A Content Analysis of Problem-Resolution Appeals in Television Commercials

A Content Analysis of Problem-Resolution Appeals in Television Commercials The content of the television message, whether in programming or in commercials, has been a topic of periodic concern. A decade ago the way women were portrayed on television was under attack. After that, attention and subsequent legislation addressed some concerns about program content and commercials aimed at children. Then there was concern with the impact of television violence on viewers. More recently, controversy has focused on the shouting, insulting kinds of talk shows where the host is aggressive and often abusive. The common element in all these subjects is the negative impact television messages may have on the viewer. Whether in programming or advertising, the concern is about the considerable power of the repeated message. Observational learning theory supports the notion that these messages impact the perceptions of viewers (Bandura 1969, 1971). Problem-solving portrayals in television advertisements are less controversial than the topics noted above, but they are still a concern to consumer researchers. Advertisers, in the business of selling products, use the effective problem-resolution format that focuses on quick and easy solutions. The present analysis is concerned with the notion that commercials convey the powerful messages that problems can be resolved quickly, that long-term implications need not be considered, and that careful, step-by-step decision making (problem solving) is not encouraged. To measure the effects of media exposure, one first must understand the content of the media to which consumers are exposed. Heretofore, there has been no systematic, empirical measure of the problem-resolution structure of television advertisements. If people learn from television, they may learn not only about product characteristics, but also about deeper, more universal lessons concerning problems these products are said to solve and the depicted process by which resolutions are achieved. This study provides an initial empirical basis on which to understand better the nature of problems and their resolutions presented in television advertisements. The results of this study can help direct and focus subsequent media research that extends television's lessons to measured impacts on viewers. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Evidence accumulated over two decades suggests that television portrayals can influence a viewer's perception of reality (Budd, Craig, and Steinman 1983; Greenberg et al. 1982; Moschis and Moore 1978; Murray 1980; Ward and Wackman 1971; Ward, Wackman, and Wartella 1977; Hawkins and Pingree 1981). Research by Gerbner and the Cultural Indicators Project team at the University of Pennsylvania demonstrates the capacity of television to figure prominently as a source of input to an individual's perception of the world (Gerbner et al. 1980; Gerbner et al. 1982). On a wide range of issues Gerbner's research has demonstrated that regular users of the medium come to align their perceptions with television's depiction of life. Television, it is argued, "mainstreams" its users by channeling and focusing their views into common patterns consistent with those displayed on the medium. Learning theorists generally agree that observational learning theory offers a plausible dynamic to explain learning from television. Observational learning theory--most associated with the work of Bandura (1969, 1971)--proposes that an individual induces, from observation of a model, a set of abstract rules governing specific behaviors displayed by that model. The substance of these rules needs not be articulated; their replication in a variety of scenarios forms the basis of the learning process. For instance, viewers may observe a variety of scenes in which the actors (models) engage in helping behaviors. After exposure to several such enactments of the "helping rule," viewers will adopt that rule for possible use in their own behavioral repertoire. …