Cultivation effects of television advertising: An urban-rural comparison

1. Cai, X., Fang, W., and Chan, K. Hong Kong Baptist University AEJMC Conference Aug.9-12 Cultivation effects of television advertising: An urban-rural comparison

2. Introduction • Commercial persuasion appears to influence not only our shopping and product use behavior, but also the largest domain of our social roles. • Television advertising is an essential socializing agent in China.

3. Introduction • China has a population of 350 million children under age 15. 40% urban VS. 60% rural • In 2005, the per capita annual net household income 10,0493 yuan urban VS. 3,255 yuan rural • The foci of present study

4. Literature Review Cultivation Theory • Heavy television viewers tend to adopt the television’s reality as their own real-world reality. • By virtue of inexperience, young viewers may depend more on television for information than other viewers do.

5. Literature Review Cultivation Theory • There are two types of cultivation---mainstreaming and resonance. • Cultivation effects can be measured at two different levels----first and second-order effects of cultivation.

6. Literature Review Materialism • This study adopts the Richins’ definition, view materialism as the priority a consumer places on the acquisition and possession of material objects. • Two directions in empirical research on materialism

7. Hypotheses • H1: Television advertising viewing will have a positive correlation with the belief about the prevalence of affluence in society among adolescents in both urban and rural China. • H2: Television advertising viewing will have a positive correlation with the level of materialism among adolescents in both urban and rural China.

8. Hypotheses • H3: The belief about the prevalence of affluence in society will have a positive correlation with the level of materialism among adolescents in both urban and rural China.

9. Method • A survey of 792 adolescents aged 11 to 17 was conducted from October to December 2006. • The structured questionnaire was self-administered.

10. Method The urban sub-sample: • 391 respondents in Guangzhou city • Studying grade 7 and 8 • The mean age was 13.3 The rural sub-sample: • 401 respondents in Henan Province • Studying grade 7 to 9 • The mean age was 14.6

11. Results There were significant differences in all three key variables: television advertising viewing, the belief about the prevalence of affluence in society, and materialism among urban and rural respondents.

12. Notes: ***p＜0.001

13. Notes: ***p＜0.001

14. Results • H1 was partially supported for urban respondents and not supported for rural respondents. Urban: (Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistics varied from 3.6 for cameras to 7.1 for personal computers, all significant at 0.001 level) Rural: (Kolmogorov-Smirnov Z=5.8, p<0.001)

15. Results • H2 was supported for both urban and rural respondents. Urban: (r=0.28, p<0.01) Rural sub-samples: (r=0.29, p<0.01) • H3 was rejected.

16. Discussion • Television advertising viewing was higher among rural adolescents than urban adolescents. • Urban adolescents had higher estimates of affluence in society than their rural counterparts. • Rural adolescents endorsed higher level of materialism than their urban counterparts.

17. Discussion • Television advertising's cultivation effects on the belief about the prevalence of affluence in society was not found among rural adolescents. • There was no correlation between first and second-order effects.

18. Possible limitations • A non-probability sample • Only focus on television advertising • Not include contextual and personal factors