may resume b a ttle against what some consider overcom m ercialization. Being considered is policy to require renewal hearings for radio licensees who carry more than 18 minutes of commercial time in more than 10% of hours they broadcast. Presumably same policy would be applied to TV licensees carrying more than 16 minutes of commercial time over same maximum number of hours; but o f f ic ia ls say te le v isio n presents "no problem" in terms of over-com m ercialization. Policy would work th is way: Commission now requires radio and TV sta tio n s proposing more than, re sp ec tiv e ly, 18 and 16 minutes of commercial time per hour to f il e rep o rts on commercial practic e s. Eighteen months a f te r g e ttin g renewal ap p licatio n s of those sta tio n s to determine whether they are over-commercial in terms of new standards. Policy may be disclosed in le tte r s Commission is preparing for 44 licensees who have file d 18 month le tte r s. Of course, broadcasters have stated th e ir own ideas as to th e ir reasons for the increased number of commercials. The change has come about, p a rtic u la rly on the te le v isio n networks, as a re s u lt of the increasin g ly high cost of network programs. More commercials have been in serted lo c a lly between te le v isio n network programs since the networks have provided longer "chain break" periods between th e ir network programs. Popular magazines such as Time have found id e n tic a l a ttitu d e s toward te le v isio n commercials. Commercials are in fu ria tin g. They are also ir r e s i s t i b l e. Commercials are an outrageous nuisance. Commercials are a lso apt to be b e tte r than the programs they in te rru p t. They are the heavy trib u te th a t the viewer must pay to the sponsor in exchange for often dubious pleasu re. They are a lso an American a r t form, but the u ltim ate i s mixed: sig h t, sound, and s e ll. Commercials, or a great many of them, are b e tte r than ever. How and why th is came about is one of the more fascin atin g phenomena in te le v isio n. They are p art of the background music, 2 *"Too Commercial?" B roadcasting. December 8, 1969, LXXVII: 23, p. 5.

40 24 as i t were, of the American scene. Hardly anybody to ta lly ignores them. Many, the very good, and the very bad, *orce or in sin u ate themselves in to the im a g in a tio n.^ Another popular magazine, R eader's D ig est, has also expressed sim ilar com plaints. The w rite rs have referred to the American te l e v isio n audience, when viewing and hearing te le v isio n commercials, as "conveniently d eaf." TV pushed th is v isio n to an overwhelming degree. Despite the genuine entertainm ent th a t many of the good commercials o ffe r, te le v isio n s t i l l crushes i t s viewers with ads th at are too annoying, too loud, too o ften, and ju s t too much. Roughly 20 percent of TV a ir time is given over to conm ercials. This year, (1968) 2,000 a d v ertise rs w ill pour $3.1 b illio n in to te le v isio n ad v ertisin g - almost twice the budget of the poverty program - reaching 95 percent of the n a tio n 's licensed homes. W hat's more, the TV sp ie le r has unique licen se. He does not have to s tic k h is foot in the door. He's already in the liv in g room, ch atterin g away. Conveniently deaf, he ju s t smiles and hammers home h is quota of 600 b rie f messages a day. Worse, he seems to catch h is second breath always a t the wrong time. He cuts in to the movies ju s t when things are g e ttin g in te re s tin g, or links th re e, four, or five commercials in a row during a s ta tio n break. Even the war news suddenly comes to an abrupt h a lt for the sake of s e l l. The bloody events in Vietnam are incongrously flanked w ith sale3 messages g lo rify in g the good lif e a t home. And what are the lim its? On the day Robert Kennedy died, W alter Cronkite no sooner wrapped up the la te s t b u lle tin s on the k illin g than the screen cut cold to a mouthwash ad. The e ffo rt and money alone th a t go in to a single commercial production are stupefying. While a TV se ries film an average of ten m inutes' worth of s c rip t in one day, the shooting of a 60- second commercial often takes two or three days and can run through 25,000 feet of film to get the f in a l, worth 90 fe e t. The cost of a one minute commercial - re h e arsa ls, film ing, r e shooting, dubbing, scoring, anim ation, p rin tin g - runs to an ^ " T e le v is io n : Ju ly 12, 1968, p. 55. And Now a Word About Commercials," Time.

41 25 average of $22,000 or about five times more than a minute of TV entertain m en t.23 SUMMARY In order to determine what pro fessio n al and commercial analysts as w ell as scholars in the fie ld of radio and te le v isio n had determined about the public a ttitu d e s -oward te le v isio n commercials, a review of lite r a tu r e was made. A dvertisers, federal agencies, and the public seem concerned about te le v isio n commercials. Data reveals th a t people fre e ly and su ccin ctly c r itic iz e the number and q u a lity of te le v isio n commercials. Yet, as Roper and S teiner reported, the m ajority of the American people like te le v isio n with i t s commercials. These a ttitu d e s seem to have changed l i t t l e over the past ten years. ^ *"And Now a Word About TV Commercials," R eader's D ig est. October, 1968, pp

42 CHAPTER III ANALYSIS OF ATTITUDES TOWARD TELEVISION COMMERCIALS An an aly sis of the data co llected from the urban sample is discussed in the following sectio n s. This chapter w ill answer the questions: (1) What were the a ttitu d e s of the e n tire urban sample toward te le v isio n commercials? (2) What complaints were expressed about te le v isio n commercials? (3) What good p o ints were seen in te le v isio n commercials? The tab les in th is chapter give the percentage of the respondents selectin g each statem ent on the questionnaire. Following these tab les are a demographic breakdown in to age, income, education, and sex groups. A ttitu d es of respondents w ith color and black and white sets are also compared. A dditional tab les follow w ith the complaints expressed about te le v isio n commercials. above are u tiliz e d here. The same demographic breakdowns indicated D istrib u tio n of the favorable points mentioned about te le v isio n commercials follow s, again using the same demographic backgrounds. R epresentative free comments from the e n tire urban sample concerning "general a ttitu d e s toward te le v isio n commercials," "com plaints," and "good points" which were added a t the end of the questionnaire by respondents are to be found in Appendix C. A summary concludes th is an aly sis of a ttitu d e s toward te le v isio n commercials.

43 27 GENERAL ATTITUDES Table 10 gives data from the e n tire urban sample which best suggests th e ir general a ttitu d e s toward TV commercials. I t shows th a t 62% of those surveyed indicated th a t they found commercials h elp fu l in product sele c tio n. These re s u lts are obtained by combining the responses to the f i r s t two questions, "provides a source of inform ation about av ailab le products" and "ac tu a lly helps me choose the brand to buy." TABLE 10 ATTITUDES EXPRESSED TOWARD TELEVISION COMMERCIALS BY ENTIRE URBAN SAMPLE (N-663) "Which of the following statem ents best describes your a ttitu d e s towards TV commercials?" T otal Percentage a. A ctually helps me choose the brand to buy b. Provides a source of inform ation about av ailab le products c. They give me a chance to leave the room d. Takes up time th a t could be devoted to entertainm ent e. Inform ation is too biased to help me f. I t is an invasion of my privacy g. Other h. None of the above i. No answer 0.453

44 28 Of the e n tire urban sample, 307* f e lt th a t commercials took up time th a t could be devoted to entertainm ent. Table 10 also reveals th a t 22% f e l t th at the inform ation on TV commercials was too biased to help them. Since there was no way to explain what "too biased" meant, comments re la tin g to th is a ttitu d e are found in Appendix C. The fin a l answer to the questions was " i t is an invasion of my privacy." Only 7% checked th is a ttitu d e. Age Groups - General A ttitudes In Table 11 the e n tire urban sample is divided in to five age groups, plus the no-age category. Of the respondents who sp ecified age, the group was the least lik e ly to select the statem ent th a t TV commercials "actu ally helps me choose the brand to buy." group had the highest percentage of p o sitiv e responses. The no-age Perhaps respondents who did not want to reveal th e ir age f e lt more free to in d i cate th a t commercials influenced th e ir buying h a b its. With the exceptio n of the "age not given group," there was l i t t l e difference between percentage of response to a given opinion by the to ta l sample and the percentage of response across the various age groups. In no case was th is difference as much as 10 percentage points. In c o m e L e v e l s - G e n e r a l A t t i t u d e s N e x t t o b e c o n s i d e r e d i s how t h e e n t i r e u r b a n s a m p le, a c c o r d i n g t o s t a t e d l e v e l s o f i n c o m e, i n d i c a t e d t h e i r a t t i t u d e s a b o u t t e l e v i s i o n c o m m e r c i a l s.

45 TABLE 11 ATTITUDE EXPRESSED TOWARDS TELEVISION COMMERCIALS BY VARIOUS AGE GROUPS 1'Which of the following statem ents best describe your a ttitu d e s toward TV icommercials? Age Group Age Group Age Group Age Group Age Group Age Group Total yrs yrs y r s yrs 61-up not given Sample (N-63) 7. (N-150) 7. (N-198) 7* (N-125) % (N-95) % (N-32) 7. (N-663) 7= a b c d e f g h i a. A ctually helps me choose the brand to buy b. Provides a source of inform ation about a v ailab le products c. They give me a chance to leave the room d. Takes up time th a t could be devoted to entertainm ent e. Inform ation is too biased to help me f. I t is an invasion of my privacy g. Other h. None of the above i. No answer

46 30 Table 12 shows th a t the lowest Income level gave a response of 31% to the statem ent th at TV commercials "a c tu a lly helps me choose the brand to buy." This is 19 percentage points g re a te r than the to ta l sample response. Respondents with the lowest income ($1,000-$3,000) were most lik e ly to say th at TV commercials provided a source of inform ation about av ailab le products. Ju st under 597» chose th is response which is almost 10 percentage points higher than the to ta l sample. Closely approximating the response given by the $1,000-$3,000 income group was th at of $3,000-$5,000 (58%). Income level seemed to have the g re a test e ffe c t on the d is tr ib u tio n of respondents feeling th a t TV commercials provided a chance to leave the room. The lowest percentage (31%) came from the $5,000-$7,500 income level and the highest percentage came from the income group of $15,000-$20,000 (44%). Percentages of respondents in d icatin g th a t TV commercials take up time th at could be devoted to entertainm ent varied widely among the income groups. The lowest percentage (20%) came from the $15,000- $20,000 income group. This represents 10 percentage points below the to ta l sample. Over h a lf (52%) of the $l,000-$3,000 group chose th is response - a figure 22 percentage points above the to ta l sample response. The highest percentage in d icatin g th a t te le v isio n commercials were too biased to be of help was the 31% response of the $5,000- $7,500 income group. This is 9 percentage points above the to ta l

47 TABLE 12 ATTITUDES EXPRESSED TOWARDS TELEVISION COMMERCIALS BY INCOME GROUPS "Which of the following statements best describes your attitudes toward TV commercials?" Income fn-291 Income CN-501 Income 5 GOO (N-1171 Income ,000 CN-1451 Income 10,000-15,000 (N-1371 Income 15,000-20,000 m-641 Income 2 0,000- up (N-50) Income No answer _(N-71) T otal Sample (N-663) a b c d e f g h i a. A ctually helps me choose the brand to buy b. Provides a source of inform ation about av ailab le products c. They give me a chance to leave the room d. Takes up time th a t could be devoted to entertainm ent e. Inform ation is too biased to help me f. I t is an invasion of my privacy g. Other h. None of the above i. No answer

48 32 sample. Only 12% of the $3,000-$5,000 group chose th is response. This is 10 percentage points below the to ta l sample. Table 12 shows only 3% of the $15, ,000 group saw TV commercials as an invasion of privacy. A high of 10% of both the $l,000-$3,000 and the $20,000-up group chose th is response. E d u c a t i o n a l A t t a i n m e n t L e v e l - G e n e r a l A t t i t u d e s Table 13 shows a ttitu d e s expressed toward te le v isio n commerc ia ls by respondents when grouped according to level of education. This tab le shows only 8% of the group with two years of college f e lt th at TV commercials helped them in brand se le c tio n while 20% of the group with 1-8 years of schooling saw commercials as such an aid. Well over h a lf (56%) of the group with 1-8 years of schooling agreed th a t commercials provided a source of inform ation about av ailab le p ro d u cts. D istrib u tio n of responses to the statem ent "TV commercials give me a chance to leave the room" across educational groups, revealed l i t t l e v a ria tio n from the % in the to ta l sample. The fa c to r of educational level seems to have l i t t l e e ffe c t on the a ttitu d e of whether or not commercials took up time th at could be devoted to entertainm ent. There is only a slig h t v ariatio n in answers shown in Table 13. Analysis of the response as to whether TV commercials were too biased to help shows th a t the post graduate group selected th is a t t i tude most frequently (30%). The lowest percentage (19%) selectin g th is a ttitu d e came from the group with 8-12 years of schooling.

49 TABLE 13 ATTITUDES EXPRESSED TOWARDS TELEVISION COMMERCIALS BY EDUCATION GROUPS ''Which of the following statements best describes your attitudes toward TV commercials?" Education 1-8 years (N-25) % Education 8-12 years (N-226) % Education 2 years College (N-146) % Education College graduate (N-129) % Education Post graduate (N-101) % Education No answer (N-36) % Total Sample (N-663) % a b c d e f g h i a. A ctually helps me choose the brand to buy b. Provides a source of inform ation about av ailab le products c. They give me a chance to leave the room d. Takes up time th a t could be devoted to entertainm ent e. Inform ation is too biased to help me f. I t is an invasion of my privacy g. Other h. None of the above i. No answer

50 TABLE 14 ATTITUDES EXPRESSED TOWARDS TELEVISION COMMERCIALS BY SEX GROUPS "Which of the following statements best describes your attitude toward TV commercials?" a. Male (N-343) Female (N-288) No answer (N-32) Total Sample (N-663) A ctually helps me choose the brand to buy b. Provides a source of inform ation about av ailab le products c. They give me a chance to leave the room d. Takes up time th a t could be devoted to entertainm ent e. Inform ation is too biased to help me f. I t is an invasion of my privacy g. Other h. None of the above i. No answer

51 36 TABLE 15 ATTITUDES EXPRESSED TOWARDS TELEVISION COMMERCIALS BY BLACK AND WHITE SET OWNERS AND COLOR SET OWNERS "Which of the following statem ents best describes your a ttitu d e s toward TV Commercia'ls?" Black and White (N-444) Color (N-199) Total Sample a. A ctually helps me choose the brand to buy b. Provides a source of inform ation about av ailab le products c. They give me a chance to leave the room d. Takes up time th at could be devoted to entertainm ent e. Inform ation is too biased to help me f. I t is an invasion of my privacy g. Other h. None of the above i. No answer

52 37 TABLE 16 COMPLAINTS SELECTED BY THE ENTIRE URBAN SAMPLE "What complaints do you have about TV commercials?" Total Percentage (N-663) a. In poor ta ste b. Too long c. Repeated too often d. Too many e. Dull f. In su ltin g to in te llig e n c e g- Objectionable h. Wrong time of day i. Poorly produced j. Too loud k. Other No answe" poor ta s te " by 347. What respondents meant by "poor ta ste " is d i f f i c u lt to determ ine. The comments were too varied to a sc e rta in whether th is complaint was based on moral standards, poor production techniques, or on a local problem. V ulgarity was never mentioned. Approximately one fourth of the to ta l sample f e lt th a t commerc ia ls were "too long." This fa c to r of length is discussed fu rth er

53 38 under demographic fa c to rs. "D ull," "o b jectio n ab le," and "poorly produced" were selected by 18%, 16%, and 11% resp ectiv ely. A low percentage of 37, f e lt th a t TV commercials were given at the "wrong time of day." A ge G r o u p s - A t t i t u d i n a l C o m p la i n t s Table 17 shows th a t the age groups were q u ite varied in th e ir a ttitu d e concerning whether or not commercials were in poor ta s te. Only 28% of the group chose th is response. Almost 44% of the 61-up group chose th is response, 10 percentage points above the to ta l sample. The age groups also varied widely in the percentage of th e ir sele c tio n of the "too long" response. The year group was lowest with 17% (9 percentage points below the to ta l sample) while the response of the oldest age group, 61-up, was much higher (49%) or 23 percentage points above the to ta l. The two extreme age groups were again the groups th a t responded w ith the sm allest and larg est percentages of complaints th at TV comm ercials were "repeated too o ften." Almost 70% of the group apparently f e lt th is way, as did 87.5% of the 61-up group, 17 points above the to ta l. Table 17 shows a l l age groups above the 50 percentage point level of "too many" TV commercials. The youngest was 7 percentage points below the to ta l sample (58%) while the second youngest was highest (64%) w ith 6 points above the to ta l.

54 Age Group y rs. (N-63) % TABLE 17 COMPLAINTS SELECTED BY VARIOUS AGE GROUPS "What complaints do you have about TV commercials?" Age Group yrs (N-150) % Age Group y r s. (N-198) % Age Group y rs. (N-125) % Age Group 61-up (N-95) % Age Group No answer (N-32) % Total Sample (N-663) % a b c d e f g* h i j k a. In poor ta ste b. Too long c. Repeated too often d. Too many e. Dull f. In su ltin g to in te llig e n c e g. O bjectionable h. Wrong time of day i. Poorly produced j. Too loud k. Other 1. No answer

55 40 Even though mentioned a number of times in the free comments, re la tiv e ly few respondents selected the "dull" response when given the opportunity. Except for the 61-up age group (with 257), a l l groups were close to the percentage of the to ta l sample (18.7%). The ta b u latio n of the complaints th at "TV commercials are in su ltin g to the in te llig e n c e " in Table 17 in d icates the year age group was 11 percentage points above the to ta l sample (54%,) while the group was 7 percentage points le ss than the to ta l sample. The complaint th a t TV commercials are "objectionable" received the th ird lowest percentage of complaints from the e n tire sample. The range was 8% (8 percentage points below the to ta l) for the year group to 21% by the 61-up group (5 percentage points above the to ta l sample). Perhaps one of the reasons for th is complaint is th at the word "objectionable" may not have been c lea r to the respondents. T h e r e w a s l i t t l e v a r i a t i o n t o t h e r e s p o n s e "TV c o m m e r c ia l s a r e sh o w n a t t h e w r o n g t im e o f d a y " a c r o s s a g e g r o u p s. The complaint "poorly produced" also received ra th e r low responses of 6% from the and groups. The highest (16%) came from the age group, nearly 5.5% above the to ta l sample (10.5%). Wide v a ria tio n was found across age groups in response to the question of loudness. Almost 32% of the group selected th is response while 58% of the 61-up group did so. The group was 15 percentage points below the to ta l sample while the 61-up was 11 percentage points above. Comments p ertain in g to these complaints are quoted in Appendix C.

