Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This study examines Caucasian college students’ attitudes toward the U.S. welfare policy and perceptions of African Americans as a function of different conditions of visual (Caucasian vs. African American vs. neutral) and news text (Caucasian vs. African American vs. neutral) in terms of poverty news story. Based on past literature, it was hypothesized that regardless of the verbal language used in the text of poverty news coverage, visual exemplars of poor African Americans in the news coverage would foster a non-supportive welfare policy attitude and negative perceptions of African Americas among White participants.
In terms of the results, participants in this study were not influenced by the newspaper visual stimulus in general. Although it was hypothesized that the visual exemplars (especially the visual image of a poor African American) in the poverty news coverage would have an influential effect on the judgments of welfare policy and attitude toward a specific racial category (i.e., African Americans), a statistically significant difference between the visual image and text was not found.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Proponents of dual-process models claim that heuristics play an important role in the persuasion process. In this paper, four experiments are reported on a heuristic applicable in fundraising contexts: the so-called desert heuristic. This heuristic implies that people do not support a person who is held responsible for the trouble he or she is in. Fundraising organizations do not raise funds for an individual person but for a group of patients. In that case, the stereotypical (responsibility) perception of those patients is at stake. In four experiments, it is shown that the use of exemplars in fundraising letters can influence the stereotypical responsibility perception of the category and that this perception can influence the intention to donate money especially when the type of problem is less serious. Cultural differences do not appear to play a decisive role.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This study looks at the on-air promotion for NBC’s fall 2004 prime-time lineup within the high-profile prime-time Summer Olympic broadcasts on NBC. NBC made a number of adjustments to the promotion practices during previous Olympic coverage and September 2004 ratings results indicated that many programs received a substantial bump following the Olympic broadcasts. Surprisingly, every new series increased ratings over their time slot in the previous year and three of the five new shows increased by more than 2 ratings points—as did more than one-third of returning shows. Only one primetime program promoted during the Olympics suffered a significant ratings drop. NBC’s focus on promotion during the Olympic broadcasts and strategic decision to move several premiere episodes earlier in September was justified.

Publication Type: Session Paper
Abstract: Exemplification theory claims that media coverage of issues contains two basic types of information: Base rate information describes an issue or problem in a summary-type fashion (statistical data, frequency of occurrences, distribution of opinions, etc.). Exemplar information is based on the individual expression of opinions or the de-scription of an individual fate. The body of empirical research shows that exemplars are more powerful in influencing recipients’ own judgments and perceptions. Rea-sons for the marginal impact of base rate information might be (1) a general difficulty in processing the meaning of figures and (2) the pallid nature of this kind of informa-tion. Therefore, the present study – instead of using numeric information – visualizes base rates through continuous response measurement displays (CRM) showing a fictitious average assessment of “others who have watched the video before”. In a two-factorial design, we manipulated the tendency of the CRM graphs (positive vs. negative; base rates) and the tendency of individuals reporting positive or negative judgments towards the video (exemplars). Contrary to previous results, the data show that both exemplars and CRM graphs have an almost equal capability to influ-ence viewers’ judgments and perceptions. Based on these findings, consequences for a broader theory of exemplification effects are outlined.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Is exemplarity a hegemonic structure of thought? This paper reexamines critiques of queer theory by Prosser (1998) and Namaste (1996) in order to consider the ethical and methodological issues presented by the constitutive status of examples in the production of knowledge. Does the structure of exemplarity do violence to the subject of the example itself? If we claim an ethical responsibility to those whom we take as examples, how might we reformulate queer and feminist theory to avoid these textual violences? I argue that Judith Butler's work may help us to develop a model of ethical exemplarity.