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TV
Alcohol Portrayals, Connectedness, and Drinking
Principal
Investigator: Cristel A. Russell, Ph.D.
There
is widespread concern over the potential effects that media
portrayals of drinking, especially alcohol product placement,
may have on alcohol consumption and drinking-related problems.
Despite the importance of the debate over alcohol in the media,
the available research does not provide a definitive answer
to the question of whether and how these portrayals affect
drinking knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors. Moreover, there
is only a limited understanding of alcohol-related themes
and images portrayed in television programming and how viewers
interpret, understand, and respond to them.
In
order to address these issues, we propose two interrelated
studies of television alcohol portrayals. The two proposed
studies are: a content analysis of an eight-week composite
sample of regular TV series focusing on the themes, images,
and other characteristics of alcohol portrayals in television
programming, and (b) an on-line survey of a diverse sample
of viewers of these shows to investigate the effects of such
alcohol portrayals on perceptions and beliefs regarding drinking.
Together, the proposed studies will enhance our understanding
of the frequencies and types of alcohol portrayals in current
television programming and identify the processes through
which such portrayals may shape viewers’ responses and
behaviors. Our conceptual model draws from television connectedness
research (Russell & Puto, 1999) and takes into account
the mediating role of the relationships viewers form with
television characters on the influence that viewers receive
from television programs. Consumption portrayals in the television
program context more strongly affect highly connected viewers'
beliefs and behaviors because they view the TV characters displaying
these consumptions as referent others and thus behavioral
models. The results will provide a firmer basis for designing
prevention strategies to counter the effects of TV-based alcohol
portrayals on people's drinking beliefs and behaviors.
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