56 41 Income Level - A ttltu d in a l Complaints Table 18 shows the complaints expressed by the en tire urban sample when divided in to the seven income le v els. Of the ten major complaints discussed in th is chapter, the highest income bracket ($20,000-up) was lower than the to ta l sample response in it s percentage of complaints in seven out of the ten sele c tio n s offered. Concerning the a ttitu d e of te le v isio n commercials being in poor t a s t e, the highest percentage of complaints came from the $15,000-$20,000 bracket (42%). On the other hand only 28% of the $20,000-up group apparently shared th is a ttitu d e. The $15,000-$20,000 group was 8 percentage points above the to ta l sample while the $20,000-up group was 6 percentage points below. Table 18 shows a range of 24 percentage points in selectio n of the complaint th at TV commercials were "too long." Only 18% of the $20,000-up bracket chose th is response compared with 42% of the $3,000- $5,000 group. As would be expected from Table 18 the common complaint th a t there are "too many commercials" drew a high response from a ll income le v e ls. The $20,000-up income lev el was 10 percentage points higher than the to ta l sample percentage (58%). The percentage of answers of remaining income levels were near the percentage of the to ta l sample. The question of whether or not TV commercials were "dull" received a percentage response ranging from a low of 15% in the $10,000- $15,000 group to a high of 26% in the $3,000-$5,000 group. The response percentage of the other income lev els was close to the to ta l sample response to th is complaint (19%).

57 TABLE 18 COMPLAINTS SELECTED BY INCOME GROUPS "What complaints do you have about TV commercials?" Income Income Income Income Income Income Income Income Total $1,000- $3,000- $5,000- $7,500- $10,GOO- $15,000- $20,000- No Samp le 3,000 5,000 7,500 10,000 15, ,000 Up Answer (N-29} (N-50) (N-117) (N-145)_ (N-137) (N-64j (N-501. (N-7D (N-663) a b c d e f g h i j k a. In poor ta s te 8- O bjectionable b. Too long h. Wrong time of day c. Repeated too often i. Poorly produced d. Too many j Too loud e. Dull k. Other f. In su ltin g to in te llig e n c e 1. No answer

58 43 There was l i t t l e v a ria tio n from the to ta l sample response to "in su ltin g to the in te llig e n c e " across income groups. Nearly 28% of the $1,000-$3,000 group found TV commercials ob jectio n ab le--n early 12 percentage points g reater than the to ta l sample (16%). Two groups of $3,000-$5,000 and $10,OCO-$15,000 were both low with 12% or 4 percentage points below the to ta l. This in d i cates a random d is trib u tio n of response with no re a l pattern. As indicated in Table 18, "commercials shown at the wrong time of day" was selected as a complaint by only a very small percentage and there was l i t t l e v a ria tio n across income groups. The highest percentage of complaints about the production of commercials came from the two lower income le v e ls, $l,q00-$3,000 (20%) and $3,000-$5,000 (14%). I t was fu rth er noted th at only 4.7% of the $15,000-$20,000 group chose th is response--nearly 6 percentage points below the to ta l sample (10.5%). Tabulation response to the complaint th a t TV commercials were "too loud" showed considerable v a ria tio n. S lig h tly more than 3170 of the $1,000-$3,000 group selected th is response while 56% of the $3,000-$5,000 group checked th is response. The $1,000- $3,000 group was 16 percentage points below the to ta l sample (47%) while the $3,000-$5,000 group was nearly 9 percentage points above the to ta l. Thus there was a d ifferen ce of 25 percentage points between the two lowest income groups. Educational Level - A ttitu d in a l Complaints Table 19 indicated minor v a ria tio n according to level of educatio n when the facto r of " ta ste " i s considered.

59 TABLE 19 COMPLAINTS SELECTED BY EDUCATION GROUPS "What complaints do you have about TV commercials?" Education Education Education Education Education Education Total 1-8 years 8-12 years 2 years of College Post No Sample (N-25) (N-226) college (N-1461 Graduate (N-129) Graduate (N-1011 Answer (N-36) (N-6633 a b c d e f g h i j k a. In poor ta ste g. O bjectionable b. Too long h. Wrong time of day c. Repeated too often i. Poorly produced d. Too many j. Too loud e. Dull k. Other f. In su ltin g to in te llig e n c e 1. No answer

60 45 There was l i t t l e v a ria tio n from the to ta l sample response to "too long" across education groups. The highest percentage of complaints concerning re p e titio n came from the group with 1-8 years of schooling (80%). This is 9 percentage points higher than the to ta l sample who f e lt TV commercials were " re peated too o fte n." The other education groups were near the to ta l sample (71%). The most highly educated group had the highest percentage of complaints of "too many TV commercials." The post graduate gave a 69% response, or 11 percentage points above the to ta l sample (nearly 58%). The remaining education groups were near the to ta l sample response. The 1-8 education group was lowest in the response th at TV commercials were " in su ltin g to the in te llig e n c e." This group gave a 44% response, 10 percentage points below the to ta l sample (54%). Other education groups were near the to ta l response. There were no su b sta n tia l v a ria tio n s across educational groups concerning the complaint of "o b jectio n ab le." Table 19 shows an in te re stin g v a ria tio n in one educational group to the complaint th a t TV commercials were given at the wrong time of day. The 1-8 education group was 13 percentage points above the to ta l sample (3%). A ll other groups were near the to ta l response. This table a lso shows the 1-8 year group was nearly 6 p ercen t age points below the to ta l sample (10,5%) th a t TV commercials were "poorly produced." The remaining educational groups were clo se r to the 10.5% to ta l sample response.

61 47 TABLE 20 COMPLAINTS SELECTED BY SEX GROUPS "What complaint s do you have about TV commercials?! 1 Male (N-343) % Fema le (N-288) % No Answer (N-32) % Total Sample (N-663) % a. Poor ta ste b. Too long c. Repeated too often d. Too many e. Dull f. In su ltin g to in te llig e n c e g. Objectionable h. Wrong time of day X i. Poorly produced j. Too loud k. Other No answer

62 TABLE 21 COMPLAINTS SELECTED BY BLACK AND WHITE SET OWNERS AND COLOR SET OWNERS "What complaints do you have about TV commercials?" Set Owners Black and White (N-4441 Color (N-1991 Total Sample a. In poor ta s te b. Too long c. Repeated too often d. Too many e. Dull f. In su ltin g to in te llig e n c e g- O bjectionable h. Wrong time of day i. Poorly produced j. Too loud k. Other No Answer

63 49 A re p resen tativ e sampling of comments by the e n tire group questioned re la tin g th e ir complaints about te le v isio n commercials is found in Appendix C. FAVORABLE POINTS ABOUT TELEVISION COMMERCIALS Table 22 shows the favorable points about commercials selected by the urban sample. TABLE 22 FAVORABLE POINTS SELECTED BY ENTIRE URBAN SAMPLE "What are the good points about TV commercials?" Total Percentage (N-663) a. Entertaining b. Informative c. A ttention g e ttin g d. Well produced e. Provides breaks f. Other g- No answer Comparison of Tables 16^ and 22 in d icates th a t, when given an opportunity, respondents were more lik e ly to sele c t complaints than favorable comments. 1Supra. p. 44.

64 50 Ago Groups - Favorable A ttitudes Table 23 includes the breakdown of favorable responses by age groups. The 18 to 25 year group gave the highest percentage of response th a t commercials were "en tertain in g "--1 4 percentage points higher than the to ta l sample. On the other hand, only 23% of the 61-up group chose th is response--14 percentage points below the to ta l sample. There was l i t t l e v a ria tio n across age groups concerning the "inform ative" nature of commercials. Table 23 also shows th at the 18 to 25 group seemed somewhat more lik e ly to see commercials as " a tte n tio n g e ttin g " than the other groups or the to ta l sample. All of the remaining age groups were r e la tiv e ly close to to ta l sample percentages. A range of 14 percentage points e x ists between age groups who f e lt TV commercials were "w ell produced." The highest response (27%) came from the 26 to 35 age group while the lowest (13%) came from the oldest age group of 61 and up. The to ta l sample response was 19%. The response percentages of the other three age groups were near th a t of the to ta l sample. Table 23 in d icates a decreasing trend of response percentage, from the youngest to the o ld e st, to the response th a t TV commercials "provide breaks." The to ta l sample response was 28%. Income Level - Favorable A ttitudes Table 24 shows th a t the g re a te st v a ria tio n among income lev els seems to be in the $1,000-$3,000 range. With one exception, th is group had a c o n siste n tly lower percent of response to favorable points than

65 TABLE 23 FAVORABLE POINTS SELECTED BY VARIOUS AGE GROUPS "What are the good points about TV commercials?" Age Group Age Group Age Group Age Group Age Group Age Group T otal years years years years 61-up years No answer Sample (N-63) (N-150) (N-198) (N-125) (N-95) (N-32) (N-663) % % % Vo Vo % Vo a b c d e f g a. E ntertaining b. Inform ative c. A ttention g e ttin g d. Well produced e. Provides breaks f. Other g. No answer

66 TABLE 24 FAVORABLE POINTS SELECTED BY INCOME GROUPS "What are the good points about TV commercials?" Income $ CN-29) Income $ (N-50) Income $ (N-117) Income $ ,000 (N-145) Income $10,000-15,000 (N-137) Income $15,000-20,000 (N-64) Income $20,000- up (N-50) Income No Answer (N-71) T otal Sample (N-663) a b c d e f g a. E ntertaining b. Inform ative c. A ttention g e ttin g d. Well produced e. Provides breaks f. Other g. No answer

67 53 did the to ta l sample. In the one exception, "a tte n tio n g e ttin g," the response of th is group was 9 percentage points higher than th at of the t o ta l sample. At the other end of the spectrum, the $20,000-up group seemed more lik ely to see commercials as "en tertain in g " and "well produced" than the to ta l sample. The $1,000-$3,000 group was 12 percentage points lower than the to ta l sample response th a t TV commercials were "en te rta in in g." The $5,000-$7,500 group was 8 percentage points higher than the to ta l sample (37%). Again the $l,000-$3,000 group was 14 percentage points less than the to ta l sample response (28%) th a t TV commercials "provide breaks." Educational Level - Favorable A ttitu d es Favorable comments selected by the e n tire sample when grouped according to educational level are found in Table 25. Only 20% of the group with 1-8 years of schooling found TV commercials "en tertain in g " while the college graduates and those with two years of college gave responses of 44% and 43%. Oddly, only 27% of the post graduate group selected th is response--ten percentage points below the to ta l sample response. Exactly 167, of the 1-8 year group selected "atte n tio n g e ttin g " while 347, of the post graduates selected th is response. Otherwise the responses when grouped by educational level were sim ilar to those of the to ta l sample.

68 TABLE 25 FAVORABLE POINTS SELECTED BY EDUCATION GROUPS "What are the good points about TV commercials?" Education Education Education Education Education Education Total 1-8 years 8-12 years 2 years of College Post No Sample (N-25) (N-226) college (N-146) Graduate (N-129) Graduate (N-101) Answer CN-36) (N-663) a b c d e f g a. E ntertaining b. Inform ative c. A ttention g e ttin g d. Well produced e. Provides breaks f. Other g. No answer

69 56 hand, only 9% of color owners thought commercials were well produced (compared with L8.67 of black and white owners); and only saw commercials as an opportunity for a break (compared with 28% of black and w h ite ). TABLE 27 FAVORABLE POINTS SELECTED BY BLACK AND WHITE SET OWNERS AND COLOR SET OWNERS "What are the good points about TV commercials?" Black and White (N-444) Color (N-199) Total Sample a. E ntertaining b. Inform ative c. A ttention g ettin g d. Well produced e. Provides breaks f. Other g. No answer Color set owners were 11 percentage points higher than the to ta l sample response th at TV commercials "provide breaks" and a large 26 percentage points above the to ta l sample (33%) in agreeing th a t TV commercials were "inform ative." A selected number of comments, which were f e lt were ty p ic a l ad d itio n a l comments not covered by the q u estionnaire, are found in Appendix C.

70 57 CONCLUSIONS General A ttitudes - Entire Urban Sample 1. This study found th at 62% of those surveyed revealed they found commercials h elpful in product se le c tio n. These re s u lts were obtained by combining the responses to the f i r s t two questions, "provides a source of inform ation about a v ailab le products" and " a c tu a lly n helps me choose the brand to buy." Complaints - Entire Urban Sample 1. The most frequently mentioned complaint (71%) was TV comm ercials are "repeated too often. 2. "Too many TV commercials" was chosen by 57% of those responding,4 3. TV commercials were "in su ltin g to the in te llig e n c e " by 54% of the group.^ 4. "Too loud" received a 47% response.^ Favorable Points - E ntire Urban Sample 1. Of those surveyed, 37% found TV commercials "en tertain in g " and 33% indicated they were "in fo rm ativ e."7 Respondents were more lik e ly to sele c t complaints than favorable comments. Supra. p Ib id. 6I b id. 3Supra. p Ib id. 7Supra. p. 49.

71 58 CONCLUSIONS BY DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS The following conclusions have been divided in to the demographic facto rs of age, income, education, sex, and black and white set owners compared to color set owners. The conclusions consider each group's reactio n to "general a ttitu d e s," "com plaints," end "favorable po in ts" about TV commercials. Age Groups 1. The facto r of age seemed to have l i t t l e effe ct on the o v e ra ll a ttitu d e s toward te le v isio n commercials. Except for the "age not given" group the percentage of respondents in each age group sele c tin g each a ttitu d e is close to the percentage of response of the t o ta l sample. 2. The o ld e st, 61-up group, showed a tendency to be more c r i t i c a l of commercials than the other groups when given the opportunity to select com plaints. This group was above the to ta l sample response by 10 percentage points or more in selectin g "poor ta s te," "too long," "too loud," and "repeated too o ften." The 61-up group also was lowest in the percentage of response th at TV commercials were "en terta in in g."^ 3. The group was most lik e ly to find TV commercials "en tertain in g. I t was le a s t lik e ly to say TV commercials were "too loud" or " o b je c tio n a b le." ^ Supra, p. 29- ^ S u p ra. p. 51. ^Supra, p. 39. ^ S u p ra. p. 39.

72 59 4. The age group was more responsive than any other group to the complaint th a t TV commercials were "in su ltin g to the inte llig e n c e." 12 As noted in Chapter I, th is age group is also the most highly educated. In co m e G r o u p s 1. Lower income groups seem more lik e ly to see TV commercials as an aid in th e ir shopping. Response to the selectio n s "actu ally helps me choose the brand to buy" and "provides a source of inform ation about av ailab le products" is higher in those groups making less than $5,000 a year than is the response to these options by the to ta l 1 1 sample. J 2. Conversely, the $1,000-$3,000 group was 10 percentage points or more higher than the to ta l sample responses to: "commercials take up time th at could be devoted to e n te rta in m e n t," ^ "too long," and "o b jectio n ab le." This group, apparently the le a st lik e ly to take breaks during commercials, were less lik e ly than other groups to say th a t commercials were "too lo u d " ^ or " e n te rta in in g." ^ 3. The $3,000-$5,000 group responded least often to the a t t i tude th a t TV commercials were "too biased to help them." I t was the group w ith the highest percentage of response th at TV commercials were "too lo u d." ^ l^ I b id, 13supra. p Ibid. Supra. p. 42. Supra, p. 52. ^Supra, p. 42.

73 60 4. As seen above in the f i r s t three conclusions, the two lower income groups indicated th at commercials were both helpful (highest in 4 responses) and most i r r ita tin g (5 categories). 5. The income groups making $15,000 and more were least r e sponsive to the a ttitu d e th a t TV commercials "take up time th at could be devoted to entertainment"*- and are "too long."*^ They also tend to be low in response to "helps me choose the brand to buy" and "provides a source of inform ation about av ailab le products"2 thus reversing the p attern of the low income groups. 6. The $20,000-up group was highest of a l l groups in th e ir complaint of "too many" commercials. Of the ten major com plaints, th is highest income bracket was lower than the to ta l sample response in seven O I out of ten selectio n s o ffered. L Education Groups 1. The group w ith 1 to 8 years of education was most lik e ly to say TV commercials helped them in th e ir product purchases. This group was highest in th e ir responses to "actu ally helps me choose the brand to buy" and "provides a source of inform ation about av ailab le pro- 22 d u cts." This group a lso gave the highest response to the opinion th at TV commercials were " e n te rta in in g." 2 2. The post graduate group was most lik e ly to find commercials * Supra, p Supra, p Supra, p. 33. l^sugra, p Supra, p Supra. p. 54.

74 61 "a tte n tio n g e ttin g "2** but they were the most lik e ly to check the com- p la in t of "too many" commercials. OC 3. The 1 to 8 group was the le ast responsive to complaints of 2 6 commercials as "in su ltin g to the in te llig e n c e" and "too loud." Male-Female Sex Groups 1. Sex, according to respondents, has l i t t l e influence on a t t i - 77 tudes toward TV commercials. Black and White Set Owners Compared to Color Set Owners 1. Black and white set owners were higher in only one category than color set owners. They were more lik e ly to say commercials o ffer an opportunity to take a b reak Color set owners were much more impressed than black and white set owners with TV commercials as a source of inform ation about products and with the "inform ative" nature of commercials,2^ Color would seem to increase the effe ct of commercials on TV. 3. Not one respondent with a color TV f e lt TV commercials were "an invasion of privacy"-* or "given a t the wrong time of day."3*- 4. Color set owners were much more lik e ly to judge commercials as "too loud" and "in poor ta s te " than black and white set owners.32 How color heightens loudness indicates fu rth er study is needed. 2**Ibid. 23Supra. p I b id. 27Supra. pp. 35, 47, and Su ra, p ^ Ib id Ib id. Supra. p Ibid.

75 CHAPTER IV RECALL OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS DURING AN AVERAGE EVENING OF VIEWING The following questions are answered in th is chapter: (1) How many commercials did a respondent re c a ll seeing in an average evening of viewing? (2) What were the o ral and v isu al facto rs th at a te le v isio n viewer was most aware of upon re c a ll? (3) What type of commerc ia ls were reported as appealing to the respondents? This chapter has a summary of the conclusions drawn from the ta b le s. R epresentative comments of the respondents are found in Appendix C concerning the questions discussed in th is chapter. The number of te le v isio n commercials respondents recalled seeing during an average evening of viewing is considered in th is chapter and summarized for the to ta l sample in Table 28. The demographic facto rs of age, income lev el, educational achievement, sex and a ttitu d e s expressed by black and white set owners as compared to those of color set owners are also considered. Age Groups - TV Commercials Recalled Table 29 shows the percentage of six age groups re c a llin g from two to more than twelve commercials. Aside from a s lig h t tendency for the younger groups to r e c a ll more commercials than the older groups,

76 63 the factor of age seems to have l i t t l e e ffe c t on the number of commerc ia ls re c a lle d. TABLE 28 NUMBER OF COMMERCIALS RESPONDENTS RECALLED SEEING BY THE ENTIRE URBAN SAMPLE "How many commercials do you re c a ll seeing in an average evening of viewing?" Number Percentages (N-663) a. Two b. Two to five c. Five to seven d. Seven to nine e. Nine to eleven f. More than twelve g- No answer Income Levels - TV Commercials Recalled There was somewhat more v a ria tio n in the number of commercials recalled in an average evening of viewing when the respondents were grouped on the basis of income le v els. These re s u lts are shown in Table 30. People in the lower income levels reported re c a llin g fewer TV commercials than did the o v erall sample, yet these are the same people who indicated TV commercials were helpful to them in choosing a new product.

