Vol.6,No.2 February,1991　

Title

A study of effects of comparative advertising : A technique of persuasive communication

Author

Yuko ISHIBASHI (Doshisha University)
Kazuya NAKAYACHI (Doshisha University)

Summary

Comparative advertising, which has recently been permitted in Japan, emphasizes the difference of the specific attributes between one brand and its rival. Further, this advertising often highlights the negative aspects of the rival brand. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of comparative advertising on people's responses toward the advertisements and the brand maker. Also, this study examined whether the Japanese sympathy for the weak influenced the response or not. Four kinds of printed advertisements were prepared. Then, 217 university students were randomly assigned to one of the four versions, and were subsequently asked to complete questionnaires. The results were as follows: (1) Comparative advertising attracted more attention, but aroused more antipathy than non-comparative advertising. (2) Comparative advertising also had a negative effect on impression of the brand maker. (3) The sympathy for the weaker brand did not appear in the responses related to comparative advertising.

Key words

comparative advertising, attitude change, persuasion, brand image, consumer

Title

Egalitarian sex role attitudes : Reliability and validity of SESRA (English Form) and comparison of American and Japanese women

Author

Atsuko SUZUKI (Keio University)

Summary

The English Form of the Scale of Egalitarian Sex Role Attitudes (SESRA) was administered to 238 American women after the original Japanese Form was developed and administered to 420 Japanese women. The results reveal that the English Form has a potential for use as a measurement of American women's sex role attitudes. The results of cross-cultural comparisons suggest that American women have more egalitarian attitudes than their Japanese counterparts, especially in the sex segregation of domestic labor, child-rearing, masculinity, and femininity. However, they share similar attitudes toward the basic concept of the equality of men and women in education, occupation, and society. Assuming that individualism, independence, and egalitarianism are the universal values pursued in the modern world, these similarities can be shared with the women in the other advanced industrial societies, in spite of the cultural differences among them.

Key words

Egalitarian sex role attitudes, SESRA, reliability and validity, cross-cultural comparisons of American and Japanese women, similarities and differences

Title

Effects of stating "There is no question about it" on post-communication belief and cognitive response : Types of threat manipulation and reactance arousal (I)

Author

Shuzo IMAJO (Iwate Prefectural Morioka Junior College)

Summary

The purpose of this paper was to examine the effects of asserting obviousness of the advocated position, which had been used as threat to attitudinal freedom. Most of the subjects held an initial position, which was consistent with the advocated position. The high threat communication was sprinkled with statements such as "there is no question about it," or "I think it's obvious that ・・・." The low threat form simply omitted the threatening statements. Subjects were asked post-communication belief and were told to list all thoughts that occurred to them during the communication and to classify them. Firstly, the no-question statements were perceived as no threat to attitudinal freedom, and increased belief change toward the advocated position among the subjects who had strongly agreeded it (compliance effect). Secondly, the no-question statements were perceived as threat to freedom to question, and increased doubts and counterarguments among the subjects who had expected freedom to question (reactance effect). These results suggested that the effects of no-question statements could be different from those which reactance theory had originally predicted.

Key words

psychological reactance, types of threat manipulation, freedom to question, cognitive response, discrepancy

Title

Changes in National Images due to Seoul Olympic : Panel survey using College students

Author

Eisaku TAKAGI (Toyo Eiwa Women's University)
Akira SAKAMOTO (University of Tokyo)

Summary

The purpose of the present study was to investigate (a) changes in images of foreign countries due to "Soeul Olympic Games" and (b) how the changes were correlated with other variables. Ninty-one Japanese undergraduate students responded to questionaires concerning images of ten countries and some valiables three times: (1) just before the Olympic, (2) just after, and (3) three months after. Results were as follows: (a) Subjects held more unfavorable impressions of most countries after the Olympic; (b) Korea and Canada were especially unfavorable; (c) Soviet Union and the Eastern Europe countries did not change as much; (d) Subjects had more unidimentional cognitive structure representing foreign images; (e) Subjects showed self-serving bias, confronted with defeats of own country and victories of others; (f) Authoritarian and low-comlexity persons revealed those biases in particular; (g) Changes in favorability of each country were correlated with various individual-difference indices. The need for research to enrich the merits and to avoid the demerits of the Olympic in image formation was argued.

Key words

foreign country image, the Olympic, panel survey, self-esteem, Japan

Title

A study on the residents' opinions toward the local Japanese-owned companies in the U.S.A. : Determinants of unfavorable opinions toward Japanese-owned companies

Author

Ken'ichiro TANAKA (Nihon University)
Hiroko ISAKA (Sano Womens' Junior Collage)
Yutaka TOSHIMA (Human Resources Development Service Corp.)

Summary

The purpose of the present study is to explore the opinions of the residents living in the areas where Japanese-owned companies have been located in the U.S.A. Particularly, the analysis is directed toward examining determinants of unfavorable opinions toward Japanese-owned companies. The survey was conducted in three States, where Japanese-owned companies have been operating. In the present study, telephone interviews were carried out for the residents in the area within 10 miles areas around the center of a Japanese manufacturing company in each State. The response were obtained from 1,050 residents. Using Cronbach's α-coefficient, the unfavorable opinion index was calculated by combing five items that assess residents' evaluation of Japanese-owned companies. In order to search the determinants of unfavorability, this index was subjected to examinations as a dependent variable for quantification theory type I. The results were summarized as follows. (1) The more the residents had chances of contact with Japanese-owned companies, the more favorably did the residents rate them. (2) The more positively the residents rate the Japanese People, the less unfavorably the residents rated Japanese-owned companies. (3) People who stood for free trade tended to rate Japanese-owned companies more favorably than did those who had held the protectionismic opinion. (4) The more the residents considered Japanese-owned companies as giving support to local industries or activities in their region, the more favorable were their opinions to Japanese-owned companies.

Key words

corporate citizenship, Japanese-owned companies, protectionism, quantification theory type I, unfavorability

Title

Violent Pornography : Its relationship with aggression against women, rape proclivity, rape myths, and sexual responses

Author

Ken-ichi OHBUCHI (Tohoku University)

Summary

The present paper reviewed empirical research on the effects of violent pornography on male audience. Some laborabory research found that violent pornography depicting rape scenes increased male subjects' aggression against female targets, even when they were not angered by the victims. In other studies, the male audience of violent pornography showed more rape-supportive attitudes, that is, they perceived rape as less criminal and accepted more rape myths. These findings implied that it may increase rape proclivity in males. Rapists displayed more sexual arousal than non-rapists to rape scenes in several experiments, but some researchers held the assumption that the non-rapists were also aroused by rape scene but they inhibited their arousal because of a feeling of guilt. The majority of normal men really showed some similarities to rapists in cognitions or beliefs on women's sexuality and rape. In conclusion, it was alleged that sexual aggression is not a personal pathological problem but a socio-cultural issue which has much bearing on male dominant value system.

Key words

Pornography, Rape, Rape Myths, Aggression, Sexual Response