A lot like the other: Parents’ consumer responses to brand-modified product placements in children’s programming

This research examined whether parents can recognize modified brands in children’s programming, and whether program educational value and active mediation intention would moderate perceptions of modified brand references. An experiment was conducted with 109 parents of child(ren) between 3-6 years old. Participants watched clips that systematically varied in brand reference type (i.e., actual v. modified brands) in product placements and program educational value. Results indicated modified brands were as recognizable as actual brands. Product placements in high educational value programs were less recognizable but generated more positive attitudes toward the brand than product placements in low educational value programs. The active mediation intention level moderated recognition and purchase intention of brands referenced in children’s programming, and the negative perceptions of product placements were most salient when actual brands were used in low educational value programs. The practical implications for advertising and media practitioners were discussed

Predicting Parental Mediation Behaviors: The Direct and Indirect Influence of Parents’ Critical Thinking About Media and Attitudes about Parent-Child Interactions

Many parents fail to interact with their children regularly about media content and past research has identified few predictors of parents’ engagement in parental mediation behaviors. The present study explored the relationship between parents’ critical thinking about media and parents’ provision of both active and restrictive mediation of television content. Results revealed that parents’ critical thinking about media is positively associated with both active and restrictive mediation, relationships mediated by parents’ attitudes toward parent-child interactions about media. These findings suggest that media literacy programs aimed at improving parents’ critical thinking about media may be an effective way to alter children’s responses to media exposure and that these media literacy programs should promote positive attitudes toward parental mediation

Comparison of Serum Cotinine Concentration within and across Smokers of Menthol and Nonmenthol Cigarette Brands among Non-Hispanic Black and Non-Hispanic White U.S. Adult Smokers, 2001–2006

Background: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is examining options for regulating menthol content in cigarettes. There are many pharmacologic properties of menthol that may facilitate exposure to tobacco smoke, and it has been suggested that the preference for menthol cigarettes in black smokers accounts for their higher cotinine levels. Objective: To assess cigarettes smoked per day–adjusted cotinine levels in relation to smoking a menthol or nonmenthol cigarette brand among non-Hispanic black and white U.S. adult smokers under natural smoking conditions. Method: Serum cotinine concentrations were measured in 1,943 smokers participating in the 2001 to 2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES). The effect of smoking a menthol brand on cigarettes smoked per day–adjusted serum cotinine levels in these two populations was modeled by adjusting for sex, age, number of smokers living in the home, body weight, time since last smoked, and FTC (Federal Trade Commission)-measured nicotine levels. The 8- or 12-digit Universal Product Code (UPC) on the cigarette label was used to determine the cigarette brand and whether it was menthol. Results: Smoking a menthol cigarette brand versus smoking a nonmenthol cigarette brand was not associated (P≥ 0.05) with mean serum cotinine concentration in either black or white smokers. Conclusions: The higher levels of cotinine observed in black smokers compared with white smokers are not explained by their higher preference for menthol cigarette brands. Impact: Further studies like ours are needed to improve our ability to understand health consequences of future changes in tobacco product design

Promoting preschoolers’ emotional competence through prosocial TV and mobile app use

This study explored the relationship between preschoolers’ exposure to Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood television programming and its accompanying mobile app and preschoolers’ emotion knowledge and use of emotion regulation strategies. An experiment involving 121 parent-child dyads from 3 US metro areas found that children who played with the Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood app, and those who both played with the app and watched episodes of the program, employed the emotion regulation strategies taught by Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood media more frequently 1 month later than children in a control condition. Preschoolers (3- and 4-year-olds) also exhibited higher levels of emotion knowledge 1 month after playing with the app. In addition, watching Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood TV episodes in the home led to increases in parents’ provision of active mediation. Implications for families, educators, and producers of educational media content are discussed

Not so Intimate Instagram : Images of Swedish Political Party Leaders in the 2018 National Election Campaign

The visual components of political communication are closely related tothe ongoing personalization of politics. Not only do the media focus theirstories on candidates and leaders, but also the parties’own work with theelectoral campaigns and political propaganda have an increasing focus onthe individual candidates and leaders. This study focuses on how politicalparty leaders chose to use visual images in their self-presentation onInstagram during the 2018 general election in Sweden. This is donethrough a quantitative content analysis of party leaders’posts during thelast three weeks before Election Day.The results do not confirm an increasing level of personalization of politics.Party leaders were visually exposed in an innovative way, but still mainlywithin rather predictable campaign contexts. General social media standardshave been developed by political parties also on this platform. When applyingto these standards branding and long-term party strategy considerationsseem to be more important than possible short-term effects of exposing sur-prising personal and emotional characteristics of the party leader

BRIEF REPORT: Screening Items to Identify Patients with Limited Health Literacy Skills

BACKGROUND: Patients with limited literacy skills are routinely encountered in clinical practice, but they are not always identified by clinicians. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate 3 candidate questions to determine their accuracy in identifying patients with limited or marginal health literacy skills. METHODS: We studied 305 English-speaking adults attending a university-based primary care clinic. Demographic items, health literacy screening questions, and the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM) were administered to patients. To determine the accuracy of the candidate questions for identifying limited or marginal health literacy skills, we plotted area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curves for each item, using REALM scores as a reference standard. RESULTS: The mean age of subjects was 49.5; 67.5% were female, 85.2% Caucasian, and 81.3% insured by TennCare and/or Medicare. Fifty-four (17.7%) had limited and 52 (17.0%) had marginal health literacy skills. One screening question, “How confident are you filling out medical forms by yourself?” was accurate in detecting limited (AUROC of 0.82; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.77 to 0.86) and limited/marginal (AUROC of 0.79; 95% CI=0.74 to 0.83) health literacy skills. This question had significantly greater AUROC than either of the other questions (P<.01) and also a greater AUROC than questions based on demographic characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: One screening question may be sufficient for detecting limited and marginal health literacy skills in clinic populations