77 TABLE 29 RESPONSES EXPRESSED TOWARDS TELEVISION COMMERCIALS BY VARIOUS AGE GROUPS "How many commercials do you re c a ll seeing in an average evening of TV viewing?" Age Group yrs (N-63) 7. Age Group yrs (N-150) % Age Group yrs (N-198) % Age Group yrs (N-125) 7. Age Group 61-up yrs (N-95) % Age Group No Answer (N-32) 7. Total Sample (N-663) 7. a b c d e f g a. b. c. d. e. f. g. Two Two t o f i v e F i v e t o s e v e n S e v e n t o n i n e N in e t o e l e v e n M ore t h a n t w e l v e No a n s w e r

78 TABLE 30 ATTITUDES EXPRESSED TOWARDS TELEVISION COMMERCIALS BY INCOME GROUPS "How many TV commercials do you recall seeing in an average evening of viewing?" Income $ (N-29) Income $ (N-50) Income $ (N-117) Income $ ,000 (N-145) Income $10,000-15,000 (N-137) Income $15,000-20,000 (N-64) Income $2 0,000- up (N-50) Income No Answer (N-71) Total Samp le (N-663) a b c d e f g a. b. c. d. e. f. g. Two Two t o f i v e F i v e t o s e v e n S e v e n t o n i n e N in e t o e l e v e n M ore t h a n t w e l v e No a n s w e r

79 66 There was an in te re stin g v a ria tio n of 29 percentage points in the answers by two of the income groups who recalled seeing more than twelve commercials. S lig h tly over 59% of the $15, ,000 income group gave th is response (9 percentage points above the response of the to ta l sample). On the other hand only 30% of $3,000-$5.000 income group recalled seeing more than twelve. Also in te re stin g is the fact th a t only 407, of the over $20,000 group recalled seeing th is high number of commercials. Tiii.s is 19 percentage points below the response of the $15,000-$20,000 group and 10 percentage points below the to ta l sample response. Aside from these v a ria tio n s, which reveal no c lea r p atte rn, income seems to have had a minimal e ffe c t on commercial re c a ll. Educational Levels - TV Commercials Recalled Table 31 reveals some v a ria tio n s when respondents are grouped by educational le v els. Among those re c a llin g more than twelve commerc ia ls, there was a 17 percentage point difference in the response percentage of the 8-12 year group from th a t of post graduates (55% in 8-12 group and 38% by post graduates). A ll of the remaining educational groups, with one exception, were w ithin 6 percentage points of the to ta l sample response. This one exception was the 1-8 year group, 16% of whom reported seeing seven to nine TV commercials during an average evening. The to ta l sample re ported only 7%. Male-Female - TV Commercials Recalled Table 32 reveals th a t there is no re a l d ifference in answers by

80 TABLE 31 ATTITUDES EXPRESSED TOWARDS TELEVISION COMMERCIALS BY EDUCATION GROUPS "How m any c o m m e r c ia l s d o y o u r e c a l l s e e i n g i n a n a v e r a g e e v e n i n g o f TV v i e w i n g? " E d u c a t i o n 1-8 y e a r s (N-25) % E d u c a t i o n y e a r s (N-226) % E d u c a t i o n 2 y e a r s C o l l e g e (N-146) % E d u c a t i o n C o l l e g e G r a d u a t e (N-129) % E d u c a t i o n P o s t G r a d u a t e (N-101) % E d u c a t i o n No A n sw e r (N-36) % T o t a l S a m p le (N-663) % a b c d e f g a. b. c. d. e. f. g. Two Two t o f i v e F i v e t o s e v e n S e v e n t o N in e N in e t o e l e v e n M ore t h a n t w e l v e N o a n s w e r

81 TABLE 32 ATTITUDES EXPRESSED TOWARDS TELEVISION COMMERCIALS BY SEX GROUPS "How many commercials do you recall seeing in an average evening of TV viewing?" Male (N-343) Female (N-288) No Answer (N-32) Total Sample (N-663) a. Two b. Two to five c. Five to seven d. Seven to nine e. Nine to eleven f. More than twelve g- No answer

82 69 males and females as to the number of TV commercials they recalled seeing in an average evening of viewing. Again, the predominant response was "more than tw elve." Black and White - Color TV Set D ifferences Table 33 shows th a t color set owners seem more lik e ly to re c a ll high numbers of commercials than the owners of black and white s e ts. TABLE 33 ATTITUDES EXPRESSED TOWARDS TELEVISION COMMERCIALS BY BLACK AND WHITE SET OWNERS AND COLOR SET OWNERS "How many commercials do you re c a ll seeing in an average evening of TV viewing?" Black Color Total and Sample White (N-444) (N-199) a. Two b. Two to five c. Five to seven d. Seven to nine e. Nine to eleven f. More than twelve g- No answer The percentage of response of color set owners (61%) was 15 percentage points higher than th a t of black and white set owners (46%) in the more than twelve category. This response was also 11 percentage points above the response of the to ta l sample (50%). Fewer color set owners

83 70 recalled "two to five" and "seven to nine" commercials than did black and white set owners. Color set owners gave no responses to "seven to nine" commercials, which made them 8 percentage points below black and white set owners and 7 percentage points below the to ta l sample answer. Table 34 in d icates the o ral and v isu al factors the viewers recalled during TV commercials. TABLE 34 ORAL AND VISUAL FACTORS RECALLED BY RESPONDENTS OF THE ENTIRE URBAN SAMPLE "What facto rs are you most aware of during TV commercials?" F a c t o r s P e r c e n t a g e s (N-663) a. M u s i c a l b a c k g r o u n d b. A r t w o rk c. P r o n u n c i a t i o n o f p e r f o r m e r s d. M a le o r f e m a le a n n o u n c e r e. R e p e t i t i o n f. T h e m e s s a g e O t h e r h. N o a n s w e r The musical background of a commercial was mentioned by over 52% of the e n tire urban sample. The next highest percentage mentioned in th is study was the 38% response to the fa c to r of " re p e titio n."

84 71 Receiving the th ird highest percentage of response to th is questio n wns " a rt work." People may complain about te le v isio n commercia 1.r, Hit 30% of the respondents in th is questionnaire indicated th at the message was the fa c to r which caught th e ir eyes and e ars. Thus 70% of those questioned did not remember or re c a ll "the message" or commercial. "Pronunciation of the performers" received the next highest percentage of oral and v isu al factors the viewers were most aware of during a commercial. As evidenced by the comments th a t were added to the questionnaire in th is study, the more educated segment of the viewers expected good pronunciation and acceptable grammar. The lesser educated commented at the end of the questionnaire th at they desired a standard of pronunciation th a t was on " th e ir level" such as they hear today with the rise of p o p u larity of "country-politan" singers and performers on TV commercials. Receiving the le a st amount of a tte n tio n (15%) was the sex of the announcer. I t could not be determined from the comments or the answers to th is question as to any p a rtic u la r preference of male or female performers or whether c e rta in types of programs such as weather rep o rts by women were more d e sirab le. Other o ral and v isu al facto rs mentioned included a wide range of "other facto rs" such as c re a tiv ity, rid icu lo u s claims and performer s in c e rity.

85 72 AUDIO AND/OR VIDEO FACTORS BY DEMOGRAPHIC GROUPS A r c G r o u p s - A u d i o - V i s u a l F a c t o r s Analysis by age groups revealed some variation:, concerning the audio and/or v isu al fa c to rs which viewers were most aware of while viewing TV commercials. Although age seems to have had l i t t l e e ffe c t on awareness of music or sex of the announcer, th is facto r does seem to a ffe c t awareness of a r t work, pronunciation, re p e titio n and the message. Percentages of response to the facto r of a rt work approximated th a t of the to ta l sample except in the 61 and over group. Response from th is group was almost 10 percentage points (22%) below the to ta l sample (31%). Tabulation by age groups a lso revealed some d ifferen ces in a ttitu d e s toward pronunciation of the perform ers. The 36 to 50 group gave a response of 14%, 8 percentage points below the 22% of the to ta l sample. On the other hand, almost 32% of the youngest group indicated awareness of th is fa c to r. The age group with the most education (26 to 35 years) were the le ast lik e ly to mention re p e titio n (27%). A ll other groups approximated the to ta l sample response of 38%. Tabulation by age groups revealed very in te re stin g d ifferen ces concerning awareness of the message content of a commercial. The percentage of to ta l sample answers was 30%. The lowest percentage of response concerning the message was th at of the 36 to 50 years group

86 TABLE 35 ORAL AND VISUAL FACTORS RECALLED BY RESPONDENTS BY VARIOUS AGE GROUPS "What factors are you most aware of during TV commercials?" Age Group yrs (N-63) Z Age Group yrs (N-150) Z Age Group yrs (N-198) Z Age Group yrs (N-125) % Age Group 61-up (N-95) % Age Group not given (N-32) % Total Sample (N-663 Z a b c d e f g h a. Musical background b. Art work c. Pronunciation of the performers d. Male or female announcer e. R epetition f. The message g. Other h. No answer

87 74 wilh an answer of 247,, 6 percentage points below the to ta l sample percentages. The g re a test v a ria tio n from the to ta l response appears in the 18 to 25 group. Almost 43% of th is group selected Hi-- message. The remaining age groups were a l l w ithin 5 percentage points of the to ta l sample response. E d u c a t i o n a l L e v e l s - A u d i o - V i s u a l F a c t o r s Table 36 shows th a t the group w ith the le a st education d iffe rs from the to ta l sample and other groups in each fa c to r. They seem more aware of musical background (60%) and the message (367,) than any other group. With one exception they are less aware of a rt work (16%), pronunciation (8%), sex of announcer (8%) and re p e titio n (14%). The exception is the almost id e n tic a l 7.7% response of the college graduate group to the facto r of sex of announcer. All o th er educatio n a l groups approximated the response percentage of the to ta l sample. In c o m e L e v e l s - A u d i o - V i s u a l F a c t o r s Tabulation by income lev els in Table 37 revealed major d if f e r ences in awareness of two of the audio and/or v isu al facto rs during TV commercials, musical background and re p e titio n. In the f i r s t case, the $20,000 and up group was the lowest of a l l groups in response percentage with 42% (10 percentage points below the to ta l sample response) while the $10,000-$15,000 group approved th is w ith only a 447, response. The g re a test awareness of musical background came from the $l,000-$3,000 group with a 69% response, 17 percentage points above the to ta l sample answer and 27 percentage points above the highest income lev el.

88 TABLE 36 ORAL AND VISUAL FACTORS RECALLED BY RESPONDENTS BY LEVELS OF INCOME "What factors are you most aware of during TV commercials?" In c o m e In c o m e In c o m e In c o m e In c o m e In c o m e In c o m e I n c o m e T o t a l $1000- $3000- $5000- $7500- $10,000- $15,000- $20,000- No S a m p le ,000 15,000 20,000 up a n s w e r (N-29) (N-501 (N-117) (N-1453 (N-1373 (N-64) CN-50') _ ( N - 7.n _ (N-6633 a b c d e f g h a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. M u s i c a l b a c k g r o u n d A r t w o r k P r o n u n c i a t i o n o f t h e p e r f o r m e r s M a le o r f e m a l e a n n o u n c e r R e p e t i t i o n T he m e s s a g e O t h e r No a n s w e r

89 TABLE 37 ORAL AND VISUAL FACTORS RECALLED BY RESPONDENTS BY EDUCATION GROUPS "What factors are you most aware of during TV commercials?" Education Education Education Education Education Education Total 1-8 years 8-12 years 2 years College Post No Sample College Graduate Graduate Answer (N-25) 7c (N-226) 7c (N-146) 7c (N-129) 7c (N-101) % (N-36) 7c (N-663) 7c a b ,644 c d e f h a. Musical background b. Art work c. Pronunciation of the perform ers d. Male or female announcer e. R epetition f. The message g. Other h. No answer

90 77 In tlu1 cnso of re p e titio n, the three lowest income groups ($1,000-$7,500) were well below the to ta l sample response of 38% with 27%, 26% and 29% resp ectiv ely. f a c to r s, In c o m e s e e m s t o h a v e h a d l i t t l e e f f e c t o n r e c a l l o f o t h e r M a le - F e m a le - A u d i o - V i s u a l F a c t o r s The awareness of male and female respondents to audio and/or v isu al facto rs apparently d iffe rs in four areas; music, a r t, pronunciatio n, and the message as noted in Table 38. Female respondents were more aware of a l l four categories than were male. B l a c k a n d W h ite - C o l o r TV S e t D i f f e r e n c e s Table 39 shows th at color set owners are much more aware of a r t work than black and white set owners (37% to 27%,) and somewhat more aware of music (56% to 49%,), pronunciation (24% to 20%), and re p e titio n (377, to 32%,). In te re s tin g ly, they seem s lig h tly less aware of content (24%, to 287,) than black and white owners. Table 40 shows the appealing types of commercials to respondents. "Outdoor scenes" received a 54%, response. "Cartoons" was second highest with 467, while "acting out of re a l situ a tio n s" received a 247, answer. All other types of commercials were below 20 percentage p o in ts.

91 TABLE 38 ORAL AND VISUAL FACTORS RECALLED BY RESPONDENTS BY SEX GROUPS '*What factors are you most aware of during TV commercials?" M a le F e m a le No T o t a l (N-343) (N-288} A n sw e r (N-32) S a m p le (N-663} a. M u s i c a l b a c k g r o u n d b. A r t w o rk c. P r o n u n c i a t i o n o f p e r f o r m e r s d. M a le o r f e m a l e a n n o u n c e r e. R e p e t i t i o n f. T h e m e s s a g e O t h e r h. No a n s w e r

92 79 TABLE 39 ORAL AND VISUAL FACTORS RECALLED BY RESPONDENTS OF BLACK AND WHITE AND COLOR SET OWNERS "W hat f a c t o r s a r e y o u m o s t a w a r e o f d u r in g TV commercials?" B l a c k an d W h ite C o lo r Total S a m p le (N-444) (N-199) (N-663) a. M u s i c a l b a c k g r o u n d b. A r t w o rk c. P r o n u n c i a t i o n o f p e r f o r m e r s d. M a le o r f e m a le a n n o u n c e r e. R e p e t i t i o n f. T he m e s s a g e c o n t e n t g. O t h e r h. No a n s w e r

93 80 TABLE 40 TYPES OF COMMERCIALS APPEALING BY ENTIRE URBAN SAMPLE '*What type of commercials appeal to you?" Percentages (N-663) a. C a r t o o n s b. Acting out real situ a tio n s c. Acting out unreal situ a tio n s d. Announcements by TV p e rso n a litie s e. Announcements by w ell known movie a cto rs f. Announcements (testim o n ials) by w ell known people not in TV or movies g. Outdoor scenes h. None i. Other j. No answer 5.287

94 81 A g e G r o u p s - T y p e s o f Commercials Appealing t o R e s p o n d e n t s Age groups showed some in te re stin g v a ria tio n s in th e ir responses to the types of commercials th a t appealed to them. This inform ation is displayed in Table 41. There seems to be a sharp d ifference of opinion concerning types of commercials p referred among the various age groups, with the oldest group or groups d iffe rin g c o n siste n tly from the younger and, in three cases, considerably from the to ta l sample. Cartoon., cor in stan ce, were selected by 45.6% of the to ta l sample, and the percentages in a l l age groups up to 60 are close to th is fig u re. Only 30% of the 61 and older group, however, selected cartoons as appealing. There is a minimum of v a ria tio n across groups in the selectio n of "acting out re a l s itu a tio n s," but even here the oldest age group is 10 percentage points higher in th e ir sele c tio n of th is category than a l l groups but A co n sisten t trend across age groups can be seen in the percentages selectin g "acting out unreal situ a tio n s" (chosen by 19.6% of the to ta l sample). Response percentage ranges from the 36.5% of the group to the 8% of those 61 and over. Examination of Table 41 also shows th a t the oldest age group was more lik e ly to select announcements made by well known TV or movie acto rs than the to ta l sample or any other age group. The same p attern is even more evident in the category of testim o n ials. Another trend (in terru p ted only s lig h tly by the 51 to 60 group) can be seen in response to "outdoor scenes." While 53.6% of the to ta l

95 TABLE 41 TYPES OF COMMERCIALS APPEALING BY VARIOUS AGE GROUPS "What type of commercials appeal to you?" Age Group yrs (N-63) % Age Group yrs (N-150) % Age Group yrs (N-198) % Age Group yrs (N-125) % Age Group 61-up (N-95) 7, Age Group not given (N-32) % Total Sample (N-663) % a b c d e f s h i j a. Cartoons b. Acting out re a l situ a tio n s c. Acting out unreal situ a tio n s d. Announcements by TV p e rso n a litie s e. Announcements made by w ell known movie acto rs f. Announcements (testim o n ials) by w ell known people not in TV or movies g. Outdoor scenes h. None i. Other j. No answer

96 83 sample selected th is category, response among age groups ranges from a low of 33.3%, of the youngest to almost 697, of the o ld est. Income Levels - Types of Commercials Appealing to Respon-I -m s Tabulation by income levels also revealed an in terestin g v a ria tio n in a ttitu d e s concerning the types of commercials which appealed to the respondents. Table 42 shows consistent d ifferences of opinion between high and low income level groups. While 547c, of the $20,000 and over group selected cartoons, th is type of commercial was selected by only 34% of the $3,000-$5,000 group (a p a tte rn which is d isto rte d somewhat by the 51% of the $1,000-$3,000 group th at chose cartoons). Ju st over 45% of the to ta l sample chose carto o n s. O n ly 8% o f t h e h i g h in c o m e g r o u p s e l e c t e d " a c t i n g o u t r e a l s i t u a t i o n s, " w h i l e 24% a n d 34% o f t h e tw o l o w e s t g r o u p s, r e s p e c t i v e l y, s e l e c t e d t h i s r e s p o n s e. On t h e o t h e r h a n d, " a c t i n g o u t o f u n r e a l s i t u a t i o n s " w a s s e l e c t e d b y 24% o f t h e o v e r $20,000 g r o u p an d 10%, a n d 14% r e s p e c t i v e l y b y t h e $1,000-$3,000 an d $3,000-$5,000 g r o u p s. Announcements made by TV or other w ell known p e rso n alities were chosen by only 4% of the high income group, while the percentages choosing these types of commercial were much higher among the low income groups (14% and 16% for TV p e rso n a litie s and 10% and 167» for w ell known p e rs o n a litie s ). The same p a ttern applies to testim o n ials. Only 2% of the upper income group chose th is response, while 20% and 16% of the two lower groups selected testim o n ials.

