Disaster Mythology and Availability Cascades

Sociological research conducted in the aftermath of natural disasters has uncovered a number of “disaster myths” – widely shared misconceptions about typical post-disaster human behavior. This paper discusses the possibility that perpetuation of disaster mythology reflects an “availability cascade,” defined in prior scholarship as a “self-reinforcing process of collective belief formation by which an expressed perception triggers a chain reaction that gives the perception increasing plausibility through its rising availability in public discourse.” (Kuran and Sunstein 1999). Framing the spread of disaster mythology as an availability cascade suggests that certain tools may be useful in halting the myths’ continued perpetuation. These tools include changing the legal and social incentives of so-called “availability entrepreneurs” – those principally responsible for beginning and perpetuating the cascade, as well as insulating decision-makers from political pressures generated by the availability cascade. This paper evaluates the potential effectiveness of these and other solutions for countering disaster mythology. Las investigaciones sociológicas realizadas tras los desastres naturales han hecho evidentes una serie de “mitos del desastre”, conceptos erróneos ampliamente compartidos sobre el comportamiento humano típico tras un desastre. Este artículo analiza la posibilidad de que la perpetuación de los mitos del desastre refleje una “cascada de disponibilidad”, definida en estudios anteriores como un “proceso de auto-refuerzo de la formación de una creencia colectiva, a través del que una percepción expresada produce una reacción en cadena que hace que la percepción sea cada vez más verosímil, a través de una mayor presencia en el discurso público” (Kuran y Sunstein 1999). Enmarcar la propagación de los mitos del desastre como una cascada de disponibilidad sugiere que ciertas herramientas pueden ser útiles para parar la continua perpetuación de los mitos. Estas herramientas incluyen el cambio de los incentivos legales y sociales de los llamados “emprendedores de la disponibilidad”, los principales responsables del inicio y la perpetuación de la cascada, además del aislamiento de quienes toman las decisiones de las presiones políticas generadas por la cascada de disponibilidad. Este artículo evalúa la efectividad potencial de estas y otras soluciones para contrarrestar los mitos del desastre

Stories of Community: The First Ten Years of Nike Women\u27s Advertising

This semiotic analysis of early Nike women\u27s advertising explores the evolution of the women\u27s brand from its launch in 1990 through 2000, and includes twenty-seven print campaigns. The semiotic analysis is enhanced by in-depth interviews of the creative team. The study is framed by a single research question. What symbolically ties these ten years of advertising into a cohesive whole and how? Ultimately, three distinct mediated communities emerge. The story behind these communities, expressed semiotically and orally, suggests that the power of this advertising lies in its mediated construction of community life. The resonance of these ads is rooted in the creatives\u27 ability to construct signifiers that reflect the cultural and social experiences of women, with storytelling as the single most binding force across this ten-year period

Service Learning Across the Curriculum: A Collaboration to Promote Smoking Cessation

This paper focuses on how pedagogy, service, and scholarship can be combined across the advertising curriculum through service learning, which invigorates collaboration among faculty members, student teams, and advertising professionals. The authors demonstrate how service learning projects integrate curricula using a community-based client, ultimately leading to scholarship and professional outcomes. Specifically, this study analyzes the launch of a service learning-based smoking cessation campaign on a Midwest college campus

Symptom Information in Direct-to-Consumer Antidepressant Advertising and College Students\u27 Perception of the Lifetime Risk Depression

While consumers’ health cognition and behavior are likely formed through multiple influences, the current study focused on the effects of exposure to specific content elements in direct-to-consumer advertising. The study revealed that consumers’ exposure to the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) diagnostic guideline has potential to reduce their perceived lifetime risk of depression and intention to consult a health professional to discuss the health issue. The study further revealed when an antidepressant ad mentioned a long list of symptoms, exposure to the diagnostic guideline reduced risk perception and consultation intention significantly, whereas in the presence of a short list of symptoms, the APA guideline had minimal impact

Creative Women in Advertising Agencies: Why So Few “Babes in Boyland”?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore reasons why there are so few women in creative departments of advertising agencies and to discuss what impact that might have on the work environment of those creative departments and advertising messages they create. Design/methodology/approach – Provides a review of published research and plus opinions of professionals who cover the advertising industry or work in agency creative departments. Personal observations from the authors’ time working in the advertising industry are also included. Findings – Themes gleaned from the literature look at the gender gap, the creative department of advertising agencies as an “old-boys network,” reasons why women leave creative jobs, and why advertising targeting women as consumers is so bad. Practical implications – Women opt out of advertising agencies for any number of reasons – more than just having babies. Keeping women’s voices in creative departments would give a better balance to the messages agencies create. Originality/value – Changing creative departments to be more accommodating and flexible to women’s needs might not only make them better for women, but also better for men and for families. In addition, the messages from those creative departments may be more compelling to consumers