Three Elon University School of Communications faculty members – Kelli Burns, Harlen Makemson and Vic Costello – have been invited to present their research at the national conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication in Toronto in August.
Below are the abstracts of the three presenters:
From Fabulously Entertaining to Freakishly Annoying: Consumer Responses to Six Online Advertising Formats. Kelli S. Burns, Elon University; and Richard J. Lutz, University of Florida. This study gathered descriptive data on the perceptual antecedents of attitudes toward six online advertising formats and tested the ability of perceptions to predict attitude toward the format, using a national survey of 1,075 adults. The data supported the three hypotheses: Web users possess significantly different attitudes across formats; users hold a varied combination of perceptions about each format; the three perceptions of entertainment, annoyance and information have a significant impact.
The Weapons of Character Assassination: “Scandal Intertextuality” in Anti-Blaine Political Cartoons During the 1884 Presidential Campaign. Harlen Makemson, Elon University. For more than a hundred years, “A Campaign of Caricature” has been credited for helping Grover Cleveland reach the White House. Puck artists and Harper’s Weekly cartoonist Thomas Nast shared a desire to discredit Republican candidate James Blaine by ascribing to him characteristics of scandal during the presidential campaign of 1884. This research explores how cartoonists differed in their approaches using the concept of “scandal intertextuality.” This study offers strong evidence that cartoonists had a great deal of influence on each other during the canvass.
TV Fans as “Outlaws”: An Examination of Audience Activity and Online Fandom. Vic Costello, Elon University; and Barbara Moore, University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Self-described fans (N=755) of particular television programs were asked to respond online to a question about their use of the Internet for keeping up with a favorite television program. The authors analyzed textual responses to this question for patterns and themes related to audience-centered theories of television-viewing activity. The results reveal a thriving, interpretive community of “outlaw” fans in search of others with whom to communicate and share the experience of a favorite television program.