97 TABLE 42 TYPES OF COMMERCIALS APPEALING BY LEVELS OF INCOME "What type of commercials appeal to you?" Income $ (N-29) Income $ (N-50) Income $ (N-117) Income $ ,000 (N-145) Income $10,000-15,000 (N-137) Income $15,000-20,000 (N-64) Income $20,000- up (N-50) Income No Answer (N-71) Total Sample (N-663) a b c d e f g h i j a. Cartoons b. Acting out re a l situ a tio n s c. Acting out unreal situ a tio n s d. Announcements made by TV p e rso n a litie s e. Announcements made by well known movie acto rs f. Announcements (testim o n ials) made by w ell known people not in movies or TV g. Outdoor scenes h. None i. Other j. No answer

98 85 A ll income groups up to $20,000 seem to p re fe r "outdoor scenes" to any other type of commercial (with the exception of the $10,000- $15,000 group which shows a slig h t preference for cartoons') and 53% of the to ta l sample chose th is response. The highest income d iff e r s markedly here a lso, with only 34% choosing such scenes. Although some v a ria tio n s of 10 percentage points or more from the to ta l sample response w ithin c e rta in groups can be found in Table 42, these obvious differences in the kinds of commercial preferred by income groups would seem to be of g re a te st importance to the researcher and/or a d v e rtise r. Education Levels - Types of Commercials Appealing to Respondents Table 43 in d icates th at with two exceptions, the v ariab le of education seems to have had l i t t l e e ffe c t on commercial appeals. These two exceptions concern testim o n ials and outdoor scenes. While only 9% of the to ta l sample selected te stim o n ia ls, 20% of those w ith 1 to 8 years of education chose th is option. Also, while 53.6% of the to ta l sample selected outdoor scenes, th is commercial type was selected by only 407o of those with the le a st education and 39.6% of those w ith the m ost. Male-Female - Types of Commercials Appealing to Respondents Table 44 gives the a ttitu d e s of males and females as to the types of TV commercials th a t appealed to them. I t in d icates th a t sex of respondent seems to have l i t t l e e ffe c t on commercial appeals. Women show s lig h t preference for the actin g out of re a l s itu a tio n s,

99 TABLE 43 TYPES OF COMMERCIALS APPEALING BY EDUCATION GROUPS "What type of commercials appeal to you?" Education Education Education Education Education Education Total 1-8 years 8-12 years 2 years College Post No Sample College Graduate Graduate Answer (N-25) (N-226) (N-146) (N-129) (N-101) (N-36) (N-663) 7o % % % L % a b c d e f g h i j a. Cartoons b. Acting out re a l situ a tio n s c. Acting out unreal situ a tio n s d. Announcements by TV p e rso n a litie s e. Announcements by w ell known movie acto rs f. Announcements (testim o n ials) by w ell known people not in TV or movies g. Outdoor scenes h. None i. Other j. No answer

100 TABLE 44 TYPES OF COMMERCIALS APPEALING BY SEX GROUPS "What type of commercials appeal to you?" Male (N-343) Female (N-288) No Answer (N-32) Total Sample (N-663) a. Cartoons b. Acting out re a l situ a tio n s c. Acting out unreal situ a tio n s d. Announcements by TV p e rs o n a litie s e. Announcements by w ell known movie p e rso n a litie s f. Announcements (testim o n ials) by w ell known people not in TV or movies g. Outdoor scenes h. None '93 i. Other j No answer

101 88 announcements by TV and movie p e rs o n a litie s, and outdoor scenes. Men seem to p refer the actin g out of unreal situ a tio n s and te stim o n ia ls, but the differences here are a lso s lig h t. B la c k and W h it e - C o lo r TV S e t D i f f e r e n c e s Table 45 shows the d ifferen ces between the black and white and color set owners as to the types of commercials the respondents p referred. Color set owners were 20 percentage points higher than black and white set owners in th e ir awareness of outdoor scenes. TABLE 45 TYPES OF COMMERCIALS APPEALING BY BLACK AND WHITE AND COLOR SET OWNERS "What type of commercials appeal to you?" Black and White (N-444) Color (N-199) Total Sample a. Cartoons b. Acting out real situ a tio n s c. Acting out unreal situ a tio n s d. Announcements by TV p e rso n a litie s e. f. Announcements by w ell known movie p e rso n a litie s Announcements (testim onials) by well known people not in TV or movies g. Outdoor scenes h. None i. Other j. No answer

102 89 Color set owners were also 12 percentage points higher than black and white set owners in awareness of use of cartoons. This response is 8 percentage points higher than th at of the to ta l sample. Black and white set owners, on the other hand, were 11 percentage points higher in th e ir re c a ll of dram atization of unreal s itu a tio n s. CONCLUSIONS G e n e r a l A t t i t u d e s - E n t i r e U rb a n S a m p le 1. This study found 50% of those questioned recalled having seen "more than twelve commercials" in an average evening of viewing.^ 2. Musical background was noticed by 527 of the group during commercials. The second highest awareness facto r was 38% concerning " re p e titio n " of commercials. Sex of announcer seemed to be the le a st important fa c to r. 3. Respondents seemed to p refer "outdoor scenes" to other types of commercials. Almost 54% selected th is category. Cartoons were the second most popular with a 45.6% response. Announcements by TV, motion picture or other well known p e rso n a litie s were selected by the fewer respondents. O CONCLUSIONS BY DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS The following conclusions have been divided in to the demographic facto rs of age, income, education, sex, and black and white set ^Supra. p. 63. ^Supra. p. 70. ^Supra. p. 80.

103 90 owners compared to color set owners. The conclusions consider each group's response to the number of TV commercials recalled during an average evening of viewing, the o ral and/or v isu al facto rs they were most aware of upon r e c a ll, and the type commercial they judged "appealing." A g e G ro u p s 1. The facto r of age seems to have l i t t l e e ffe c t on the number of commercials recalled in an average evening of viewing.^ 2. The age group, the youngest, and the o ld est age group were the only groups to vary considerably from the to ta l sample response in a ttitu d e s discussed in th is chapter. The group was above the to ta l sample response by 10 percentage points or more concerning th e ir awareness of the "pronunc ia tio n of the performers" during TV commercials,^ "the message,"8 and in p referrin g commercials that had "acting out of unreal s itu a tio n s." ^ Their responses were 32% to 22%, 43% to 30%, and 37% to 20% resp ectiv ely compared to the to ta l sample answer. 3. The youngest age group was an in te re stin g 21 percentage points below the to ta l sample response (33% to 54%) in th e ir selectio n of "outdoor scenes" as appealing. 4. The oldest age group, 61-up, was below the to ta l sample in ^Sugra, p Ib id. ~*Supra, p. 73. ^Supra. p Ib id.

104 91 Q selectio n of " a rt work," "c a rto o n s,"1u and "acting out of unreal s itu a tio n s," as appealing commercial types. Their responses were 21% to 31%, 30% to 46%, and 8% to 207o, resp ectiv ely, when compared to the to ta l sample. 5. The 61-up group was 15 percentage points above the to ta l in sample (68% to 54%) in recognition of "outdoor scenes."** Income Levels 1. The two lower income groups ($l,000-$3,000 and $3,000- $5,000) and the highest ($20,000-up) chose the only v a ria tio n s of 10 percentage points or more than the to ta l sample. The $1,000-$3,000 group was above the to ta l sample in rec allin g 19 "musical background,"1*1 and selectin g "testim onials by people not in TV or the movies" as an appealing commercial type,*^ with responses of 69% to 52% and 21% to 10% when compared with the to ta l response. This group was below the to ta l sample response in awareness of "re p e titio n 14 of TV commercials" and preference for "acting out of unreal s itu a tions"*-* with answers of 28% to 38% and 10% to 20%. 2. The second lowest income group ($3,000-$5,000) was above the to ta l sample by 10 percentage points regarding "acting out of re a l 9I b id. 10I b id I b id. Supra, p. 76. *^Supra, p. 84. *^Supra.. p Supra, p. 84.

105 92 s itu a tio n s 1' w i t h a 34% response. The group was below the to ta l sample in re c a ll of "more than twelve commercials during an average evening of 17 1A view ing," in selectin g "re p e titio n " as a facto r and finding 19 "cartoons" appealing. Their responses were 30% compared to 507., 26% to 38%., and 34% to 45%, resp ectiv ely, compared to the to ta l sample. 3. The highest income bracket ($30,000-up) was below the to ta l sample response by 10 percentage points and 19 percentage points below the next lower income group ($15,000-$20,000) in having recalled seeing "more than twelve" commercials during an average evening of view ing,2 10 percentage p oints below the to ta l sample (52%,) in noticing "musical background,"2^- 16 percentage points below the to ta l sample (24%,) in preference for "acting out of re a l s itu a tio n s," 22 and 20 percentage points below the to ta l response of 54% in selectin g "outdoor scenes"2^ as appealing. Education Groups 1. The least and most educated groups varied most from the to ta l response in a ttitu d e s discussed in th is chapter. The le ast educated group, 1 to 8 years schooling, was above the to ta l sample (9%) by 11 percentage points in i t s selectio n of 16Ib id. 18_ Supra, p Supra, p Ibid. *^Supra. p Supra. p *Supra, p Ibid.

106 93 " te stim o n ia ls." 2^ This group was below the to ta l sample in i t s aware- 25 ness of " a rt work," "pronunciation of the perform ers," " re p e tit i o n, " ^ and i t s preference for "outdoor scenes."2 2. The most educated group, post graduates, were 12 percentage points below the to ta l sample response of 507 in re c a ll of "more than twelve commercials during an average evening of view ing."2^ Male-Female - Sex Groups 1. There is l i t t l e difference in answers by males and females as to the number of TV commercials they recalled seeing during an evening of viewing, the facto rs they were most aware of during TV commercials, nor the types of commercials they found appealing. Black and White Set Owners Compared to Color Set Owners 1. Color set owners were more lik e ly than black and white set owners, by 10 percentage points or more, in re c allin g "more than twelve commercials during an evening of v i e w i n g, " ^ awareness of " a rt work," ^ and preference for "outdoor scenes," 2 and "carto o n s. Black and white set owners were 11 percentage points higher than color set owners in re c a llin g "dram atization of unreal s itu a tio n s." ^^Supra, p ^I b i d. 2 6 I b i d. 2 7 I b i d. 2 Supra, p ^ S u p r a, p Supra, p. 69. Supra. p Supra, p. 88.

107 CHAPTER V EFFECT OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS ON BUYING HABITS The following question is discussed in th is chapter: Did te le v isio n ad v ertisin g influence the viewing public to purchase any items during the past three months. The tables in th is chapter give the percentage of the respondents choosing the number of purchases as a re s u lt of TV viewing. These tab les give a demographic breakdown in to age, income, education, sex groups, and a ttitu d e s of color and black and white set owners. This chapter has a summary of the conclusions drawn from the ta b le s. R epresentative comments of the respondents are found in Appendix C concerning the question discussed in th is chapter. Table 46 shows the responses by the e n tire urban sample. A m ajority 68% f e lt TV commercials had not influenced th e ir purchases during the past three months. As a re s u lt of TV commercials, 267, in d i cated they had purchased three to five items while 3% had purchased five to ten items in past three months. Because only 20 respondents indicated purchasing more than five item s, the demographic breakdowns th at follow w ill deal only with the "purchased three to five" and "no influence groups."

108 95 TABLE 46 NUMBER OF ITEMS PURCHASED IN PAST THREE MONTHS AS A RESULT OF TV BY ENTIRE URBAN SAMPLE "As a re s u lt of viewing TV I have purchased items in the past three months," N-663 Percentages Purchased 3 to 5 N Purchased 5 to 10 N No influence N No answer N Age Groups - Purchased Three to Five Items in the Past Three Months Tabulation by age groups shows the age group was most influenced to purchase three to five items in the past three months (287» of the 172 answering). Two groups (18-25 and 61-up) were 13 percentage points below th is group which is a lso the most educated. A ll other age groups were w ithin 10 percentage points of the highest. Income Levels - Purchased Three to Five Items in the Past Three Months Income level responses varied considerably w ithin the 172 respondents who checked "purchased three to five items in the past three months" as a re s u lt of TV commercials. The highest response

109 96 (25%) came from the $5,000-$7,500 group. The $20,000 group gave the lowest percentage response (5%), 20 percentage points below the $5,000-$7,500 group and the second highest income group was 17 p ercen t age points below with a response of 8%. The two lowest income groups ($1,000-$3,000 and $3,000-$5,000) were also lower, with 77, and 10% responses resp ectiv ely. Thus, the middle income range ($5,000-$15,000) seems most influenced by TV commercials. I t is noted the two lowest income groups, as reported in Chapter I I I, were the most impressed with the "good points" of TV commercials. TABLE 47 EFFECTS OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS ON BUYING DURING THE PAST THREE MONTHS BY VARIOUS AGE GROUPS "As a re s u lt of viewing TV I have purchased three to five items in the past three months.". x, n o Percentages Total Sample Age Groups N-172 % years N years N years N years N up N No answer N

110 97 TABLE 48 EFFECTS OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS ON BUYING DURING THE PAST THREE MONTHS BY LEVELS OF INCOME "As a re su lt of viewing TV I have purchased three to five items in the past three months." Income Levels N-172 Percentages % $1,000-$3,000 N Total Sample $3,000-$5,000 N $5,000-$7,500 N $7,500-$10,000 N $10,000-$15,000 N $15,000-$20,000 N $20,000-up N No answer N -ll Education Groups - Purchased Three to Five Items in the Past Three Months Education groups varied considerably in th e ir response to th is sele c tio n. Table 49 shows the 8-12 group was highest with a 38% response, while the 1-8 year group is lowest, with 5%, or 35 percentage points le ss. Three other education groups show much lower levels of response, w ith post graduates 23 percentage points le ss, college graduate 20 percentage points le ss, and those with two years of college 18 percentage points less than the 38% response of the group w ith 8-12 years of education.

111 98 TABLE 49 EFFECTS OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS ON BUYING DURING THE PAST THREE MONTHS BY EDUCATION GROUPS "As a re su lt of viewing TV I have purchased three to five items in the past three months." Education Levels N-172 Percentages 7 la Total Sample years N years N years of college N College graduate N Post graduate N No answer N Male-Female Sex Groups - Purchased Three to Five Items in the Past Three Months Table 50 shows no re a l d ifferen ces in purchases during the past three months as a re s u lt of TV commercials between male and female buyers. Black and White Set Owners and Color Set Owners - Purchased Three to Five Items in the Past Three Months Table 51 shows no difference in purchases during the past three months as a re su lt of TV between owners of black and white and color set owners. Both had responses of 26% of th e ir N groups.

112 99 TABLE 50 EFFECTS OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS ON BUYING DURING THE PAST THREE MONTHS BY SEX GROUPS "As a re s u lt of viewing TV I have purchased three to five items in the past three months." Sex Levels N-172 Percentages Total Sample Male N Female N No answer N TABLE 51 EFFECTS OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS ON BUYING DURING THE PAST THREE MONTHS BY OWNERS OF BLACK AND WHITE AND COLOR SETS "As a re su lt of viewing TV I have purchased three to five items in the past three months." Percentage % Total Sample Black and white set owners N Color set owners N No answer N

113 100 Age Groups - No Influence on Purchases During Past Three Months The age group gave the highest response (317.) w ithin the groups saying TV commercials had no influence on th e ir purchases during the past three months. The youngest (18-25) and oldest (61-up) were least inclined to check th is response, with 87. and 14% respectiv e ly. TABLE 52 EFFECTS OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS ON BUYING DURING THE PAST THREE MONTHS BY VARIOUS AGE GROUPS "As a re su lt of viewing TV I have purchased no items three months. ti during the past N-451 Percentage Total Sample years N years N years N years N up N No answer N Income Groups - No Influence on Purchases During Past Three Months Table 53 shows some v a ria tio n among the income groups in th e ir selectio n of th is response. The three middle income groups ($5,000- $15,000) selected i t most o ften, while the upper and lower ranges were less lik e ly to do so.

114 102 TABLE 54 EFFECTS OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS ON BUYING DURING THE PAST THREE MONTHS BY LEVEL OF EDUCATION "As a re s u lt of viewing TV I have purchased items during the past three months." N-451 Percentage Total Sample % years N years N years of college N College graduate N Post graduate N No answer N Male-Female Sex Groups - No Influence on Purchases During Past Three Months Table 55 shows males were 13 percentage points (54%) higher than females (41%) in th e ir feeling th a t TV commercials had no influence on th e ir purchases. Black and White Set Owners and Color Set Owners - No Influence on Purchases During the Past Three Months Table 56 shows no re a l d ifferen ces between black and white set owners and color set owners th a t TV commercials had no influence on th e ir purchases during the past three months. Both are 1 percentage point less than the to ta l sample responses (68% and 69%) for black and white respondents and color set respondents.

115 103 TABLE 55 EFFECTS OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS ON BUYING DURING THE PAST THREE MONTHS BY SEX GROUPS "As a re s u lt of viewing TV I have purchased no items during the past three months." H./ci Percentage J % Total Sample Male N Female N No answer N EFFECTS PAST TABLE 56 OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS ON BUYING THREE MONTHS BY BLACK AND WHITE SET AND COLOR SET OWNERS DURING THE OWNERS "As a re s u lt of viewing TV I have purchased no items during the past three months." /XT. Percentage <N> % Total Sample Jo Black and white set owners N Color set owners N No answer N

116 104 CONCLUSIONS General A ttitu d es - Entire Urban Sample 1. A large 68% of the e n tire urban sample fe lt TV commercials had no influence on th e ir buying h ab its during the past three months.'* 2. A small 3% of the to ta l sample f e lt TV commercials had resu lted in th e ir buying five to ten items in the past three months.^ The following conclusions have been divided in to the demographic factors of age, income, education, sex, and black and white set owners compared to color set owners. Age Groups 1. The age group was 13 percentage points below the highest (26-35 group) in saying th a t they had purchased three to five items in the past three months as a re s u lt of TV commercials.^ This group was also the least inclined (23 percentage points below the highest 36-50) to say th at TV commercials had "no influence" on th e ir buying.^ 2. The group, the most educated, had the highest percentage (28%) saying they had purchased three to five items in the past three months as a re su lt of TV commercials.-* 3. The highest response to "no influence" (31%) was in the years group.^ 1Su ra, p. 95. ^I b ld. *5 / Supra. p. 96. Supra, p ^Supra, p Supra. p. 100.

117 The group was leant inclined to say "no influence" by 11 percentage points below the group (20% to 31%). 5. The 61-up group was 13 percentage points below the highest (26-35) in saying th at they had purchased three to five items during the past three months as a re s u lt of TV commercials. Q This group was 17 percentage points below the highest (36-50) in saying TV commerc ia ls had no influence on th e ir buying during the past three months.^ Income Groups 1. The three middle income groups ($5,000-$15,000) were most lik e ly to select both "three to five" and "no in f lu e n c e," ^ 2. Upper and lower income ranges showed considerably lower percentages of response to both s e le c tio n s. ^ Education Groups 1. The 8-12 years group was highest (32%) of a l l groups to sav tbr.l TV commercials had no influence on th e ir purchases during 12 the past three months. This group also gave the highest response (38%) to the "three to five" c h o ic e.^ 2. The two years of college group was 18 percentage points less than the 8-12 years group in selectin g the three to five purchase re s p o n s e.^ ^Ibid. ^Supra, p. 96. ^Supra. p ^ S u p ra. pp. 96, 101, ^ I b i d. ^ Supra. p *^Supra. p. 98. ^ I b i d.

118 The college graduate group was 20 percentage points less than the 8-12 group in the "three to five" c a te g o ry.^ 4. The post graduate group was 23 percentage points below the 8-12 group in selectin g the "three to five" items c h o ic e.^ Male-Female Sex Groups 1. There were no re a l d ifferen ces in purchases during the past three months between males and fe m a le s.^ 2. Males, with 41%, were 13 percentage points higher than females in saying th a t TV commercials had no influence on purchases 18 during the past three months. Black and White and Color Set Owners 1. There were no re a l d ifferen ces in black and white set owners and color set owners in a ttitu d e s discussed in th is c h a p te r.^ 15Ib id. 16I b id. ^ S u p ra, pp. 99, 103. ^ S u p ra. p ^ S u p ra, pp. 99, 103.

119 CHAPTER VI ATTITUDES TOWARD TELEVISION COMMERCIALS AS A SOURCE OF SUPPORT FOR TELEVISION ENTERTAINMENT This chapter analyzes the following two questions: (1) Are te le v isio n commercials the best way of paying for telev isio n? (2) I f there were no te le v isio n commercials, what type of financing would be preferable? In order to summarize previous reactions to the f i r s t questio n, Chapter II reported Burns Roper's ten year survey found in 1967 and 1968 th at people d e fin ite ly f e lt th a t commercials were the best way to support te le v isio n. He found 80% favored the present form of commercials and 10% as mentioning other forms. This ra tio of 8 to 1 did not change from 1967 to In th is study, i t was found th a t 68% of the to ta l sample was in favor of "commercial te le v isio n " and 187= was against i t. Nearly 13% did not answer th is question. This would in d icate a strong percentage of the e n tire sample liked te le v isio n with commercials. In ad d itio n, 18% indicated favoring another type of fin an cial support for te le v isio n. Table 57 shows the percentage of response favoring and not favoring the financing of te le v isio n by commercials.

120 108 TABLE 57 BEST WAY OF PAYING FOR TELEVISION BY ENTIRE SAMPLE "Arc television commercials the best way of paying for television?" Percentages a. Yes b. No c. No answer Age Groups - Best Way of Paying for Television Aside from a slig h t tendency for the younger groups to be more favorable towards commercials, age seems to have l i t t l e effect on response to th is question. Income Levels - Best Way of Paying for T elevision Table 59 shows the tab u latio n of responses by income lev els. Only 56% of those making more than $20,000 f e lt commercials were the best way to support te le v isio n, 13 percentage points below the to ta l sample response and almost 20 percentage points below the response of the $5,000-$7,500 group. This p attern is not repeated in the "no" responses (although 28% of the $15,000-$20,000 group chose "no" - 10 percentage points above the to ta l sample). Aside from these d ifferen c es, the facto r of income seems to have l i t t l e e ffe c t on response to th is question.

121 TABLE 58 BEST WAY OF PAYING FOR TELEVISION BY VARIOUS AGE GROUPS "Are television commercials the best way of paying for television?" Age Group Age Group Age Group Age Group Age Group Age Group Total yrs yrs yrs yrs 61-up not given Sample (N-63) (N-150) (N-198) (N-125) (N-95) (N-32) (N-663) <y <y o t o t o f o j c t fo fo lo fo /o /o to a b c a. Yes b. No c. No answer

122 TABLE 59 BEST WAY OF PAYING FOR TELEVISION BY LEVEL OF INCOME "Are television commercials the best way of paying for television?" Income $1,000-3,000 (N-29) 7. Income $3,000-5,000 (N-50) % Income $5,000-7,500 (N-117) 7 o Income $7,500-10,000 (N-145) 7. Income $10,000-15,000 (N-137) 7. Income $15,000-20,000 (N-64) 7. Income $20,000 up (N-50) 7. Income None Given (N-71) 7 a Total Sample (N-663) 7a a b c a. Yes b. No c. No answer

123 Ill Education Groups - Best Way of Paying for T elevision When the tab u latio n by educational groups is analyzed to see how these groups feel about TV commercials supporting te le v isio n, the only minor v a ria tio n is seen in the post graduates. Only 60% of th is group favored commercials, 8% below the to ta l sample and 1370 percentage points below the 73% approval of those with 8-12 years of educatio n. The same p attern is seen in the "no" responses. Male-Female - Best Way of Paying for T elevision As demonstrated in Table 61 sex of respondent seems to have had l i t t l e e ffe ct on response. Black and White Set Owners and Color Set Owners - Best Way of Paying for Television Table 62 shows color TV set owners were 12 percentage points higher than black and white TV set owners in feeling th at TV commerc ia ls are the best way of paying for te le v isio n. Thus, color set owners strongly favor TV commercials as the best way of paying for te le v isio n. This study turned next to a consideration of a lte rn a tiv e ways of financing te le v isio n by offerin g five options and asking each respondent " if there were no TV commercials, which of the following would you prefer?" by the to ta l sample. Table 63 displays the responses to th is question In te re s tin g ly almost 70% of the respondents indicated they would be w illin g to pay for te le v isio n i f i t were not supported by commercials.

124 TABLE 60 BEST WAY OF PAYING FOR TELEVISION BY LEVEL OF EDUCATION "Are television commercials the best way of paying for television?" Education 1-8 years (N-25) % Education 8-12 years (N-226) 7. Education 2 years College (N-146) % Education College Graduate (N-129) 7. Education Post Graduate (N-101) 7«Education None Given (N-37) 7. Total Sample (N-663) % a b c a. Yes b. No c. No answer

125 113 TABLE 61 BEST WAY OF PAYING FOR TELEVISION BY SEX GROUPS "Are television conunercials the best way of paying for television?" Male (N-343) % Female (N-288) % None given (N-32) 7o Total Sample (N-663) % a. Yes b. No c. No answer TABLE 62 BEST WAY OF PAYING FOR TELEVISION BY SET OWNERS "Are te le v isio n commercials the best way of paying for telev isio n?" Black and Color Total white set set Sample Owners Owners (N-444) (N-199) (N-663) % % 7, a. Yes b. No c. No answer

126 114 TABLE 63 ATTITUDES EXPRESSED BY THE ENTIRE URBAN SAMPLE CONCERNING THEIR PREFERENCE OF SUPPORTING TELEVISION IF THERE WERE NO TELEVISION COMMERCIALS " I f there were no TV commercials, which of the following would you prefer?" N-663 Percentages a. Paying a monthly fee of $5 N $10 N $15 N b. Paid by the government N c. Meter (Pay TV) N d. No answer N Age Groups - I f No TV Commercials Aside from a g re a ter w illingness of the group to approve of government support and a re la tiv e ly low percentage of approval for meters among the 61-up group, age seems to have had l i t t l e e ffe c t on response. Income Levels - I f No TV Commercials Turning to income groups (Table 65) a d e fin ite p a ttern r e la tin g to government support can be seen. much more w illin g to accept such support. Lower income groups are Only 6% of the $20,000-up group chose th is response, while 20% or more of each of the three lowest income groups would apparently accept government support.

127 TABLE 64 BEST WAY OF PAYING FOR TELEVISION IF THERE WERE NO COMMERCIALS BY VARIOUS AGE GROUPS " I f there were no TV commercials, which of the following would you prefer?" PAYING FEES OR GOVERNMENT SUPPORT Age Group Age Group Age Group Age Group Age Group Age Group Total (N-63) % (N-150) % (N-198) % (N-125) % 61-up (N-95) % not given (N-2) 7o Sample (N-663) % $5 Monthly $10 Monthly $15 Monthly Pd. Govt, Meter (Pay) No answer

128 TABLE 65 BEST WAY OF PAYING FOR TELEVISION IF THERE WERE NO COMMERCIALS BY INCOME LEVELS "If there were no TV commercials, which of the following would you prefer?" PAYING FEES OR GOVERNMENT SUPPORT Income $1,000-3,000 (N-29) % Income $3,000-5,000 (N-50) % Income $5,000-7,500 (N-117) % Income $7,500-10,000 (N-145) % Income $10,000-15,000 (N-137) % Income $15,000-20,000 (N-64) % Income $20,000- up (N-50) % Income No Answer (N-71) % Total Sample (N-663) % $5 Monthly $10 Monthly $15 Monthly Pd. Govt Meter (Pay) No answer

129 117 Oddly, while the $15,000-$20,000 group showed what would be an expected tendency towards w illingness to pay for te le v isio n, the $20,000 and over group is less w illin g than the former group to pay $5 a month or support metered te le v isio n. Education Groups - I f No TV Commercials Among educational groups (Table 66), the 1-8 years group seems out of lin e in most categ o ries, but the small number in th is group (25) decreases the significance of these d ifferen ces. This group asid e, the major point of in te re s t in Table 66 is the fa c t that 32.6% of the post graduate group would accept m eters. This is 17 percentage points above the percentage of approval of the 8-12 year group. Male-Female Sex Groups - I f No TV Commercials Table 67 shows th a t women are much more w illin g to accept government support than men (21.2% to 12%) and th a t men seem s lig h tly more w illin g to pay for te le v isio n in some way. Black and White Set Owners and Color Set Owners - I f No TV Commercials Table 68 in d icates th a t black and white set owners are much more w illin g to le t the government pay for te le v isio n (18.5% to 3.7%) and th a t color set owners are somewhat more w illin g to pay for te le v isio n.

130 TABLE 66 BEST WAY OF PAYING FOR TELEVISION IF THERE WERE NO COMMERCIALS BY EDUCATION GROUPS "If there were no TV commercials, which of the following would you prefer?" PAYING FEES OR GOVERNMENT SUPPORT Education 1-8 years (N-25) 7. Education 8-12 years (N-226) 7o Education 2 years College (N-146) 7 o Education College Graduate (N-129) 7 o Education Post Graduate (N-101) 7 Education No Answer (N-36) % T otal Sample (N-663) % $5 Monthly $10 Monthly $15 Monthly Pd. Govt Meter (Pay) No answer

131 119 " If there were p refer?" TABLE 67 BEST WAY OF PAYING FOR TELEVISION IF THERE WERE NO COMMERCIALS BY SEX GROUPS no TV commercials, which of the following would you No Total Male Female Answer Sample (N-343) % (N-288) 7c (N-32) % (N-663; 7. $5 Monthly $10 Monthly $15 Monthly Pd. Govt Meter (Pay) No answer TABLE 68 BEST WAY OF PAYING FOR TELEVISION IF THERE WERE NO COMMERCIALS BY BLACK AND WHITE AND COLOR SET OWNERS " I f there were no TV commercials, which of the following would you prefer?" $5 Monthly $10 Monthly $15 Monthly Pd. Govt. Meter (Pay) No answer Black and White Color Set Total Sample Set Owners Owners (N-444) 7c (N-199) 7c %

132 120 CONCLUSIONS The following conclusions have been divided in to the General A ttitu d es - E ntire Urban Sample 1. This study found 68% of the to ta l sample was in favor of "commercial" te le v isio n while 18% favored another type of fin a n c ial support for TV.-*- demographic facto rs of age, income, education, sex, and black and white set owners compared to color set owners. The conclusions consider each group's reactio n s to "are te le v isio n commercials the best way to pay for te le v isio n " and " if th ere were no te le v isio n commercials, what type of financing would be preferable?" Age Groups 1. Age seems to have l i t t l e e ffe c t as to whether TV commerc ia ls are the best way of paying for te le v isio n.^ 2. The year group is more w illin g to have the government pay for te le v isio n i f there were no commercials. This group gave a response of 34% or 14 percentage points above the to ta l sample.-^ 3. The 61-up group was 15 percentage points below the to ta l sample (29%) in w illingness to support meter or pay TV.^ Income Groups 1. The $l,000-$3,000 income group checked a low 1770 response ^Supra, p Supra, p ^ Supra. p Supra. p. 115.

133 121 or 12 percentage points below the to ta l sample (29%) in th e ir w illin g ness to have meter or pay TV i f there were no TV commercials.5 The $20,000-up group was 13 percentage points below the to ta l sample (69%) in saying th a t TV commercials are the best way of paying for TV and almost 20 percentage points below the 75% response of the $5,000-$7,500 income group. Only 6% of th is group chose government support, 13 percentage points below the to ta l sample and 14 percentage points or more below the three lowest income groups, who seem more w illin g to have the government pay for TV i f there were no commerc ia ls.^ Education Groups 1. The most educated, post graduates, were 13 percentage points below the 8-12 group (73%) th a t TV commercials were the best Q way of paying for te le v isio n. This same group was 17 percentage points above the 8-12 group in saying they would accept meter TV i f there were no TV commercials.^ Male-Female Sex Groups 1. Sex seems to have l i t t l e e ffe c t on responses whether TV commercials were the best way of paying for te le v isio n by sex groups. 2. Females were more w illin g to accept government support ^Supra. p ^Supra. p ^Supra. p ^Supra. p Q Supra, p ^ S u p ra. p. 113.

134 122 than men by 9 percentage p o i n t s.^ Black and White Set Owners and Color Set Owners 1. Black and white set owners were much more w illin g than color set owners to le t the government pay for te le v isio n (19% to 12 4%).1 2. Color set owners were 12 percentage points higher than black and white set owners in responding th a t TV commercials were the 1-1 best way of paying for te le v isio n. J ^ S u p ra, p ^ Supra, p Supra, p. 113.

135 CHAPTER VII SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS A ttitu d es toward te le v isio n commercials have changed l i t t l e in the past ten y ears. Studies of the a ttitu d e s toward a d v ertisin g, which includes a l l forms of the media have been conducted since Recently there have been two major in v estig atio n s of th is impact of te le v isio n commercials upon the public. These were Burns W. Roper's A Ten Year View of Public A ttitudes Toward T elevision and Other Mass Media, and Gary A. S te in e r's book The People Look a t Telev isio n (published in 1963). This study was undertaken to evaluate any changes in a ttitu d e s toward te le v isio n commercials by using a random sample selected from five major urban c itie s used in the two recent major stu d ies. This study also examined the e ffe c t of demographic facto rs of age, income, education, sex and owners of black and white sets and of color se ts. This study examined the answers of the respondents to the following questions: (1) What were the a ttitu d e s of the e n tire urban sample towards te le v isio n commercials? (2) What complaints were made about te le v isio n commercials? (3) What were the good points about te le v isio n commercials? (4) How many TV commercials did respondents re c a ll seeing in an average evening of viewing? (5) What were the o ral and v isu al facto rs of the commercials th a t respondents were most aware

136 124 of upon re c all? (6) What type of commercials did the respondents re port as being appealing to them? (7) What e ffe c t did te le v isio n commercials have on the respondents' purchases during the past three months? (8) Are te le v isio n commercials the best way to support te l e vision? and (9) I f there were no te le v isio n commercials, which form of support would be most desirable? CONCLUSIONS 1. What were the a ttitu d e s of the e n tire urban sample towards t e l e vision commercials? This study found 62% of those surveyed found TV commercials helpful in product sele c tio n. These re s u lts were obtained by combining the responses to the f i r s t two questions "provides a source of informatio n about av ailab le products" and "actu ally helps me choose the brand to buy." Age Group. The year group noticed TV commercials more than the other age groups. They stated th a t TV commercials were both en tertain in g and a tte n tio n g e ttin g. TV commercials had the g re a test p o sitiv e e ffe c ts on th is age group. The age group showed two c o n flic tin g a ttitu d e s toward TV commercials. They were the age group most lik e ly to say th at TV comm ercials provided a source of inform ation about new products, but they were also most lik e ly to say th at TV commercials were too biased to help them. The two oldest age groups (51-60 and 61-up) were found to be the most avid view ers. They had the lowest percentage of response to

137 125 the statem ents that TV commercials gave them n chance to leuve the room and commercials provided convenient breaks. I t would seem th at older people are more inclined to stay in the room and watch commercials than younger people. These two age groups also wanted more entertainm ent because they f e lt TV commercials took up time that could be so used. Income Levels. The two lowest income groups were most receptiv e to TV commercials and seemed to be the most influenced by them. These two groups gave the highest responses to the statem ents th at TV commercials actu a lly helped them choose the brand to buy and th at TV commercials provided a source of inform ation about new products. Conversely, the lowest percentage of response to the above two statem ents came from the two highest income groups. The two lower income groups indicated th at commercials were both h elp fu l (highest in 4 responses) and most i r r ita tin g (5 c ateg o ries). The $20,000-up group was highest of a l l groups in th e ir comp la in t of "too many" commercials. Of the ten major com plaints, th is highest income bracket was lower than the to ta l sample response in seven out of ten selectio n s offered. Education Groups. The group with 1-8 years of schooling was the most lik e ly to sele c t the response th a t TV commercials provided a source of inform ation about new products. M a le -F e m a le. T h ere w ere o n ly m in or d i f f e r e n c e s i n a t t i t u d e s by m a le and fem a le r e s p o n d e n t s c o n c e r n in g t h e i r g e n e r a l a t t i t u d e s

138 126 toward TV commercials. Color and Black and White Set Owners. Color set owners were more w illin g to say th a t TV commercials provided a source of informatio n about av ailab le products than black and white set owners. More color set owners f e lt TV commercials were inform ative than did black and white set owners. 2. What complaints were given about te le v isio n commercials? The most frequently mentioned complaint was th at TV commercials were "repeated too often" (717.). Second in percentage was "too many" (587.) while " in su ltin g to the in te llig e n c e " had Respondents were more lik e ly to se le c t complaints than favorable comments. Age Groups. The youngest age group (18-25) had the lowest percentage of complaints in four of the eight categ o ries. These were: TV commercials were in poor ta s te ; too numerous; objectionable; and too loud. This age group seemed "conditioned" e sp ecially to the loudness of TV commercials and the number. The group was the most c r i t i c a l of too many TV commerc ia ls th a t in sulted the in te llig e n c e. On the other hand, they were the le a st lik e ly to say th a t TV commercials were repeated too often. The 61-up group was the most c r i t i c a l of a l l age groups in th e ir b e lie f th a t TV commercials were repeated too often. The two o ld est age groups of and 61-up were the most c r i t i c a l of length and re p e titio n o f TV commercials. I t is believed

139 th a t these two oldest groups, as found by S tein er, re ly on TV for entertainm ent and companionship and are more c r i t i c a l of TV commercials simply because they watch more te le v isio n. Income Groups. The $10,000-$15,000 and $15,000-$20,000 income groups were the most lik e ly of a l l income groups to say th a t TV comm ercials were in su ltin g to th e ir in te llig e n c e. The two highest income groups did not feel th a t TV commercials were shown a t the wrong time of day. Education Groups. The lowest educational group was the most c r i t i c a l about re p e titio n of TV commercials. I t can only be assumed th a t the less educated were not as aware as the higher educated people were of the production costs of commercials and the dependence of ad v ertisin g upon re p e titio n to promote sale s. Male-Female. Only small d ifferen ces in the se le c tio n of responses to various complaints by men and women were found in th is study. Color and Black and White Set Owners. Color set owners f e lt more strongly than black and white set owners th a t TV commercials were in poor ta s te. Color set owners were much more c r i t i c a l about TV commercials which were too loud. The conclusion seems to be th a t color increased volume only in a psychological sense. Black and white set owners were more responsive than color set

140 128 owners to statem ents th a t TV commercials were too biased, too long, too re p e titio u s, too d u ll, and too objectionable. I t may be inferred th a t color enhanced TV commercials and th at color set owners were much less inclined to complain than black and white set owners. 3. What were the good points about te le v isio n commercials? This study found 37% checked TV commercials as "entertain in g " and 33% noted commercials as "inform ative." Age Groups. The age group gave the highest percentage of response of a l l groups to the response th a t they found TV commercials e n tertain in g and a tte n tio n g e ttin g. Income L evels. The lowest income group of $1,000-$3,000 was le a st lik e ly to find TV commercials e n tertain in g and providing a break. Education Groups. The two le a st educated groups of 1-8 years and 8-12 years of schooling indicated they found TV commercials less e n te rta in in g, less inform ative, and less a tte n tio n g e ttin g than did the other groups. Male-Female. This study found l i t t l e d ifferen ces between males and females concerning the good points of TV commercials. Color and Black and White Set Owners. Black and white set owners were more impressed w ith w ell produced TV commercials and with TV commercials providing breaks than were color set owners.

141 Color set owners were much more aware of the inform ative nature of XV commercials than black and white set owners. 4. How many TV commercials did respondents re c a ll seeing in an average evening of viewing? Approximately 50% of the e n tire sample recalled seeing "more than twelve" commercials in an average evening of viewing. Age Groups. The group most concerned about the number of TV commercials (26-35) had the highest percentage of those re c a llin g seeing "more than twelve" TV commercials in an average evening of viewing. Income L evels. This study found the two lowest income groups of $l,000-$3,000 and $3,000-$5,000 were more impressed by TV commei.- c ia ls and though they have the sm allest purchasing power, were very strongly influenced to buy as a re su lt of TV commercials. On the other hand, the people w ith lower incomes recalled fewer commercials, but apparently attached more weight to those they did re c a ll. Education Groups. Those with 8-12 years of education were most lik e ly to re c a ll seeing twelve or more TV commercials during an average evening of viewing. The best educated groups, with college work or beyond, recalled seeing fewer TV commercials than those groups w ith less education. Male-Female. This study found no re a l d ifferen ces in answer by males and females as to the number of TV commercials they recalled seeing in an average evening of viewing. The predominant responses were more than twelve.

142 130 Color and Black and White Set Owners, Color set owners were much more lik e ly to re c a ll having seen twelve or more TV commercials during an average evening of viewing than were the black and white set owners. 5. What were the oral and v isu al fa c to rs of TV commercials th a t respondents were most aware of upon recall? Musical background during TV commercials received the highest o ra l/v isu a l facto r response (52%), followed by a 38% response noting " re p e titio n " of commercials. "Art work" was recalled by 31% of the e n tire sample while 30% remembered "the message." I t would seem th a t one is conditioned to a musical background, esp ecially in entertainm ent; hence, musical backgrounds are noted by a much larg er percentage than the other o ral and v isu al facto rs during a TV commercial. A dvertising men have long known the sublim inal b en efits of music. Age Groups. The age group had the highest percentage of a l l age groups expressing awareness of musical background during TV commercials. The group was most aware of "the message" during TV commercials. Income L evels. The lowest income group ($1,000-$3,000) was most aware of musical background during TV commercials. Education Groups. Of the three most selected answers concerning au d io /v isu al fa c to rs, (music, re p e titio n, and a r t work) the group w ith

143 years of education was highest in th e ir awareness of musical background during TV commercials and lowest in the other two categ o ries. Male-Female. The awareness of male and female respondents to aud io /v isu al facto rs d iff e r s in four areas; music, a r t, pronunciation, and the message. Female respondents were more aware of a l l four categories than were male. Color and Black and White Set Owners. Color set owners were higher than black and white set owners in awareness of four out of the six audio/visual fa c to rs. These facto rs were musical background, a rt work, re p e titio n, and pronunciation of the perform ers. 6. What type of commercials did the respondents report as being appealing to them? Respondents from the e n tire sample seemed to p refer "outdoor scenes" to other types of commercials. Almost 54% chose th is category. Cartoons were the second most popular with a 45.6% response. Age Groups. The age group had the lowest response of a l l groups to "outdoor scenes." Since educators and broadcasters have placed labels on th is group as the generation of te le v isio n view ers, th is study concluded th is age group has grown up expecting outdoor scenes as the usual or ordinary production procedures. This group was also the most impressed by TV commercials th a t "acted out unreal s itu a tio n s." The oldest age group (61-up) were most lik e ly to respond th at outdoor scenes during TV commercials were the most appealing. This

144 132 same group was least Impressed by cartoons during commercials. On the other hand, cartoons were selected most by the group. The oldest age group had the highest percentage of response in five of the seven facto rs studied. These were: acting out of rea l situ a tio n s, announcements by TV p e rso n a litie s made by w ell known movie a c to rs, te stim o n ia ls, and outdoor scenes. Income L evels. The $3,000-$5,000 income group was the lowest of a l l income groups in th e ir awareness of cartoons during TV commerc ia ls. This same group was highest in response to acting out re a l s itu a tio n s. The highest income group ($20,000-up) was most impressed by cartoons during commercials. This group had the lowest percentage of response to outdoor scenes, while the $3,000-$5,000 group was most impressed by outdoor scenes. Education Groups. Outdoor scenes were given the highest recogn itio n by the 8-12 years of schooling group. The college educated group was le a st aware of th is type of appealing TV commercial. The le ast educated (1-8 years) were the highest of groups in th e ir response to "te stim o n ials." Male-Female. There were no re a l d ifferen ces in responses by male and female respondents as to types of commercials th a t were appealing to them. C o lo r and B la c k and W hite S e t O w n ers. C o lo r s e t ow ners w ere

145 133 more lik e ly than black and white set owners to sele c t outdoor scenes, cartoons, and testim o n ials by well known people not in TV or the movies. 7. What e ffe c t did te le v isio n commercials have on the respondents' purchases during the past three months? A m ajority of 687, of the e n tire sample f e lt TV commercials had no influence on th e ir buying h ab its during the past three months, while 267o checked they had purchased "three to five" items in the past three months as a re s u lt of viewing TV. Age Groups. The age group had the lowest percentage of respondents saying they had purchased products during the past three months as a re s u lt of TV viewing. The age group was most lik e ly to say they had purchased "three to five" items in the past three months as a re s u lt of TV commercials. Income L evels. The middle income range ($5,000-$15,000) seemed most influenced by TV commercials to purchase products. Education Groups. Education groups varied considerably in th e ir response to having purchased "three to five" items in the past three months as a re s u lt of viewing TV. The 8-12 group was highest (38%) while the 1-8 group was lowest (5%) or 35 percentage le ss. Three other education groups showed much lower levels of response with post graduates 23 percentage points le s s, college graduates 20 percentage le ss, and those w ith two years of college 18 percentage points less than the 38% response of the 8-12 years of education.

146 134 Male-Female. This study found no re a l d ifferen ces in purchases during the past three months as a re su lt of TV commercials between male and female buyers. Color and Black and White Set Owners. Color set owners seemed less lik e ly than black and white set owners to admit th at TV had affected th e ir purchases during the past three months. 8. Are te le v isio n commercials the best way of supporting telev isio n? This study found 69% of the to ta l sample was in favor of "comm ercial" te le v isio n while 18% favored another type of fin an cial support for TV. Age Groups. The group gave the highest response th a t TV commercials were the best way of paying for te le v isio n programs. Income Groups. The two lowest income groups of $1,00Q-$3,000 and $3,000-$5,000 were the least receptive to paying a $5 monthly fee and the lowest in sele c tin g a l l other a lte rn a tiv e s to commercial TV. I t may be in ferred th a t these two income groups f e lt most strongly th at TV should remain " fre e," Education Groups. The 8-12 years group gave the highest p ercentage of "yes" answers to the statem ent th a t TV commercials were the best way of paying for TV viewing. Male-Female. The sex of respondents seemed to have l i t t l e e ffe c t on th e ir response to the best way of paying for te le v isio n.

147 135 Color and Black and White Set Owners. Both color and black and white set owners were strongly in favor of TV commercials as the best way of paying for TV. 9. I f there were no te le v isio n commercials, which form of support would be most desirable? This study found 69.5% of the to ta l sample would be w illin g to pay a monthly fee of $5, $10, $15 or support meter TV i f there were no TV commercials. Government support was selected by 19% of the to ta l sample. Age Groups. The 61-up group was the le ast receptive to meter TV i f there were no TV commercials. The group was most in favor of TV being paid by the government. The group was the most w illin g of a l l groups to accept meter TV i f there were no TV commercials. The two o ld est groups (51-60 and 61-up) were lowest in th e ir approval of TV paid for by the government. The three younger age groups were more receptive to th is choice. Income L evels. The $15,000-$20,000 income group was the most lik e ly of a l l groups to choose meter TV as an a lte rn a tiv e to commerc ia ls. The $1,000-$3,000 group gave the lowest response to pay TV i f there were no TV commercials. They were the group most lik e ly to give no answer to th is question. Education Groups. The 1-8 years of schooling group had the

148 136 h ighest response favoring TV paid by the government. Male-Female. Females were more w illin g to accept government support (by 9 percentage points) than males. Color and Black and White Set Owners. Black and white set owners are much more w illin g to le t the government pay for TV (18.5% to 3.7%) and th a t color set owners are somewhat more w illin g to pay for te le v isio n.

149 BIBLIOGRAPHY

150 139 Summers, Robert E. and Harrison 13. Summers. Broadcasting and the P u b l i c. B elm o n t, C a l i f o r n i a : W adsw orth P u b li s h in g C o., I n c., B. PERIODICALS "A dvertising: The Public View," B roadcasting. July 15, 1968, Vol. 75, No. 3, p. 25. "And Now A Word About TV Commercials," Reader*s D ig est, October, 1968, pp Broadcasting Yearbook. Broadcasting P ublications In c., p. 71. "54.57, of TV Homes Color-Equipped, Says NBC," B roadcasting. May 22, 1972, Vol. 82, No. 21, p. 56. "Have Color, Watch More," B roadcasting. June 10, 1968, Vol. 74, No. 24, p. 9. "Nielson N ationals put TV a t New High," B roadcasting. Feb. 16, 1970, Vol. 78, No. 7, p. 24. "T elevision: And Now a Word About Commercials," Time, July 12, 1968, p. 55. "T elevision in the Crucible of Public O pinion," B roadcasting. March 31, 1969, Vol. 76, No. 13, p. 49. "Too Commercial?." B roadcasting, Dec. 8, 1969, Vol. 77, No. 23, p. 5. "What U. S. Thinks of TV is Focus of CBS Study," B roadcasting. Nov. 10, 1969, Vol. 77, No. 19, p. 77. C. UNPUBLISHED MATERIALS Frye, Kenneth Bauer, "A Study of Opinions of Animated A dvertising in T elev isio n," Unpublished Masters T hesis. The American U niversity, Labisky, Kay. "A Study of the Success of A ppetite U tility and Humor Appeals in Filmed T elevision Commercials A dvertising Food and Beverage Products." Unpublished Masters Thesis, U niversity of Denver, 1966.

151 140 Lane, M ilton, J r. "The E ffect of Three N onelectric Factors on the Loudness of Television C o m m e rc ia lsu n p u b lish e d Masters Thesis, Indiana U niversity, October, D. NEWSPAPER Monroe Morning World. Wednesday, August 6, 1969, p. 6.

152 APPENDIX A

153 142 APPENDIX A 1. The Borden Study ( ) The f i r s t major survey of a ttitu d e s toward ad v ertisin g on a v a rie ty of issues was undertaken in conjunction with Harvard Business School Professor Neil H. Borden's massive study of the economic e ffe c ts of ad v ertisin g in A natio n al survey of consumer a ttitu d e s was conducted by members of the Alpha Delta Sigma (the n atio n al ad v ertisin g fr a te rn ity ) under Professor Borden's d ire c tio n. In a l l, a 4,575 personal interview schedule was conducted. The sample was skewed heavily toward the upper income and educational groups, and was also over-represented in the age group. Interview ing was done on an a v a ila b ility b asis of respondents. C orrections in the data were made by weighing re s u lts on the basis of 1935 income group fig u res. R e sp o n d e n ts r e a c t e d t o t e n s t a t e m e n t s a b o u t a d v e r t i s i n g. The t o p i c s c o v e r e d in c lu d e d e c o n o m ic, s o c i a l, and c o n t e n t a s p e c t s o f a d v e r t i s i n g, e s p e c i a l l y in f o r m a t io n in a d v e r t i s i n g. A l s o, t h e r e w ere s t a t e m e n t s c o n c e r n in g th e govern m en t and a d v e r t i s i n g : th e p e r c e iv e d n eed f o r govern m en t c o n t r o l and in f o r m a t io n f o r c o n su m ers. W h ile th e sam p le f o r t h i s s t u d y was n o t r e p r e s e n t a t i v e o f th e U n ite d S t a t e s a s a w h o le, t h e r e w ere s e v e r a l v e r y u s e f u l f i n d i n g s. F i r s t, a d v e r t i s i n g was n o t s e e n t h o r o u g h ly u n f a v o r a b ly ( f a v o r a b le r a t i n g s w ere g i v e n on s i x o f th e t e n s t a t e m e n t s ) e v e n a t a tim e when much o v e r t c r i t i c i s m o f a d v e r t i s i n g was b e in g e x p r e s s e d by consum er

154 143 sp o k esm en, h ig h govern m en t o f f i c i a l s and o t h e r s. S ec o n d, c r i t i c i s m ten d ed t o f o c u s on th e c o n t e n t o f a d v e r t i s i n g r a t h e r th a n on i t s o v e r a l l e f f e c t s ; a d e s i r e f o r more s t r a i g h t in f o r m a t io n presentation o f f a c t s i n a d v e r t i s i n g was e x p r e s s e d a lt h o u g h con su m ers i n d i c a t e d t h a t t h e y e x p e c t e d a d v e r t i s i n g t o be b i a s e d. T h ir d, th e h ig h e r th an a v e r a g e a n t i - a d v e r t i s i n g r e s p o n s e s ( t h i r d h i g h e s t a n t i - a d v e r t i s i n g r a t i n g out o f t e n s t a t e m e n t s ), i n d i c a t i n g t h a t e c o n o m ic c r i t i c i s m w as r e f l e c t e d i n p u b l i c i d e a s. * 2. George G allup's Studies of Consumer A g itation ( ) I n tw o s t u d i e s p r io r t o W orld War I I, G eorge G a llu p c o n d u c te d t e s t s t o exam in e a t t i t u d e s tow ard a d v e r t i s i n g among 5,0 0 0 mem bers o f th e l i t e r a t e p o p u l a t i o n o f th e U n ite d S t a t e s. O ver t h i s grou p w as a l s o p la c e d a s p e c i a l su b sam p le o f h ig h s c h o o l t e a c h e r s. P e r s o n a l i n t e r v ie w w ere c o n d u c te d w i t h A m erican s in a l l s t a t e s, c i t y s i z e s, a g e s and incom e g r o u p s. The m ajor p u r p o s e s o f th e s t u d i e s, sp o n s o r e d by th e A d v e r t i s i n g R e se a r c h F o u n d a tio n, were to d e te r m in e t o w hat e x t e n t th e p u b l i c was a c q u ir i n g a c e r t a i n amount o f h o s t i l i t y tow ard a d v e r t i s i n g, and t o d e te r m in e o t h e r a s p e c t s o f th e p e n e t r a t i o n o f th e v ie w s and d o c t r i n e s h e ld by p e r s o n s a c t i v e i n t h e consum er movement among th e p u b l i c. The t o p i c s c o v e r e d in c lu d e d c r i t i c i s m o f a d v e r t i s i n g, a d v e r t i s i n g ' s e f f e c t on p r i c e s, w h e th e r a d v e r t i s i n g le a d s p e o p le t o buy t h i n g s ^ Raymond A. Bauer and Stephen A, G reyser, A dvertising in America; The Consumer View (Boston: Harvard U niversity Press, 1968), Appendix A, pp

155 144 they do not need, the trend of tru th fu ln e ss in a d v ertisin g, the q u a lity of advertised products, and the need for re s tric te d laws regulating a d v e rtisin g. The re s u lts in 1939 and 1940 were v irtu a lly id e n tic a l. Revealed in the findings were a n ti-a d v e rtisin g a ttitu d e s held by Americans, although th is varied by issu e s. For example, 817. believed th at ad v ertisin g led people in some cases to buy many things they did not want or could not affo rd ; 49% favored compulsory government grade labeling; 64% thought th at there was too great a d ifference between the cost of manufacturing a product and store p ris e s, and 51% favored s t r i c t e r reg u latio n of ad v ertisin g content (1939 d a ta ). However, respondents a lso indicated a w illingness to pay more for products backed by n a tio n a lly known brand names. Also, a large group m ajority saw the trend in advertising as being toward more tru th fu l a d v e rtise ments, ra th e r than toward less tru th fu l ones. In general, teachers were more c r i t i c a l of ad v ertisin g than the public a t larg e, although they were even more w illin g than the p u b li c a t la r g e t o pay more f o r n a t i o n a l l y a d v e r t i s e d b r a n d s. The g re a ter a n ti-a d v e rtisin g sentiment among teachers reinforced the 2 p ictu re th a t " in te lle c tu a ls " opposed the ad v ertisin g. 3. What the Public is Thinking about A dvertising and Business. In late A pril 1942, 1,000 interview s were conducted for the A ssociation for National A dvertisers in 19 c itie s and towns across the 2Ibid.. Appendix A, pp

156 145 U n ite d S t a t e s t o s u r v e y p u b li c a t t i t u d e s tow ard a d v e r t i s i n g and b u s i n e s s i n a w artim e s i t u a t i o n. In 1945 a n o th e r s u r v e y w as made (by th e AAAA) on some o f th e same i s s u e s. The re p lie s in th is study showed th a t, in general, the public viewed ad v ertisin g as an important facto r in the war e f f o r t. Thus, over 80% were in avor of continuing ad v ertisin g to some extent during wartime. In 1945 over 50% favored company ( in s titu tio n a l) advertising even when no item was a v ailab le. In ad d itio n, ad v ertisin g was seen as an important factor in dissem inating inform ation to the public. While these studies related more to a d v e rtisin g 's communication role than anything e ls e, they reveal the underlying public acceptance of advertis in g as part of the American m ilieu.^ 4. Consumer A ttitudes Toward D istrib u tio n ( ) This study, sponsored and carried out by the Committee on Consumer R elations in ad v ertisin g, surveyed the a ttitu d e s of about 1,600 Americans toward current ad v ertisin g and marketing p ra c tic e s, including ad v ertisin g and it s re la tio n sh ip to our economic system, the cost of ad v ertisin g, inform ation and tru th in ad v ertisin g appeals. Of some 1,000 retu rn s of personally d istrib u te d questionn a ire s, about one-third were from subscribers to a consumer news digest (teachers, members of civ ic organizations and women's clu b s), about o n e -fifth were from members of a professional market research panel and about one-half were from consumers at large. The to ta l group included ^Ibid., Appendix A, p. 399.

157 146 30% teach ers, 10% other professions, 45% wage earners, 10%. executives and 5% other. Respondents rep lied to 63 statem ents concerning various aspects of ad v ertisin g and d is trib u tio n. The topics covered included advertis in g and the economic system, the cost of a d v ertisin g, tru th in ad v ertisin g, testim onials in ad v ertisin g and ad v ertisin g appeals. The re s u lts indicated th at the public strongly supported a d v e rtisin g 's ro le in the economic system --etg., "stim ulates consumers to improve th e ir standard of liv in g," "Is a necessary p art of our economic system" but believed (by a s lig h t m ajority) th at i t increased consumer p ric e s. The public said th a t about h a lf of ad v ertisin g was m isleading, but th a t the then-current ad v ertisin g was b e tte r than ad v ertisin g of the immediate pre-war period. The public opposed testim o n ials in advertis in g but thought th a t on the whole both r e ta il store and n ational brand ad v ertisin g was s a tisfa c to ry from the standpoint of inform ation. A dvertising featuring nude or semi-nude forms, gossip, sex appeal or bodily functions was opposed and consumers a lso thought th a t most ad v ertisin g trie d to play too nearly on the emotion of the view er.^ 5, Daraeron's Ohio State Consumer Study (1950) This study of Professor Kenneth Dameron in la te 1950 sought to assess consumer opinion about ad v ertisin g, among other to p ics. Economic and content aspects of ad v ertisin g were covered in nine of the 27 questions adm inistered to 594 teachers and housewives. 4 Ibid., Appendix A, pp

158 147 The re s u lts in dicated th a t ad v ertisin g was again seen as econom ically important (84% said ad v ertisin g stim ulated consumers to improve th e ir standard of liv in g ), but 65%, believed i t resu lted in in creased p ric e s. On so cia l issu e s, 80% said i t led people to buy things they could not afford or did not need. On content m atters, 81% wanted more inform ation in ads, 347» indicated ad v ertisin g was in bad ta s te ; however, 417 said th a t the trend was toward more tru th fu l ad v ertisin g as compared with only 15% who said th a t the trend was in the opposite d ire c tio n.^ 6. The Wage E arn er F orum 's "How t h e P u b lic L ooks a t A d v e r t i s i n g, (1951) This study was undertaken to evaluate opinions on aspects of ad v ertisin g practice and to assess public understanding of a d v e rtisin g 's function. I t was conducted by m ail w ith the 1,500 fam ilies in the Macfadden Wage Earner Forum panel, and was d istrib u te d through the United S tates in proportion to wage-earner concentration (husband's occupation the determ inant). A number of sp e c ific questions on ad v ertisin g content and practic e were asked; then a l l statem ents about ad v ertisin g in general were rated "true" or " fa ls e." The statem ents d e alt with broad aspects of a d v e rtisin g 's im p act--its educational role e ffe c t on our happiness, co n trib u tio n to our standard of liv in g, and the lik e. The re s u lts were g en erally very favorable toward a d v ertisin g. ^Ibid., Appendix A, p. 400.

159 148 High proportions of pro-advertising a ttitu d e s were recorded on economic and general issu es, and advertised brands and the r e lia b ility of th e ir manufacturers were very highly endorsed. A degree of a n ti-a d v e rtisin g opinion was voiced th at some ad v ertisin g expenditures resu lted in higher consumer p ric e s. C riticism centered on the content aspects of ad v ertisin g : not enough inform ation in advertisem ents (367, said they got enough inform ation "only sometimes" or "never"), and re p e titio u s or in terru p tin g commercials. 7. Field C alifornia P o lls' "The Public Looks a t A dvertising," ( ) The Field C alifornia P olls surveyed "a rep resen tativ e cross- section of C alifornia ad u lts" to get th e ir reactio n s to a series of favorable and unfavorable statem ents about ad v ertisin g. The same statem ents were used in 1953 and The topics included a d v e rtis in g 's e ffe c ts on products for the public and on prices and a d v e rtisin g 's persuasiveness. Results indicated strong support for ad v ertisin g as a generally b en eficial force in society and was a facto r in providing b e tte r products for the public. But a m ajority thought ad v ertisin g increased prices and " ju s t tr i e s to get people to buy a lo t of things they d o n 't re a lly need." More im portant, C alifornia seemed to become somewhat less favorable to ad v ertisin g between 1953 and 1961; from 6% to 15% more people were opposed to ad v ertisin g on sp ec ific issu es. However, ^Ibid.. Appendix A, pp

160 149 tlu' Cnct th a t tlx* p o ll covered only C alifo rn ia rendered the data leas useful than the n atio n al figures of Mr. G allup, for example.^ 8. Gallup and Robinson's "Mirror of America" Rating (1958) This study was conducted with 100 housewives of the Gallup and Robinson "Mirror of America" laboratory in New Jersey, o stensibly to determine "whether housewives were mad a t the Hidden Persuaders." The housewives were given th irte e n agree-disagree statem ents about advertis in g ; again, some of the statem ents were p o sitiv e, some negative toward ad v ertisin g. The major re s u lts were as follows; 99% said ad v ertisin g is often helpful in new product informatio n. 71% said ad v ertisin g is g enerally helpful in giving inform ation on where to buy. 17% said a person who buys something as a re s u lt of ad v ertisin g is e ith e r very fo o lish or very naive. 16% said most a d v e rtis ing is downright u n tru th fu l; 86% said some ad v ertisin g is d is honest, but for the most part is tru th fu l. 71% agreed th a t some peo p le's in te llig e n c e is in su lted by ad v ertisin g and 86% said we are b e tte r o ff with ad v ertisin g than we would be without it. 9. G allup's Redbook "Study of Public A ttitu d es Toward A dvertising" (1959) This study was conducted in the summer of 1959 with a n atio n al cro ss-sectio n sample of 1,616 Americans. assess general public opinion toward a d v ertisin g. I t s aim was to The topics covered included general fa v o ra b ility toward impact. Analysis by sex, age, ^ Ib id., Appendix A, p g Ibid., Appendix A., p. 401.

161 150 occupation, education, and economic level of respondents was included in the research re p o rt. The re s u lts showed general fa v o ra b ility toward ad v ertisin g ; 75% said they liked ad v ertisin g ; 157«said they d islik ed i t ; 10% d id n 't know. The most frequently cited reason for lik in g ad v ertisin g was i t s inform ative aspect (43%); i t s general economic d e s ir a b ility was also mentioned often (16%). Over 80% said, "ad v ertisin g helps keep the nation prosperous because i t creates s a le s," but over h alf said "ad v ertisin g increases the cost of things we buy." Those in the highest educational group were less favorable toward ad v ertisin g than th e ir less w ell-educated co u nterparts; those in the upper income groups were more favorable than those with lower incomes.^ 10. U niversal Marketing R esearch's Study of A ttitu d es Toward A dvertising (1960) In 1960 Universal Marketing Research, an a f f i l i a t e of Alfred P o litz Research, conducted a study based on a n atio n al p ro b ab ility sample of 2,735 a d u lts. The study sought generalized a ttitu d e s toward "the ad v ertisin g and commercials which people see or hear every day," and sp ec ific comments on the commercials (and the associated products and media) which consumers consider u n tru th fu l and m isleading. Thus, in essence, th is was a study of "advertisem ents," not of "ad v e rtisin g." Of the respondents, 557» considered themselves generally favorab le, about 25% "h alf and h a lf," 17% generally unfavorable and 37» gave g Ibid., Appendix A, p. 402.

162 151 no answer. Men were somewhat more lik e ly to be c r i t i c a l of a d v e rtise ments than were women. Unfavorable a ttitu d e s were much more prevalent among the most highly educated (graduate school) group, and s lig h tly more prevalent among those over 65. About 30% said they recen tly had seen or heard at le ast one advertisem ent or commercial which they considered u n tru th fu l or m isleading, while about 53% said they had not (and 17% did not know). This "sen sitized " group of 30% said th a t the offending ads were seen or heard quite re c e n tly 63% w ithin a week, 80% w ithin a month-- in d icatin g th a t they probably see or hear advertisem ents which they so categorize re g u larly, in contrast to someone who might infrequently find such advertisem ents. T elevision was seen as by far the most offending medium: about 85% of the people cited TV as the source of the misleading or u n tru th fu l ad. Radio, newspapers and magazines followed in th a t order. Of those who claimed to have seen or heard such offending advertis in g, 87% could id e n tify the product and 61% the brand involved. The main reasons cited by respondents for having considered the ad u n tru th ful or m isleading were unbelievable claims (46%), product fa ilu re to support ad v ertisin g claims (21%), poor ta s te (4%), general annoyance (2%) and d o n 't know (27%) P u lse's A dvertising Image Study (1961) This study of several very general aspects of a d v e rtisin g 's *^Ibid., Appendix A, pp

163 152 image was conducted for Broadcasting (magazine) in 1961 by Pulse, In c., which interviewed 1,000 people in ten major c itie s. Questions included a general inquiry in to the proportionate importance of a d v ertisin g, reasons for lik in g and d islik in g a d v ertisin g, what ad men are like and sim ilar q u e rie s. The re s u lts showed th a t 97% of respondents thought th a t advertis in g a lso was im portant, largely because i t "informs the p u b lic," and " s e lls products." A dvertising's bad p o in ts, people said, were the "misleading nature of advertisem ents," " a d v e rtisin g 's u selessn ess," and "good products s e ll th em selv es."^ 12. H ill and Knowlton's A ttitude Survey of Opinion Leaders (1961) A rising from concern among some ad v ertisin g people over what "opinion leaders" were thinking about a d v ertisin g, the American A ssociation of A dvertising Agencies sponsored a study conducted among 180 "opinion tren d -lead ers" by Group A ttitudes Corporation, a subsid ia ry of the H ill and Knowlton public re la tio n s firm. (This was a precursor to a planned public re la tio n s program.) The research incorporated an open-end interview schedule, and interview s were completed with members of the academic community, business executives, clergymen, e d ito rs, government o f f ic ia ls and other in te lle c tu a ls and thought leaders. The areas discussed included economic, so cia l and c u ltu ra l aspects of ad v ertisin g, advertising content and the ro le of the government in ad v ertisin g reg u latio n. ^Ibid.. Appendix A, p. 403.

164 153 The re s u lts indicated great concern on the part of many respondents about the c u ltu ra l and so cial impact of ad v ertisin g but wide support of ad v ertisin g as a productive economic force. S p ecific a lly : About 90% saw ad v ertisin g as productive force in the economy. C ertain ad v ertisin g p ra c tic e s, p a rtic u la rly broadcast advertisem ents, came in for considerable c ritic ism. In s titu tio n a lly, clergymen found a d v e rtisin g 's dedication to "greed and p ro fit" d istu rb in g ; so cio lo g ists found i t "a c u ltu ra l depressant tending to destroy individualism ;" economists (and so cio lo g ists) thought non-inform ative or brand-vs-brand a d v ertisin g w asteful. P rin t ad v ertisin g was l i t t l e c r itic iz e d, but broadcast advertis in g -- p a rtic u la rly loud and re p e titiv e commercials, and the large number of ads--"drew heavy f i r e." However, there was considerable opposition to government involvement in g re a ter ad v ertisin g reg u latio n, esp e c ially in m atters of ta s te. Few respondents were aware of any e ffo rts to improve ad v ertisin g from w ithin, and they questioned whether se lf-p o lic in g would ever be e ffe c tiv e for advert i s i n g H a rris 's Study of the A ttitu d es of Community Leaders Toward the A dvertising Industry (1962) This survey of a ttitu d e s toward the ad v ertisin g in dustry was conducted by Louis H arris and A ssociates with 700 community leaders in twenty c i t i e s. Via unstructured and stru ctu red interview s, a ttitu d e s were probed concerning respondents' opinions on a number of sp ecific aspects of a d v ertisin g, of ad v ertisin g people, and of what changes should be made in a d v ertisin g. Again, the re s u lts showed a su b sta n tia l body of supporters of 12I b i d.. A ppendix A, p p

165 154 the importance of ad v ertisin g in the economy 74% said i t is " re a lly e s s e n tia l," 16% " f a ir ly e s s e n tia l," and only 10% "not e s s e n tia l." On th is issue, clergymen and educational leaders were less strongly favorable than were the o th ers. On other in s titu tio n a l elements of advertis in g, responses were not d issim ilar from those in e a r lie r stu d ies. A d v ertisin g 's inform ative aspects (54%) and impact on the economy (487. "good for the economy" and 257. "upgrades modern living standards") were most often cited as what respondents liked about adv e rtis in g ; exaggerated claims (577.), false appeals (22%) and re p e titio n (207.) were the chief negatives. A dvertising industry s e lf-re g u la tio n was the most frequently offered remedy for the perceived problems of ad v ertisin g but government le g is la tio n control was a lso considered appropriate p a rtic u la rly with respect to the most frequently mentioned problem of "overclaiming what products can d o." ^ 14. Harvard Business Review Study of Businessmen's A ttitu d es Toward A dvertising (1962) The Harvard Business Review studied the a ttitu d e s of 2,400 b u siness executives toward a wide v a rie ty of in s titu tio n a l aspects of advertis in g, including economic, so cial and content asp ects. In general, executives saw a d v e rtisin g 's role and function as c le a rly v i t a l, i t s power and influence as g enerally good (with some p a rtic u la r exceptions), but i t s content as su sceptible of the improvements. ^ I b l d.. A ppendix A, p. 404.

166 a p p e n d ix

167 157 APPENDIX B COVER LETTER P ilo t Study Baton Rouge Hello! I t is important to you and to me th at you express your views concerning TV commercials. In order th a t your opinions may be known, would you please answer the enclosed questionnaire. I f you do not have a TV s e t, or do not want to answer th is questionnaire, please retu rn the enclosed self-addressed envelope to me. I f you should lik e to make any comment as to why you cannot answer th is q u estionnaire, please feel free to elab o rate. The purpose of th is questionnaire is to help me with my research work which in turn w ill be av ailab le to leaders in the TV industry. One moment of your time in f illin g out th is questionnaire w ill lead to b e tte r TV commercials. Please retu rn your comments w ithin a week. Sincerely yours, Claude C. Fuller 339 E. State Apt. C Baton Rouge, Louisiana

168 158 PILOT QUESTIONNAIRE T elevision Commercials 1. W hich of th e following statem ents best describe the value of TV commercials to you? a. Provides a source of in fo rm atio n. b. Confuses me as to the products I should purchase. c. I have no opinion on the value of TV commercials. d. TV commercials take up too much of my time. 2. You may check more than one of the following: Do you find TV commercials to be? a. E n t e r t a i n i n g J. "C atchy" p h r a s e s T>. I n good t a s t e k. I n s u l t i n g t o th e a v e r a g e c. G e n e r a l ly bad i n t e l l i g e n c e d. Too lo n g 1. I n p o o r t a s t e e. O v e r ly done m. O b j e c t io n a b l e t o f. R ep ea ted t o o o f t e n c h i l d r e n g. I n f o r m a tiv e n. G iv e n a t th e wrong tim e h. D u ll o f day i. A t t e n t i o n g e t t i n g o. What ty p e o f c o m m er cia ls do you find offensive? Comment: 3. Indicate the statem ents below th a t most clo sely approximate the e ffe c t TV commercials have on your buying. a. As a re s u lt of TV a d v ertisin g, I have purchased 10 items in the la s t three months. b. As a re s u lt of TV ad v ertisin g, I have purchased about 5 items in the la s t three months. c. As a re s u lt of TV ad v ertisin g, I have purchased about 3 items in the la s t three months. d. TV a d v ertisin g has not influenced me to purchase any items in the la s t three months. 4. Please in d icate below what type of commercials appeal to you. a. Cartoons b. Comics c. Acting out of re a l or unreal situ a tio n s d. Announcements by TV p e rs o n a litie s e. Outdoor scenes such as mountains, seashores, lakes, e tc.

169 Please rank which of the facto rs below th a t you are most aware of during a TV commercial. a. Musical background b. Art work c. pronounciation of the performers d. Male or female announcer e. Too much re p e titio n 6. How many commercials do you re c a ll seeing in one hour of TV viewing? a. Two b. Two to five c. More than five 7. Have you trie d a "new product" seen on TV? a. Yes b. No 8. I f so, what has been your reactio n to the product? 9. I f there were no TV commercials, which of the following would you prefer? a. paying a small monthly fee b. P a id for by the government c. Paid, metered te le v isio n 10. Do you h a v e : a. b. A color TV set c. N e it h e r d. B o th B la c k and W hite TV s e t 11. Do you do a m ajority of the buying in your home? a. Y es b. N o 12. Please check the following: a. Eighteen to tw enty-five years of age b. Twenty-six to th ir ty - f iv e years of age c. T h irty -six to f i f t y years of age d. Above f if ty

170 Please Indicate below your approximate family income. a. $1000 to $3000 yearly income b. $3000 to $5000 yearly income c. $3000 to $7500 yearly income d. $7500 to $10,000 yearly income e. $10,000 to $15,000 yearly income f. $15,000 and above yearly income 14. Please in d icate your level of education. a 1 t o 8 y e a r s b y e a r s c. 2 y e a r s o f c o l l e g e d. C o lle g e g r a d u a te e. Work beyond a b a c h e l o r ' s d e g r e e Are you: a. b. M ale Fem ale 16. What is your race: a. Caucasian b. Other 17. Please use th is space below for any comment you care to make on points not covered in the questions above. 18. THANK YOU FOR FILLING OUT THIS QUESTIONNAIRE.

171 161 RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE Dear T elevision Viewer: I t is important to you and to me th a t you express your views concerning TV commercials. I t is important to you in th a t th is inform ation w ill be furnished to the te le v isio n industry to give you b e tte r te le v isio n programming. In order th a t your opinions may be known would you please answer the enclosed questionnaire. I f you do not have a TV s e t, or do not want to answer th is questionnaire, please retu rn the enclosed s e lfaddressed envelope to me. I f you should like to make any comment as to why you cannot answer th is questionnaire, please feel free to le t me know. The purpose of th is questionnaire is to help me w ith my research work which in turn w ill be av ailab le to leaders in the TV industry. One moment of your time in f illin g out th is questionnaire w ill lead to b e tte r TV commercials. Please retu rn your comments w ithin a week. S incerely, Claude C. F uller Department of Speech N ortheast Louisiana State College Monroe, Louisiana 71201

172 162 QUESTIONNAIRE T e le v is io n C om m ercials 1. Which of the following statem ents best describes your a ttitu d e towards TV commercials? (Check as many as you wish) a. A ctually helps me choose the brand to buy b. Provides a source of inform ation about a v ailab le products c. They give me a chance to leave the room d. Takes up time th at could be devoted to entertainm ent e. Inform ation is too biased to help me f. I t is an invasion of ray privacy g. Other h. None of the above You may check any of the following about TV commercials: Complaints a. In poor ta ste b. Too long c. Repeated too often d. Too many e. Dull f. In su ltin g to in te llig e n c e g- Obiectionable to children h. Wrong time of day i. Poorly pronounced.1- Too loud k. Other Good Points a. E ntertaining b. Inform ative c. A ttention g ettin g d. Weil produced e. Provide breaks f. Other 3. In d icate the one statem ent below th at most c lo se ly approximates the e ffe c t TV commercials have on your buying. a. As a re s u lt of TV a d v ertisin g, I have purchased 5-10 items in the la s t three months. b. As a re s u lt of TV ad v ertisin g, I have purchased 3-5 items in the la s t three months.

173 163 c. TV ad v ertisin g has not influenced me to purchase any items in the la s t three months. 4. Please in d icate below what types of commercials appeal to you. a. Cartoons b. Acting out of real situ a tio n s c. Acting out of unreal situ a tio n s not seen in everyday lif e d. Announcements by TV p e rso n a litie s e. Announcements by well known movie acto rs f. Announcements (testim o n ials) by w ell known people not in TV or movies g. Outdoor scenes such as mountains, seashores, lakes, e tc. h. None i. O ther 5. Please in d icate which of the facto rs below th a t you are most aware of during a TV commercial. (Check as many as you wish) a. Musical background b. Art Work c. Pronounciation of the perform ers d. Male or female announcer e. R epetition f. The message g. Other 6. How many commercials do you re c a ll seeing in an average evening of TV viewing? a. Two b. Two to five c. Five to seven d. Seven to nine e. Nine to eleven f. More than twelve 7. Have you trie d a product th a t was new to you when f i r s t seen on TV? a. Yes b. No 8. I f so what has been your reactio n to the product? Comment: W ill you buy i t again? Yes No

174 Are TV commercials the best way to pay for te le v isio n viewing? Yes N o 10. I f there were no TV commercials, which of the following would you prefer? a. Paying a monthly fee of: $5 $10 $15 b. Paid by the government c. Meter (pay TV) 11. Do you have: a. B la ck and white TV Number b. Color TV set Number 12. Do you do a m ajority of the buying in your home? a. Yes b. No 13. Please check one of the following: a. Eighteen to tw enty-five years of age b. Twenty-six to th ir ty -fiv e years of age c. T h irty -six to f i f t y years of age d. F ifty to six ty years of age e. Above six ty 14. Please in d icate below your approximate family income. a. $1000 to $3000 yearly income b. $3000 to $5000 yearly income c. $5000 to $7500 yearly income d. $7500 to $10,000 yearly income e. $10,000 to $15,000 yearly income f. $15,000 to $20,000 yearly income g. Above $20,000 yearly income 15. Please in d icate your lev el of education. a. 1 to 8 years b. 8 to 12 years c. 2 years of college d. College graduate e. Work beyond a b ach elo r s degree 16. Are you: Male Female

175 Occupation of the head of the household. 18, Please use th is space below for any comment you care to make on points not covered in the questions above. THANK YOU FOR FILLING OUT THIS QUESTIONNAIRE!

176 APPENDIX C

177 167 APPENDIX C COMMENTS The follow ing are some of the selected comments expressed by the respondents in regard to the good points about te le v isio n commerc ia ls, GOOD POINTS" 1. E n tertain in g. An executive in Philadelphia said, I f a d v e rtise rs did not pay for TV, the q u a lity of the offerin g s would d eclin e. American TV is no doubt the most e n tertain in g in the world. For those who want more, i t is av ailab le elsew here. I t should not be a TV function to ed ify and educate. From A tlan ta, a lif e insurance manager reported, "I enjoy TV and entertainm ent th a t I receive from i t. I do not wish to have to pay to see TV under any co n d itio n s." A re tire d attorney in A tlanta said, "I am in favor of TV commercials. They are r e a lis t ic and cover the cost of en tertain in g programs." A San Diego man said, The Benson & Hedges commercials embody the best ch aracteri s tic s of the p erfect advertisem ents on TV. A rresting, provocative, clev e r, su b tle, and over a l l, refreshing adult humor. Also a radio engineer in Philadelphia said, The commercials of Purina and Bold Journey several years ago and the ones w ith the baby ducks eating the dog food are

178 168 the best examples I can think of th a t get a tte n tio n and yet are inoffensive and are e n tertain in g. The Henry Morgan and Stan Freberg type th a t poke fun at the sponsor get my a tte n tio n. 2. Inform ative. An a ss is ta n t manager of a life insurance firm in A tlanta said, "I bought almost my e n tire Christmas from TV commerc ia ls and odds and ends th at I would normally do without i f I had not seen them on TV." A d e n tist in Columbus said, "By and large, most commercials re fle c t a great deal of hard and in te llig e n t work and I even look forward to watching some companies' commercials." A re tire d Naval man in San Diego said, "Let the ads take care of i t so we a l l know w hat's going on in new products." 3. A ttention g e ttin g. A tra v e l counselor in P hiladelphia said, "Some of the most clever commercials are the most fo rcefu l because they are so tru e to l i f e w itty but tru e possible and w ell presented." Another respondent in Dallas said, I believe commercials such as Volkswagon and his stomach arguing (animated) are the most eye-catching and e n te rta in in g. Believe commercials e ss e n tia l because I do no favor pay TV. Also a re a lto r in Dallas said, TV commercials don't bother me p a rtic u la rly. Sometimes they are amusing. Occasionally they are inform ative. I suspect I am not fu lly aware of th e ir impact upon my h a b its. I do not feel th a t i t is an invasion of my privacy. Further a tte n tio n g e ttin g commercials were commented upon by a regional sales manager in A tlanta when he said, TV commercials as a whole are b e tte r than the shows they support. I noticed my 13 year old daughter more w illin g to

179 169 leave the room while the program was on than while the commerc ia l was on. Upon observing the commercials, I too began taking my break between commercials. I am not in the ad v ertisin g b u siness, I only d islik e a l l the garbage being given us under the guise of entertainm ent. Another A tlanta respondent, an insurance executive, said, I think the ad v ertisin g agencies should be complimented for using a l i t t l e more imagination of recent to the TV commercials. Maybe th is is due to com petition or maybe because TV commerc ia ls were always the same. A salesman in Columbus said, "The commercials on TV are in b e tte r ta s te than the programs in g e n e ra l." 4. Provides breaks. As for t h i s, a secretary in Columbus said, "I use the breaks for chores, reading, manicures, e tc. th a t a working woman must do every evening in lim ited tim e." 5. Invasion of privacy. An ad ju d icato r in the United S tates government claims in Philadelphia said I t (invasion of privacy) i s n 't r e a lly logical because I can turn the set o ff but I 'd like to be able to pay for programs I want to see rath er than paying by the brain-washing method. preferable 6. Cartoons. A Philadelphia law student said, "Cartoons are 7. TV p e rs o n a litie s. A report from Columbus said, "Many TV p e rso n a litie s are underpaid, making i t necessary for too many commerc ia ls. The high cost of programming has gotten out of hand," An a r t i s t from Philadelphia sa id, "As for endorsement by famous or w ell known p e rso n a litie s who believe th at they use the products, and frankly, who cares!"

180 Humor. From Philadelphia an insurance agent w rote, "I fe e l th a t commercials per say (sic) should have a l i t t l e humor in them as some do and emphasize the advantages of th e ir products." COMMENTS AS TO COMPLAINTS OF TELEVISION COMMERCIALS ARE EXEMPLIFIED IN THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS 1. Poor ta s te. A laboratory technician in Columbus said, I am disgusted with the sexy type g ir l s they use to advertis e c e rta in men's products. Having teenagers in the fam ily, I am not pleased w ith seeing these. I refuse to buy products so a d v e rtise d. A computer programmer in Philadelphia said, Ju st a p ro test against the seemingly uncountable commercials which very grap h ically try to re -c re a te before your very eyes a headache, and an upset stomach, a case of nervous ten sio n, or even S aints preserve us an irr e g u la rity problem. I f the aim is to make you feel m iserable so y o u 'll run to the medicine cabinet for the product, I would suggest th a t there are more e ffe c tiv e means. I f, however, the aim is to s e ll the product, the next time the viewer happens to need some, here is one viewer who would ra th e r su ffe r than buy the product advertised in th is manner. 2. Too many. An e lec tro n ics engineer from Columbus said, Many statio n s do not follow the code; I.E. two commercials followed by a five second s ta tio n -id e n tific a tio n break, followed by two more commercials. A local s ta tio n has a commercial a f te r every one or two news item s. Probably has a t le a st 12 in a 15- minute news program. Another chemist production manager in Philadelphia said, Besides most TV commercials being stu p id, in poor ta s te, e t c., there are too many in succession, v iz: Six to seven a t each s ta tio n break during sp ecials or movies. I t is enough to make me want to kick the screen. I form my own opinions about what to buy. TV commercials never sway me or influence my purchases.'

181 R ep etitio u s. A Dallas lab technician " I t seems to me that most commercials are needlessly re p e titio u s and are designed to appeal to a five year o ld." From A tlanta a salesman in tra n sp o rta tio n said, The g re a te st c ritic ism I have of commercials is when they in te rru p t a program without any warning and show three or four commercials in a row, e sp ecially la te in the evening and n ig h t. In an average two-hour movie, they show one commercial four to six tim es. I f the f i r s t one influences you to buy, the others would change your mind. An accountant for the government in Philadelphia said, "I don't lik e hearing the same one over and over in a short tim e. Counted one and i t was repeated eight times in two hours." 4. In su ltin g to in te llig e n c e. From San Diego a re a lto r said, "Most of the commercials seem to be geared to the in te lle c t of a child under five years of age--or possibly to an adult moron." A captain in the United S tates Air Force from Columbus sta te d, "Too many commercials in s u lt the educated and f a il to educate the uneducated." 5. O bjectionable. A decorator from Columbus thought, Why oh why--when more children and people watch TV do they make such overdone commercials? Some are repulsive and offensive to good ta ste --su c h as the crying plumber and the woman who gulps down a sandwich and the young man who lie s about frying chicken w ith one tablespoon of C risco. A re tire d lady from Dallas said, I have a ten year old son, whom I am try in g very d ilig e n tly to ra is e as a C h ristian. Whereas I know he w ill have to learn much about the world i t is discouraging to see him glow a t the ad u lt display of not so concealed smut and sex and h ealthdestroying, habit forming beer, tobacco, and demoralizing

182 172 provocative trash--y es even in commercials become more and more evident--ench year. Is th is necessary to s e ll products? 6. Poorly produced. These commercials drive me to d is tra c tio n! 1-Cameras coming close to the people's mouth-- shaving, eatin g food, or taking medicine. 2-D istorted fa c ia l expressions as the camera comes clo ser to the people in the commercial as i f they are looking in the m irror in the fun house. A p rin te r from Philadelphia w rote, I re a liz e th a t commercials are needed to pay for the e n te r tainment we receive but something should be done with commerc ia ls th a t are poorly produced. E sp ecially, mouthwash, fa lse te e th, and women's under garments. 7. Too loud. A re tire d San Diego man said, "Most commerc ia ls are so much louder than the episode th a t one must often get up and tune i t down." From Columbus came th is response, Every sponsor is e n title d to use any commercials th a t he thinks might be of ben efit to him, but, liv in g in an apartment as we do, when the commercials come on so loud, we must get up and turn volume down so as not to d istu rb our neighbors and the loudness would tend to s t i r up antagonism for the product being shown. Summing up some of these comments concerning a ttitu d e s toward te le v isio n commercials, an engineer from D allas made the following comment: Despite the d if f ic u lty of enduring the commercials we fe e l th a t the free e n terp rise system as applicable to TV is far b e tte r than any other suggestion to d ate. Our ch ief objections to current commercials is the in s u lt to our native in te llig e n c e and the idea th a t su ffic ie n t re p e titio n w ill force a good image upon the view ers. The fact th a t beer is never consumed on present day commercials is a hopeful note; i f c ig a re tte

183 173 ad v ertisin g were diminished i t would be another in d icatio n of an upward trend. I would like to o ffer by way of example the present trend in inform ation ad v ertisin g in tech n ical magazines in which the reader is both en tertain ed and informed while being made aware of the company's in te g rity. While the same format w ill not f i t TV commercials I believe a p a ra lle l can be drawn and might in d icate how commercials could be made b e tte r. In c o n tra st, note some of the re s u lts of low in te llig e n t re p e titio n s in ad v ertisin g. Ivory soap is 99 and 44/100ths% pure--what is the remainder, ra t poison? You can be sure with W estinghouse--sure of trouble th at i s. Scope, once in the morning does it--d o e s what? X soap makes your washer 10 fe e t ta ll--w e have 8 feet c e ilin g s. Roses and doves in your dishw ater--quite unsanitary and in e ffe c tiv e for dishes. MISCELLANEOUS ATTITUDES " I t is very seldom th a t I look a t TV so do not fe e l am q u a lifie d to f i l l out the questionnaire. C ertainly what I see on TV influences my buying." Restaurant owner. Some of the new commercials are very w ell done and e n te r tain in g - -Benson and Hedges, Alka S e ltz e r, C entral A irlin es comm ercials. I'm sorry to say th a t the commercials I find enjoyable d o n 't n ecessarily cause me to tr y the product. Person to person (sounds b e tte r) acceptance of products w ill always be the best way. I have trie d a few food products which seemed e n tic in g. G enerally, the food products have been s a tisfa c to ry but I believe I would have trie d some of these, i f not a l l, or not trie d them, because of the recommendation of acquaintances. A ssistan t D ivision Manager S in c la ir Refining Company. Some movies shown on TV have three commercials a t once about every fifte e n m inutes. This is too much and you lose in te re s t or forget where the movie le f t o ff a fte r looking a t three comm ercials. I recommend e sp e c ially on movies, commercials a t the beginning and end. Most TV commercials are over dramatized to get the point across. I resent th is as an in s u lt to adult in te llig e n c e. Some are pitched on a c h ild 's level--w hich is a l l rig h t i f i t ' s a product the child can play with or enjoy. Many household items purchased by adult women are pitched on th is le v e l, however, and I d o n 't fe e l th is is good.

184 174 Farmer. #1 The name of the product Is repeated as many as twenty-one times in a one-minute commercial (th a t by actual count). Fanner. #2 Most commercials in su lt one's in te llig e n c e by being s i l l y, u n real, and most assume the viewer is crazy and believes any claim made, regardless of how impossible i t may be. An average one-hour program usu ally has from ten to twelve commercials, some oneh a lf minute, some one minute or more. U tility Company Junior Executive. T elevision commercials have very lim ited influence on my purchasing. Most commercials are repulsive to me and produce a negative response toward c e rta in products. For example, I am a c ig a re tte smoker, but I would never consider purchasing or try in g Tareytons because of th a t brand's rid iculous advertisem ents. I am not one to be n o tifie d (sic) by a rid icu lo u s or foolish approach. H elper. "The commercials on TV haven't influenced my buying of d iffe re n t brands of merchandise. I may try something advertised but i f I lik e what I'v e been using I d o n 't buy the product." High School P rin cip al. Some commercials are very good and some are very poor. I feel the m ajority are well produced and good, but they are also repeated too o ften. I t appears quite often th a t much g reater work and b e tte r minds have produced the commercials than the program i t s e l f. TV commercials may have a much g re a ter impact on my purchasing than I re a liz e. I t c e rta in ly increases my demands and d esires to buy. Accountant - Columbus. As I am a textbook e d ito r, I am e sp e c ially aware of the use of language and grammar in the commercials. Many e rro rs are made: th is is bad because of the e ffe c t i t can have on children who tend to pay as close a tte n tio n to the commercials as to the re s t of the program.

185 175 COMMENTS "I lik e most commercials because they are e n te rta in in g, I strongly feel th a t commercials are the best way to pay for TV viewing." I f i t comes th a t we have to pay for what I see on TV I w ill discontinue keeping a TV. I lik e travelogs of other co u n tries. I f news is lie s, I d o n 't want to see i t. Too much sex and smear... people in baths, h a ir combing, smear on th e ir faces, ugly mugs. Let them do a l l in a back room. Children are not supposed to see th a t s tu f f. An insurance counselor in Columbus, Ohio said, I think i t is u n re a lis tic to expect te le v isio n programs to be free. I t is p e rfe c tly acceptable to me to have them paid fo r by sponsors. I th in k, however, th at the price paid for them by sponsors is ex o rb itan t considering th e ir q u a lity. They could be made much simpler and much less spectacular and often-tim es more spontaneous, w ith much less co st, as are programs on the educational network. They do not need the highly-paid name performers as fa r as I am concerned. As far as sponsors are concerned, le t them pay for the programs and I w ill pay the cost hidden on th e ir n e cessarily increased r e t a i l p ric e s, le t them a lso in s is t on b e tte r commercials with a w itty im aginative, e n tertain in g approach and I ' l l even watch them. Service Manager in Dallas sa id, "Commercials may be boring and re p e titio u s, but they are b e tte r than any form of pay TV. An executive in Philadelphia: I f a d v ertise rs did not pay for TV the q u a lity of the offerings would d e c lin e. American TV is no doubt the most en tertain in g in the world. For those who want more, i t is av ailab le elsewhere. I t should not be TV's function to edify and educate, A R etired Person on D isa b ility from Philadelphia; TV is a wonderful medium for inform ing, educating, and showing the m ajority who cannot tra v e l the world and i t s wonders, whereas i t is used for so many id io tic, ju v en ile and very repulsive programs. San Diego School Employee: I fe e l commercials are good. Without them, there would be

186 176 no free viewing. They are necessary and often e n te rta in in g. What 1 object only to is the re p e titio n, o ften two to three hundred showings. Also very d istu rb in g is when two or three commercials are shown, the announcer says, "We w ill continue a f te r a s ta tio n break." Then three more commercials are shown. This is five or six in a row (is th is le g al?). San Diego Metalsmith: I think commercials are a good way to pay for te le v isio n programs. L ately, I have noticed th a t th ere seems to be too many commercials. I become g re a tly fru stra te d and disgusted in a l l the breaks for commercials on some programs, esp ecially when they repeat the exact same commercial I have ju s t seen the time before. They must think th a t te le v isio n viewers have very short memories. There is tremendous room for improvement in commercials. Their q u a lity and good ta ste are often in question. The re p e titio n and number of commercials are annoying, but perhaps the sponsors are unaware of th is. Perhaps i f a group would in d icate to them the areas where they could improve th e ir commercials they would take heed of the advice and act accordingly. Parttim e Office Worker in San Diego: The big question is how to pay for TV programs. We b itte r ly resent brazen a d v e r tis e rs 1 dominance of programs and th e ir ardent a ttitu d e toward them. They have made a very p lain and outfront statem ent th a t TV is good only for an advertising medium. I t should be regarded ra th e r as a p riv ileg e than a rig h t of power and d ic ta to rs h ip. The other ways of financing i t as y et proposed do not seem too s a tis fa c to ry. Government financing is to be avoided. I resent the pay-as-you-go plans most of us have already paid out. We have paid quite a lump of money for our sets alread y. I t seems wrong somehow to be asked to pay for the p riv ileg e of using our own property. Yet the programs and broadcasting must be paid for somehow i f we are to have them. I sometimes wonder i f TV as p riv a te entertainm ent in our homes is a good th in g ; even though as a lonely person, I find i t a lo t of company. I hope my opinions help. I am not the head of the household and am now going to college to complete my education. I wouldn't re a lly care fo r pay TV. And even though some commercials are re a lly poor, accept them as the price for te le v isio n. D espite the d if f ic u lty of enduring the commercials, we feel th at the free e n terp rise system as applicable to TV is far b e tte r than any other suggestion to date.

187 177 I f i t w eren't for TV commercials we could not as a whole affo rd to pay for the shows on te le v isio n. I'm a l l for TV commercials, only not so many times in one program. I would lik e to have the option of paying for some f i r s t ra te movies, sporting events and entertainm ent * tile reducing the number of TV commercials on the reg u lar channels. I now m entally switch off the commercials ar>u read while they are on; thus, I d o n 't know one commercial from another. However, my ten and eleven year old sons are quite aware of them and often p re fe r them to the program --to me commercials are aimed a t th e ir age le v e l, not mine. Having lived in Europe and tra v e llin g ex ten siv ely, I p refer European TV and no commercials. I am a native American and proud of i t, but do not feel commerc ia ls contribute anything to my way of l i f e. I t in fu ria te s me to have ad v ertisin g companies think the viewers are so stu p id, w ith the rid icu lo u s things they put before us to watch. I turn them o f f - - a ll of them. I would enjoy cable TV or m eter.